Being Tourists in Seattle

Currently sitting in an Airport waiting for a bus... yes, you read that right, a bus. Many airports have bus terminals located in them also. This morning we were scheduled to leave at 930. We arrived at the airport at 938; yep, our bus wasn't kind enough to wait for us. :( No biggie, I confirmed we could get on the 1pm bus and now we sit and wait. 

Since being here, I've watched hundreds of people, kept an eye on a lady's bag, thought about moving the water man's cart of water jugs when he walked away, received a compliment on my hair, was asked to donate to a charity, talked to my friend (and traveling partner). Been grand. 

Yesterday was a fun, long, slightly cool day around town. We took the metro into downtown Seattle. First stop was the Original Starbucks. Have to say it was THE best pumpkin spice Latte I've ever had. AND it was actually extra hot, like I requested. From there we strolled through Pike's Place Market. Just a normal day, watched some fisherman throw whole fish around while singing. That was legit.

It was a bit cool, breezy and foggy. I kept hoping it would warm up, since I had worn my flip flops. But alas, it never did. oh well. We sauntered down to Pioneer Square, where we went on an tour of the Underground city of Seattle. The original city of Seattle lies 15 feet under where it is today. That fifteen feet is the difference of sea level. They used to have major flooding problems, which  is compounded by the use of outhouses in the 1850s. Glad I didn't visit back then. So, after the fire of 1889 burned the city to the ground, they decided to raise it up past sea level. The original sidewalks were never filled in, thus today you have the "underground." Quite interesting.

For lunch, we grabbed some chowder. I tried some Seafood Bisque, that was AMAZING! I never had anything like it and was a little uncertain about it, but it was an excellent choice. We made it up the Space Needle in time to see the city in daylight, watch the sunset and see the city lights at night. Perfect time of the day. :)

Long day, but we got a lot accomplished. Twas fun!

outside Pikes Place Market

at Pioneer Square

old bank under the city of Seattle

daytime view from Space Needle

sun setting

sunset 

Seattle city lights

I <3 Traveling

Traveling!

I am by no means a travel expert, but I do LOVE traveling. Many of the following I found on other travel blogs and since I can relate to most of them, thought I'd share. My next trip is only twelve days away! So, I'm getting excited.... and you who have the travel bug know what that's like..... 

Cheers to the Vagabond life!

You know you're a traveler (or missionary) when......

your boss doesn't ask why you want time off, they just ask "where are you going this time?"

you have a collection of SIM cards from around the world and you keep hold of them, just in case....

you can say "thank you" in ten or more different languages

you don't need a scale to measure your luggage

you can do currency exchanges in your head and it doesn't hurt

you refer to cities by their airport code instead of their name

you have a credit card that allows you to collect air miles

you always know exactly where you passport is and when it expires

someone asks where you got your outfit and you name countries instead of stores

you have to factor in time zones for every Skype call 

you wonder why people are always saying they want to travel, but never do

you often plan trips you never take

you suffer reverse-culture shock

home refers to more than one country 

you hardly ever get lost and when you do, you have no problem asking a local for help

your permanent address is still your parents' house, cause you're never in one place long enough

you commonly start sentences with, "my friend from _________ [insert country]"

all your friends ask for help in finding tickets or other travel advice

you get restless if you haven't traveled in too long

you hear strangers talk about traveling, you immediately eavesdrop

someone tells you they don't have a passport, you look at them like they have two heads

everyone counts on you in geography class or trivia time when required to name the capital of some random country

you to go McDonalds simply for the wifi

you watch a movie on DVD a week before it is released in theaters

fellow travelers ask you for directions in a city you don't live in

you have more friends overseas than at home

your bucket list is almost entirely travel-related

the majority of your paycheck goes into saving up for travelling

you aspire to write a travel memoir

you're not satisfied with the name of a country when you ask someone "Where are you from?" 

One travel blog I read today had a short comparison of travelers and tourists. I had to laugh at one paragraph, cause been there, done that.... 

"A tourist will go by the destinations to visit to such an extent that there will be nothing he will want to miss. Reached Agra on Friday? No matter what, the tourist will demand that he be shown the Taj Mahal without disturbing the rest of his itinerary. A traveller, on the other hand, will seek out people and other places to explore. The tourist will gush about Taj Mahal for a few days but a traveller will carry the stories of daily life from Agra and every other place he visits forever."

Sun Rising

The shorter days allows me to experience the magnitude of an incredible sunrise. During the summer months, I occasionally see the setting sun at 1am or midnight... (thanks to my night job) But sunrises, yeah I don't usually see those during the summer. I'm not one to get up at 3am to see the sun rise. :) 

But wish you could have been with me this past week on my drives to work. One day last week when I turned from my dirt road on to the main road into town, the eastern sky was just beginning to come alive. I drove west into town, so the horizon before me was still a combination of blues and grays. But glancing in my rear view mirror, light flooded my eyes. As the minutes passed, the blue began to be tinted with pink, then more pink and orange. Pulling into the parking lot, the entire heavens were ablaze with color. The sun was just cresting the horizon, but the world was overwhelming alive with color and light. 

