Northwest in the Winter

Trent and I had an awesome opportunity to go up to Seattle for a quick vacation. The main reason for the visit was to take care of some banking in Canada, but since I had never been to Seattle before we decided to spend the bulk of our time there. Lucky for us, Trent's aunt and uncle live there and we were able to stay with them. They live on the Puget Sound. I once told someone from Seattle this, and they responded with "pretty much everyone in Seattle lives on Puget Sound". What I didn't know until now is that unlike everyone in Seattle, Jimmy and Debbie literally live on Puget Sound!!! What a view! I am not sure how you can have a bad day with that view! There is something so calming about staring out at the water and watching the boats passing by. . .

From the moment we arrived in Seattle, I was in love. There is so much personality and character in this city! The houses are not made from stucco and they come in beautiful colors like red, blue, green and purple! There are very few restaurant chains and so each building has unique signage and decor! Our first day there, Debbie gave us the perfect all inclusive tour. It was a typical winter day in Seattle, (cold, wet and gray) so it was nice to be able to see the sights from the comfort of the car. We were fortunate to see the Seattle Skyline clearly, however, the mountains were covered in thick clouds. One of my favorite sights was the Fremont Troll which is a sculpture of a massive troll located under a bridge in this hip cool neighborhood called Fremont. I also loved downtown Seattle as there is nothing I enjoy more than a big busy city with lot's of great shops and restaurants. While in the downtown area we were able to go to the first ever Starbucks and to Pike's Market, both really cool famous locations. I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't any fish being thrown around but it was still really cool to be there. That night, Jimmy and Debbie took us to a seafood restaurant located directly across from the Seattle Skyline. It was right on the water and the view was spectacular.

The following day, Trent and I drove up to Vancouver, Canada. He needed to get some things from the office located in Langley and we desperately needed to reconfigure our bank account. It has been very challenging working for a foreign company and getting paid in foreign currency. It seemed a bit silly to have to go all the way to Canada to do some banking but it was a good excuse to travel anyway. The weather was absolutely horrible. It never stopped raining from Seattle all the way to Vancouver. It is shocking to see so much rain that never seems to end. Although, the weather conditions were not ideal, Vancouver is a beautiful city. The downtown reminded me of Chicago and I of course loved Robson St. which is full of great shops. My favorite part of the city was Stanley Park. It was too miserable outside to get out of the car but even driving through the park is worthwhile. I couldn't help but hope that we move to Vancouver next and I know that I would love it.

I have to admit that one of the highlights of the trip was our bed, it was literally the most comfortable bed I have ever slept it. Even though I had planned a jam packed itinerary I was willing to let that all go out the window just to stay in that bed. I am not sure how anyone works in Seattle, especially during the winter. If I could stay home in bed all day, I would definitely want to live there!

Jimmy and Debbie were very generous to let us stay at their home and to take time away from their busy schedules to show us around. It is always a cool thing to be able to tour a new place with locals as we saw the best of Seattle in a very short amount of time. As much as I love my little beauties it was also nice to be kid free for a few days. It is not very often that Trent and I get to spend time alone and we had such an incredible time together. It was a much needed trip, and I can't wait to go back (next time it will have to be in the summer!).