hello from seattle!

Hi everyone! I guess it's been a long time since I updated. Life has been pretty busy over the past few weeks, between packing, road-tripping, and moving in. I'm finally here and getting settled.

A few highlights from the road trip:

Minnesota: kind of flat.

South Dakota: flat, but there are some cool things to see. We stayed at a tiny town and the locals bought us beer. Here are some pics from SD:







Wyoming: very pretty. We stayed there a few days and spent some quality time with Dan and Tenley and their dog Bumble. We went horseback riding one day, and the next day we went for a scenic raft trip down the Snake River. We spent some time wandering around the square in Jackson, and went to some cowboy bars. We went to the Four Seasons one night for dinner. It was very fancy - I had antelope for the first time. It was very tasty. The best part about being in WY was that my brother proposed to Tenley! It was awesome. I'm so excited to have a sister! Anyway, here are some pics from WY:







Montana: also very pretty. We stayed at a hotel just outside of Yellowstone. We had a deck with a nice view.

Idaho: lots of trees and mountains. We stayed at an amazing resort. I think the place is trying to build its name as a ski resort. We had dinner in my parents' suite (which had a kitchen, complete with granite countertops) and then spent some time in one of the roof-top hot tubs.

Washington: flat, windy, and dry in the eastern part; after the Columbia River, things got more hilly and green.

I've been in Seattle for almost a week now, and it's awesome. My neighborhood is a little sketchy, but my apartment is nice. It's huge by Seattle standards. I was hoping to be in an area where I could walk to restaurants and shops, but at least my rent is very reasonable here. My parents and Raji helped me get my apartment furnished and set up, and now it looks great. I have a guest bed (futon) and plenty of room for visitors. ;)

Since I've been here, I've done lots of fun stuff like:

- Went to the Market a couple of times. One of the times we brought stuff home for dinner - salmon and cheese, yum!
- Raji and I spent a day wandering around the U-district and then downtown. I wish we would have had more time, but it was fun anyway.
- My parents and I went to Bainbridge Island, which is just a short ferry ride from Seattle. We drove around the island and looked at all the pretty houses. We walked around one of the state parks there and then took a short hike through a nature preserve. There are a lot of ferns and big trees on the island - I think it's sort of rainforest. After that, we went back to the touristy area and had some appetizers, and then did a wine sampling. I'll upload pics from this day later - I haven't put them on my computer yet.
- Yesterday I drove around town and did some shopping for necessary stuff (router, toaster, etc). Apparently there are no Linens 'N Things in Seattle. I went to the nearest one, which is in Woodinville or something. I bought new sheets for my new bed! Yay. Later, I met up with Eric (a friend from high school) and went to a bar on Capitol Hill. I met some of his friends, and they were very warm and friendly.
- Today I met up with Scott and Kelli, two fellow Chi-Hi grads. They moved out here a year ago and had lots of helpful advice for me. We went to some sort of street fair in Edmonds (north of here). After that we wandered around a beach in Edmonds and looked at the scuba diving park. I've never heard of such a thing - it was pretty intriguing. There's also a big fishing pier in Edmonds. We walked around the pier but didn't see anyone catch anything. We did see some jellyfish and silverbacks in the water, though. After that we went to a lighthouse in Mukilteo. It was a tiny lighthouse, not much higher than two stories. The weather today was perfect - 75 degrees and partly cloudy; a typical Seattle summer day, so I'm told. Unfortunately I forgot to wear sunscreen and got a bad burn!

Anyway, that's about it so far. There's so much to do out here, it's amazing. School starts September 26th for me (late, I know) and in the meantime I'm hoping to check out Mt. Rainier and Olympic National Parks. I might also go to Snoqualmie Falls if I get a chance. Tomorrow I might spend some time driving around and finding a good vantage point to take pictures of the city.

My ankle and knee have been bothering me a lot since I moved. I have been spending a LOT of time on my feet, but I guess that won't be unusual for me now that I'm living in the city. Before I moved, I talked to one of my doctors about my options for meds, and he said I should stay on darvocet. I'm not totally happy with it because it's a narcotic. It seems to work okay for the pain (the only thing that helps, really) but it makes me very dizzy. Also, I think darvocet is probably difficult to keep getting refilled, since there is that chance of becoming addicted. I'm hoping to start physical therapy here soon, and it will be good to hear other perspectives on my situation.

I miss good cheese. My mom found some yummy stuff at the Market the other day, but that's probably imported. I'm told that most cheese around here comes from Oregon, and it's nothing special. It's also ridiculously expensive. We stopped at a cheese store at the Market and I got a sample cheese curd. It was weird - very dry and chalky. The taste was okay, but the texture was just so wrong. They were selling them for $12/lb.

Seafood, beer, and wine are all amazing here. I have eaten seafood for almost every meal since I got here. Seafood is still pretty expensive out here, but you can find it for cheap if you look hard enough. There's a local restaurant chain called Ivar's that has nice restaurants and also has some fast food places. It's kind of weird that they have two types of restaurants, but in my experience, both are very good. As far as beer goes, there are tons of microbreweries in Seattle and Portland. It would probably take me at least a year to try every variety of beer from every brewery. Wine is also big around here. There are lots of winerys in the state. Apparently red wine is big here.

Anyway, I think that's about it for now. I miss the Joynt, the GI, good cheese, my kitties, and most of all, my friends and family!