I thought of John 12:32 - "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." 

As the sun that morning (and again today) rose higher into the sky, no part of the heavens were not reached with it's light. Clouds that once appeared blue and gray were now pink and eventually white. If we lift Christ up, He will do the drawing of sinners to Himself. His Word does not return void, so we must share His Word. 

Not only do I enjoy a sunrise for the awesome, inspiring beauty which magnifies my God, but it is also a wonderful reminder that my job as a child of God is raise Him up. I am to bring Him glory with my life; every aspect of my life. 

sun rise from last year, viewed from my front porch

Political Rant

Can I get on my Political Soapbox for a few moments? 

I am not usually very vocal about political matters. I do vote, which I think every citizen of America should do. You complain about government's ever increasing debt, or the government's shut down or about individual politicians you don't like.... But do you vote? Do you make your voice heard in the political arena? 

We the People of the United States are responsible for the condition of our government. After all, our politicians are elected officials. We are the ones who have allowed them to serve term after term after term. 

If I were the President of the United States..... 

this is very hypothetical, but just humor me.... 

I would not accept a salary of $400,000. 

and members of Congress who are no longer serving, would also no longer receive a paycheck. (it's simple, you don't work for something, why get paid for it) duh

those individuals who think they need welfare (free money) will have to work to receive their stamps or checks or other government assistance

we would not  fund ridiculous projects, such as poison ivy eating goats (really?)

we would not spend money that we don't have! 

Pretty much, I would just have common sense if I were President. 

Come on people, do you really want the government telling you everything that you or can't do. 

I don't have Health Insurance right now. And you know what? that's MY choice!

The government should NOT require me to pay for something that I don't want. 

Thought this was the Land of the Free...

ok, that was my little rant for the day. 

I'm thankful that God, the Creator of the Universe, is my Friend and my Father. No matter what happens with my government and country, I am still His. And NOTHING will ever change that. Rich or poor, dead or alive, I belong to Christ. My joy/attitude will not be affect by whether the government is operational or in shut down. 

GOD BLESS!! 

Hunting

Been a while I know since I blogged... just when you think life is slowing down... yeah it doesn't. :) 

Just a few pictures that I never posed from Colorado. Went to the Garden of the gods while there and it was pretty cool. I know they say all this stuff about these large red rocks taking millions of years to form yada yada. But God is the True Creator and He was the one to put this massive rocks there. I just drove through the park, but would like to go back and do some hiking there. Maybe when it's not so hot. 

Last week my dad, youngest brother and I went moose hunting. My bro and I both have never shot a moose. This was my third time out for moose and my brother's sixth, or was it seventh, I don't remember. Both of our previous trips, someone in the group had gotten a moose, just not us. And, well, we didn't change anything this year. :/ only came close to one moose, but by the time I got to where my dad was, the moose had started walking away and I didn't see it. Saw lots of tracks on our path and where two bulls were fighting, even a cow and calf, but no other bulls. oh well. 

We had a good time - I got caught up on sleep, which was really nice after working that second, late night job this summer. We ate well.... my dad's pretty notorious for cooking well when hunting. We picked late season blueberries and made fresh pancakes with them. Yum! 

Was pretty cold out a couple days. First day the wind blew like crazy all day. In fact it felt colder that day than the next when we had snow on the ground. Yep, you read that right, SNOW. We had our first snowfall of the year and the second snowfall (today). I know the calendar says the first day of Autumn was this past Sunday, but clearly it wasn't made for Alaska. :D 

mode of transportation - actually we walked mostly

our hotel

my favorite pic from this week

looking for moose!

picking blueberries in the snow

Epic Weekend

I think this past weekend has to go down as one of the craziest weekends of my life. :) 

I started Friday morning off very tired - it was the end of the work week of which I had worked 5 days and 3 nights. Had to go to the airport right at 8am to get my badge fixed so I can work International flights. After that I went to my day job for a couple hours, went back to the airport to clean a Korean Airline plane (honestly I don't enjoy those) and then back to the "real" job. (both jobs are real, it's just I call my regular job my "real one.") 

Got off work at 3pm and barely stayed awake enough to drive home. Crashed on my bed for two hours. Felt a lot better when I woke up. 

I worked on some things at home, then started preparing for my night hike at Angel Rocks. Some of you may remember we went last September at night and saw amazing stars! I think the total count last year was six falling stars and one comet. We wanted to take our Chinese friend Donnia up there at night to see the stars before she leaves later this month. We planned the trip about six days prior; Friday came and it was cloudy and rainy all day, but we went anyways. 

