Up north and to the west

Perhaps it’s time for a little introduction to our new stomping grounds.  Just a quick clarification: when I say Seattle or Tacoma I mean any town in the surrounding area where we might venture, because it’s so much easier to refer to a big city that everyone knows than it is to explain geography every time.  (And just so you’re aware, we live 30 minutes south of Seattle in a small town called Sumner.)  Josh and I have been in Seattle (Tacoma, Sumner, Puyallup, etc) for about 3 weeks and absolutely love it!  Honestly, I’m blown away everyday that people get to live in such a picturesque place!  There are huge trees everywhere, mountains and hills, and just an overall sense of beauty.  (A friendly warning: be prepared for lots of photos!)

 

Valley view

Part of our cute little town

I get to look at Mount Rainier everyday!

Before getting here, I mentally prepared myself for a bitterly cold winter and miserably rainy days.  It’s been nothing like that!  You might not believe me, South Carolinians and Texans, but it’s been in the 40’s since we’ve been here and I’ve seen the sun more often than not.  Apparently it doesn’t get much colder than it is now, because it’s at a low altitude and is close to the ocean.  We did have one night of snow showers, but it all melted by that afternoon.  So, in addition to the gorgeous landscape, this is a pretty temperate place to live.  In fact, if my friends and family didn’t live on the other side of the continent, I would strongly consider living here long-term.  But alas, it is quite far from people I love, and that’s more important to me.

Doesn’t snow make everything look prettier?!

The RV park backs up to some woods and a river.

It’s pretty spectacular.

The only down-side with being so far north is that the winter sun only stays out for a few hours.  This is strange to me, because I already think southern winters have short days with about 10 hours of sunshine.  Whelp, Washington didn’t get the memo about staying light longer.  The sun doesn’t rise until about 8a.m. and starts to set at 3p.m.!!  I kid you not!  It’s strange.  So, by 4 o’clock it looks like dusk and by 4:30 the moon is out.  That is also the other reason why I couldn’t live here long-term.  I need my sun.  And I need to not feel like it’s bedtime by 7 every night.  C’est la vie in Washington, though.

I thought this described it pretty well :)

Since we’ve been here, we haven’t gotten into too much trouble.  A few days ago we went up to Seattle (the actual one, not just the one I refer to) to explore for a bit.  And it’s safe to say that I’m smitten with that city!  I like big cities anyway, because there is so much to look at and explore.  The people are so foreign and business savvy and there are endless possibilities for what could happen on any given day.  I like not knowing (at least when it comes to this).

On the ferry heading to Seattle

And there she is in all her foggy glory!

Forgive 2 couple’s pics so close together, but I think you can see Seattle a little bit better in this one…and if you look closely, you can see the Space Needle sitting on Josh’s shoulder.

We got kind of a late start, so we didn’t get to see as much as we had hoped, but it was still a great time!  We went to Pike’s Place Fish Market (the one where they throw the fish) and stuffed ourselves with sea creatures.  I was definitely glad to get my hands on some buttery seafood.  After walking around for a bit more, we decided to head back to beat the traffic.  But believe me, Seattle has not seen the last of us.  We live dangerously close to delicious seafood, and the rain and dark days can’t stop me!  (Does this sound like a problem?  Not sure..)

Crustaceans galore!

And mas.

My favorite kind of dinner :)

Other than that, our adventures here are few so far.  We have plans of getting in our fair share of skiing/snowboarding, visiting other major cities like Portland and Vancouver, and doing some hiking on some of the mountains in the area.

One of the many bays around these parts

I’m really excited to be here and see what life in the Pacific Northwest is like- at least for a few months.  I loved the opportunity to live in Texas and experience the culture there and meet new amazing people.  I know I can’t expect our Washington experience to be the exact same as our Texas one, but I’m really looking forward to crossing paths with some more amazing people and getting a glimpse into their lives.  Our world is so vast, and I can’t help but feel incredibly blessed to be able to see and experience all that I have in the past few months.

 

A little Sumner sunset (at around 3:30)