Monday, February 23, 2009

Bear Sightings & More

Last weekend, Jacob went on his first road trip. We traveled five hours by car to visit my sister at her college way out in the middle of nowhere. The town she is lives in was basically built around the university. Once we got about 1.5 hours outside of Seattle, the roads were basically empty- and it was kinda spooky. After we traveled down the mountain pass, all you could see for miles was flatlands. We passed farm after farm, field after field. I forgot that at least half of Washington looked like this!

I am 100% a water person. I grew up on an island (7 miles across by 12 miles long). The only time I don't remember living in the Seattle area (I lived in Alaska was I was really young) I was in college living on the edge of the country's largest lake- Lake Michigan. If I am not near water and if I am surrounded only by land, I begin to feel claustrophobic. I guess you would call that landphobic? So while it was nice to visit my sister, I could never live there.

The highlight of the trip: the hotel! I LOVE hotels. I can't describe it. I love staying in hotels more than I love travelling to other cities. I love the smell of hotel rooms- chlorine, cleaning products and freshness. I love the feel of cool hotel bed sheets against my skin. I love staying up late sitting in bed watching the news in a foreign city. The feeling of relaxing in your room after a dip in the pool- clean and refreshed. I love the possibility of adventure that hotels give. Looking down at rooftops, cityscapes, beaches, and alleys from hotel windows. I love the sound of flip flopped or sneakered footsteps echoing down hotel hallways. The hustle and bustle of people coming and going. Continental breakfasts and late night trips to the vending machine. And don't get me started on Hotelsex! I just love everything about them!

At the hotel we stayed at this weekend, Jacob got to go into a pool for the first time. He loved the water and laughed when his Grandpa splashed about making funny faces. Then he sat on my lap while I dipped my feet into the hot tub. It was heavenly!
The next morning we took a tour of my sister's college town. Enjoyed some yummy lunch and passed by a bear conservation! My little bear got to meet a couple of real bears! The bears definately rank second among trip highlights, after the hotel of course.


But after spending ten plus hours in a car all weekend, it was nice to be back home. Next to water. Away from bears. And back in our beds.

3 comments:

LEO said...

What a fun little trip!

And I am totally a landophobe too!

newduck said...

Hey I live on Lake Michigan! I'm a desert person myself (and also a dessert person, but that's another story), but I do enjoy living here. And those pictures of Jacob? I can't get over how big he's getting, and what a happy bubba!

MJV said...

He is soooo beautiful!!! What a cutie-pie. Looks like you guys enjoyed the trip. I was driving by the lake we live near this morning and wishing I lived a few miles closer to it so I could have that view every morning.