Just Lauren

Last week, during my spring break, Gene and I visited Washington. I hadn’t been back to the Seattle area in over four years so it was high time I went. The weather held out for us the entire time, which was amazing.

We started the trip with Sidney and her parents picking us up and taking us to this great restaurant for lunch. We then met up with Lydia and went to Pat’s house to hang out with him and his family and to spend the night. We played Pandemic and Eco Flux, had a bbq, and played with his kids.

We spent a day in Kennewick with Gene’s parents and visited with Aaron and his girlfriend when they came over. We took a day to visit Central (our university) where Sidney and I bought matching sweatshirts. It was weird to go back there, I figured I would be really sentimental, and although I was sentimental, it wasn’t nearly to the extent I had thought. I finally realized at the end of our walk around the campus that this wasn’t my home anymore, this wasn’t my place. It holds great memories but that’s it now.

 

Our journey then continued by borrowing Lydia’s car and driving to Mount Rainier. It was the first time I had ever been to Mount Rainier so I was quite excited. The drive was beautiful and problem free. We made it to the National Park Inn with enough time for an hour long hike right before sunset. We came back and had dinner at the restaurant.

 

 

The next morning we went on what we thought was a two mile hike that turned out to be over 5 miles long. On top of that, a good portion of the hike was covered in snow, which made walking a bit more difficult, especially on the downward parts. Still, it was absolutely beautiful (my favorite picture of the whole vacation is from the hike, see below) and breathtaking when we saw Mount Rainier and realized how close we were.

After our hike we hopped in the car and drove to my friend Katie’s home! We went on a walk to Lake Washington where we watched the sun begin to set. It was so relaxing and peaceful, it was exactly what I needed, good friends, good views, and good weather. We reluctantly left the lake and had dinner at Mox Boardinghouse where we played a fun card game and ate some delicious food.

The next day we ate breakfast at a cute, local bakery, played Sushi Go, went to Uwajimaya, and then walked around the Bellevue Botanical Garden (it’s free!) It was a short but sweet visit, I’m hoping Katie and Mitch can visit Denver in the near future.

We then left Katie’s and made our way to Elisabeth’s. We hung out and then visited an old friend from Central, who was visiting to attend an environmental conference. Yet again it was so nice to catch up with someone I hadn’t seen in years. We ended up going to Seattle and seeing the city at sunset, which was lovely.

While visiting Elisabeth, we went on a walk around a pretty lake (where we discussed which mythological/fantasy being we would want to be), played Dungeons and Dragons, and did a puzzle room (we escaped!).

I had a fantastic time and wish that I could have had a few more days. But the real world called and I had to go home. I hope that I’ll visit Washington more often as I have multiple friends there who I would love to see. At the very least, I don’t want another four years to go by before I go again. It’s such a great place with great people, how can I stay away?!

I leave you with a happy picture of Gene.