I'll rest my eyes to the rivers in the sea
I'll rest my eyes till the fevers outta me
I'll rest my eyes to the rivers in the sea
I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees
I'll never marry but Ohio don't remember me
-- "Blood Buzz Ohio" by The National
TripIt.com tells me that in the past 2 months, I've traveled for 21 days of them, equating to over 15,000 miles. For now, I don't have any immediate travel plans coming up and that eats me up inside a little. Here an ode to my last shenanigans:
I went to Austin for recruiting 2 Mondays ago til that Thursday. Another home-some visit with mom and being able to squeeze in some of the best people in the world. In a weird way, I almost appreciate these short trips back to Austin with friends and family more than if I were there with them permanently -- I put in more of an effort to get all the quality time with them as possible. Making the most of the time you have together and not taking it for granted. I wish to translate that to all aspects in life.
Thursday night I flew out to Seattle and got in at 1:44 am. Jonathon picked me up and we headed to Eric's place, who just coincidentally moved back to Seattle (we met in South Africa last summer). Pete and Jackie were already passed out by the time we got in. Quick nap and then we headed to Whistler at 4:30 am. Yep.
Pete was making me anxious about the border (apparently he's had trouble getting into Canada before), but no trouble awaited us -- the biggest issue was me not wearing a seatbelt in the backseat (really??). Driving into Whistler area was epic. Eh-pic. Oh and skiing Whistler was even more epic-er. The best mountains my skis (well, rented) have ever set... ski on. Powdered snow on all the runs and ridiculous breathtaking views. Sigh. I highly recommend it. Headed back to Vancouver and tried out a local late night bar. People are so freakin' nice and happy in Canada. The waitress was GENUINELY happy to serve us. Weird!
Next day we scoped out Vancouver. Brunch in Chinatown (sooo many Asians in Canada!), perused the public market on Gainesville Island, adventures in liquor stores (try the maple whiskey if you're in Canada), and ate fish at a fun diner. Another happy waitress.
Sunday we headed back to Seattle. We made a pit-stop in Bellingham, aka the City of Subdued Excitement, right after the border (again, no issues even with us 2 brownies in the back) for some grub. Beeeest deeecision we made on that trip (well, one of). If you ever pass through, stop. While we were waiting for our table at one of their highly rated diners, we checked out the Museum of Radio & Electricity and got our own private Tesla lightning show (not yet open to the public).
We rushed to Pike's Market when we got into Seattle half an hour before it closed to catch the famous fish throwing action at one of the stalls. Wandered around some, decided we didn't like the fish salad tastes, covered it up with downing some cheese, and made our way to our Couchsurfing host for the night: Mitch. We hit the town with him and ended up at The Garage, a pool hall. Played some games, drank some beers, met back up with Eric (because 5 minutes the first night wasn't enough!), speculated about people around us, and ate a Seattle dog on the way home.
Last day of vacation, after eating the best french toast in my life, we took the ferry to Bainsbridge Island off of Seattle and had a mellow day (kind of necessary at this point). The ferry ride itself was neat, also highly recommendable. Once on the island, we did a couple of wine tastings, perused local toy and thrift stores, checked out the harbor and playground, then made our way to our giant feast of a Mexican dinner (that lasted me til lunch the next day).
Barely made my flight out that night (I thought it was at 11pm, it was at 10:20pm), layover somewhere in the US, and got back to Cincy around 9 am. Headed straight to work. That was kind of a tough day...
It's already March. Time flies. I need to focus.
