I HEART WASHINGTON!! / Happy Birthday Grampa Shorty!

I've been writing about my sightseeing a lot, but have I stopped to mention how much I absolutely love living here?? How I feel that I was born in the wrong state and I am finally home? Well it's true. Minnesota is a lovely state in it's own right, but the Pacific Northwest is the climate for me. People complain that it's damp, rainy, and cloudy here. I just see the light rain as an ocean mist! And the weather changes dramatically throughout the day, clouds roll in, it might sprinkle a light rain, then the sun pops out for a while. And I think the clouds are pretty. It also smells lovely here. The air is as fresh, crisp, and fragrant as the apples they grow here. Everytime you walk outside you smell a mix of fragrant flowers and spring rain with just a hint of ocean breeze. They say Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes, but they've got nothing on Seattle. I've never seen so much water as I have here, there's more water than land. I recently discovered Angle Lake just a few blocks from my work. I like to go to the park there on my lunch break. I also discovered the Des Moines Marina about a mile or so from work. Now THAT feels like the ocean. There's a water front park with sand, seashells, and sea gulls. I love to walk the long pier and watch the people fishing. Fishing was big back in Minnesota - but nothing like it is out here. Here, people do it for a living. It's supposed to be nice out tomorrow so I'm going to head out to Snoqualmie Falls. I haven't seen enough of downtown Seattle yet to say I love it, but what I've seen of it is great and it's right on the water so how could I not love it?!

Oh my, I just noticed the date. Today would have been my grandfather's birthday. Happy Birthday Grampa, I've been thinking of you. That trip was for you.

My Grandpa Shorty took me on my first ever road trip leaving the state of Minnesota. I was in 4th grade I think and it seemed that all my friends were taking trips out of state to places like Disneyland, etc. Even my own parents were taking trips, but I had never even left the state. So I whined and complained, all I wanted to do was leave the friggin' state! So my Grandma packed us some food and Grampa and I headed out together in his blue van to the far away land called Wisonsin. It seemed so very far away to me, it was like entering a different world. Even the road signs looked different, as they used wooden posts instead of metal. And the chocolate milk tasted better too 'cause they had more cows there. We stopped to visit the mysterious and thrilling Crystal Caves. I still remember what the guide taught us: stalagtites hold on tight to the ceiling and stalagmites might one day reach them from the ground. At least I think that's what he said, it was a looong time ago. I'd like to think it was no coincidence that the rental place in Vegas was out of cars and gave me a blue van. It was almost as if Grampa was there with me on that trip.