I wrote my "Seattle love letter" for a contest last year to win an annual pass to the Columbia Tower. I'm sharing my love letter this Valentine's day because the words still hold true — and, to hopefully shed some light on why I can't leave this city, my hometown. (P.S., I won the contest!)… Continue reading Seattle love letter
We walked, down, down ... and down. I couldn't believe how much "more down" we were going as we walked down the paved path at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. For reference, turns out we walked down the equivalent of 79 stories to get into the cave! Once we were in the cave, I then couldn't… Continue reading Carlsbad Caverns: caves that go down, down, and extend forever, forever
It was like I was in that episode of Broad City where Abbi had to trek to North Brother Island to pick up a package. I, however, was at North City Annex, my local post office. This "local" post office is situated eight miles away from my residence. It's not even in the city of… Continue reading When your local post office is not local
When Bryce planned our Southwest road trip, he knew from the beginning that he wanted to stop in Roswell. "Just for the morning?" I asked. "Yeah, we'd be there just for an hour, tops," he replied. OK, sure. Might as well go check out the home of the "UFO incident" since we'd be in the… Continue reading Roswell: they sure do believe
I just woke up from another nap. We were in the middle of the desert, New Mexico. We were on US 70 — do the locals call it Highway 70? Either way, we were headed east towards White Sands National Park. We were on a long straight-away and I could just see dirt to my… Continue reading The checkpoint in the middle of nowhere
I was nervous sliding down that first sand dune. While I won't knock something until I try it, I tend to be a scaredy-cat when I think I could get hurt. Example: It took me until I was 22 years old to ride a roller coaster at Disneyland. Turns out I love them. (I even… Continue reading Hiking, sledding and just in awe at White Sands
I'm no stranger to long road trips. Or, lots of driving done in a short amount of time -- as was the case last weekend. Bryce and I had planned a few months ago to do a Southwest road trip. We would hit up White Sands National Monument Park, Roswell and Carlsbad Caverns National Park.… Continue reading 72 hours in the Southwest — lots of driving and very worth it
Being from Seattle, we scoff at people who use umbrellas. We don't need umbrellas! Yes, it rains but it's usually just an off-and-on type of rain, or a light drizzle. Nothing our rain jackets, or even a hoodie, can't handle! However, I was grateful I brought my grandmother's umbrella with me on our trip to… Continue reading Kyoto: Sloshing about at Fushimi Inari
There seems to be a trend where I go on vacation and come home to Seattle snow. Last year it was after our three-week honeymoon in New Zealand. I arrived back home to snow-covered streets and multiple more snow days that followed. That time, Seattle received more than a week of "significant" snow. I was… Continue reading Seattle snow days, sort of
I've been back home in Seattle for four days and am still trying to recover from my jet lag. I enjoyed a fantastic two-week vacation in Japan visiting family and also exploring new places. Isn't that the best though? When you get to see family and also see new cities you have never been to?… Continue reading Japan: bullet trains, family time, good food and lots of walking
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