Got my stuff together and was picked up at my house shortly after 10pm. Tanna, Donnia and I were in the back seat and the guys in the front. Micah was going to bring his camp stove so we could make hot cocoa... well he couldn't find it, so he brought firewood instead to make a real fire. I asked him before he headed up the trail if he had matches. He assured me he did. 

not sure what Donnia is doing

So we headed on up the hill. We remembered to bring more than one flashlight this year! That was good since there was five of us and it was darker than last time. Tanna and I were straggling behind; when we caught up to the others at the halfway point (where we had planned on stopping), we heard the news that Micah couldn't find the lighter! And I was SO looking forward to that nice cup of hot cocoa!  

We tossed around ideas of how to start the fire - using gunpowder, flashlight, etc. I almost bought a flint & magnesium last week, should have spent the money! Micah decided to attempt a bow drill fire. Those of you who know what that is, know it's not exactly a piece of cake to do. But I just helped out and held the flashlight. 

An hour later....... we decided to go back down the hill and build a fire down there. 

Had to wake Tanna from her nap on the rocks and back down we went. 

working on the bowdrill fire - Tim, we could have used your expertise!!

We boiled water for our hot chocolate, ate blue & white goldfish and cold Chinese food, watched the Northerns Lights, laughed a whole bunch - you have to when there's a slight language barrier that causes misunderstanding and miscommunication. Unforgettable night for sure! I was dropped back off at my house at 410AM!

huddled around the fire

on the ride back

My sister and I had planned on going to Anchorage Saturday..... my idea of leaving at 9AM didn't quite work out, seeing as I didn't wake up until nine. Finally got on the road at eleven.

First stop of the trip was at Red Robin in Wasilla! Love that place. Whenever we Fairbanksans travel, we love going to restaurants that we don't have here. I had been dreaming of a Royal Burger from Red Robin. And it was everything I remembered. :)

Royal Burger

Saturday was a beautiful day. A bit overcast and cloudy and it rained a little here and there, but it was still a nice drive. I love my state! and it is a beautiful time of year; the leaves are just starting to turn colors (mostly yellow). Both of us were on the watch for a bear, really wanted to see one. But no luck this trip. But we did see a lot of tourists. They're everywhere! Ha. 

Nenana River

shopping at Target

We did some shopping Saturday evening without much luck. I got a couple things, but Lacey couldn't find anything. So after church Sunday morning, we stopped by the mall. Plan was just to run in and look around and then get on the road.... yeah, well this entire two day trip was everything but according to plan. We didn't leave Anchorage until almost 5pm. But Lacey did find some things at the mall, so we were happy with the shopping trip. 

We grabbed some Arbys to bring home and then ice cream for the road from DQ (another two restaurants we don't have in Fairbanks) before heading north. The drive home was very wet; pretty sure it rained the entire time. We got to Denali just after 9pm. Walked around a little, stretching our legs and checking on tshirt prices. Lacey bought a few items she hasn't been able to find in town. As we were walking back to my car, I stuck my hand in my jacket pocket for my keys. They weren't there! weird, so I checked my other pockets, not there either. I asked Lacey, "where's my keys?" 

She just looked at me for a second and then said - don't tell me that! don't joke around with me! 

I'm not joking. I don't know where my keys are. So, we walked back to my car and there they were on my seat. I don't know if I took them out of the ignition, stuck them in my pocket and they fell out or what. But yep, both car keys I had with me were in the car and the car was locked. And all the windows rolled all the way up and my sun roof closed up tight because of the rain. Great. :/

eating blizzards!

Denali is two hours south of Fairbanks. And it's a tourist spot, a National Park (that's where Mt. McKinley is), so there isn't any taxi cab drivers to call to unlock a car. And the Troopers said they'd break my window to get in, but that was all. Well, thanks. I could do that myself. We walked around, trying to find a towing company or someone to help; asked at the gas station if they had a slim jim to get into a locked car. The attendant there was from Eastern Europe and didn't even know what a slim jim was. Well, that was another dead end. We walked over to the hotel to see if their maintenance or security people would be able to help us. Same thing, no they didn't have the tools to help. But they offered to let us chill in the lobby until we got back into our car.

Called some people at home, like my brother, dad and other friends. My brother's car has been acting up, so he didn't want to make the trip. And Dad had to be somewhere early the next morning, so he said he'd send my mom with my spare key from the house. Before she could leave though, a friend called me back and said he would drive my key down to us. So Micah and Tanna came to our rescue. For two plus hours, Lacey and I hung out in the empty hotel lobby. We passed the time by calling a friend on speaker phone (craziness!) and talking. I fell asleep at one point. They finally arrived about 1:20am and we got back on the road. Another night when I made it home after 4am. So glad it was Labor Day on Monday, so I didn't have work.

Yeah, it was a crazy weekend. But I now have memories with my sister and friends that I'll remember the rest of my life! and we already laugh over our trip to Anchorage. :)
Can't say life isn't exciting..... 

having fun in Denali, before I found out about my keys

pic from Lacey's phone - caused by wind? weird.