I Heard Good Music Comes Out of Seattle - Has Nothing to Do With This Post

View of the Seattle Skyline from Kerry Park

The bus ride to Seattle only took about three hours and Rob met me at the station. I had never been to Seattle before, but people told me that I would like it, and I was feeling pretty excited. Because part of the motivation of this adventure was to find a new home, I wanted to see what Seattle was all about and if she would take me in.

When the bus arrived, it was raining. We went back to Rob's house to wait for his wife, Margaret, to get home from work. The best thing about Rob's house is that he has sparkling water on tap! All the sparkling water you can drink! And I love sparkling water.

Rob says Seattleites don't carry umbrellas.
I like umbrellas.

When Margaret got home, we went to a cool, dimly lit punk bar for burritos. Before we left the burrito-bar, I used the bathroom only to notice that the large window of the one-toilet-room was wide open and people were in the next building. Hello! You just saw my butt! (This was how many months ago? And this is what I remember: an open window and my bare bum.)

On April 29th, I woke up in Seattle. (Another thing that triggered this trip was that I was trying to spend at least one night in every state. I could now check Washington off my list and I would only have 12 more to go!) I decided the time had come to book some flights, since I was thinking about it. And talking about it. (I have to talk about things a lot before I can actually commit, because if I say it, I am going to do it, even if I don't want to.) This was the moment. I booked a flight to the island of Kauai where I would visit my longtime friend, Eric, and then beyond to New Zealand, where I didn't know a soul and had no idea of what I would do there, other than just get there, maybe just to say I did. Not sure.

I booked the first flight out of San Jose, California for May 8 - just over a week away. I'm in Seattle, remember? I find the journey to be the best part! How am I going to get from Point A to Point B? I don't know but it is seriously the best!

Now I had to be places by certain times. I thought I would spend a few weeks, slowly exploring the Pacific Northwest. Well, no more! 

After getting all settled with the flights, I ventured out and met up with Vincent, my train friend, at Pike Place Market - a must do Seattle thing. Also, it's "Pike", not "Pike's"!  

Pike Place Martket

The Gum Wall. Beautiful and Disgusting.

Everyone said, "Get a picture with the pig!"

The next day, Vincent picked me up for an adventure to Snoqualmie Falls. On the drive there, he played a song by Ben Howard called "Promise." I never heard it before, but everything about it felt right. It was perfectly placed at this point in my journey. Here I was with someone I didn't know a week before as we drove through the mountains in beautiful Washington. I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be. 

I think you should take a few minutes to listen to this song he played on our drive and time travel with me. Just close your eyes and FEEL it!

As I hear this song, I am right back there. I hope you are too. I hope you can imagine being there on the adventure with us. He was exploring his new home, and I was along for the ride, exploring this beautiful world.

We arrived at the falls and wandered around. We talked about how we move a lot. He told me I should probably move to Seattle. I said it isn't out of the question. Who knows?

Vincent ponders.

We trekked to the river below the falls and waited for kayakers that never came.

My big hair at Snoqualmie Falls via Vincent's Instagram.

We drove back towards Seattle and picked his sister up from work. They brought me to Kerry Park which overlooked the skyline of the city. After this, we said our goodbyes and can only hope that our paths will cross again in the future in the real life. 

A few days earlier, when I was in Portland, I came up with this great idea. I decided to download Tinder. If you don't know, it is considered a "hookup app" that shows you people within a certain radius. So, I get this idea that I can make a profile and explain that I'm just traveling through and looking for a local to show me around but I don't want to date.

I know this could be a terrible idea. But it could also be an amazing idea! What do I have to lose? I do these things. And aren't you glad I'm bringing you along on my somewhat impulsive and risky escapades? And "orange you glad I didn't say banana?"

So anyway, I end up meeting up with this guy from The Tinder at a cocktail bar that he picks - not a date. His name is Derek and he is from Boston. When I told him about my story, his eyes lit up and he said "You exploded! I exploded too!" I liked the way he thought of it like that. He had a longtime girlfriend and a house and a job back in Boston but decided he could not do it anymore so he just went clear across the country to Seattle, bought a sailboat even though he had never been on a boat before, and made it his new life. He spent days working on his boat. And I can't remember if he had a job or not, but if he did, I think it was volunteer work or for some humanitarian nonprofit. 

Derek from Tinder parking his bicycle as a stranger (me), a dog,
and a suitcase watch creepily.

I texted him the other day and he said he is still living out there on his boat and loving it. That is nice, isn't it? I like keeping in touch with people.

The next morning when I was getting ready to leave on the bus back to Portland, Rob pointed out that there were no 10am buses. I told him, "Of course there are. I have my ticket already." Well, turns out, I bought a ticket for the day before and all of the buses were sold out for this day.

Traveler fail!

Unfortunately, I had to get back to Portland that day because I had to get a car, to get to the coast, to get to Eugene. By Sunday! Because after Sunday my Eugene friend could not host me and I wanted to see her and her newborn baby! Now I need to figure this out.

I remembered another friend telling me awhile back that she uses Craigslist Rideshare to find people to help her with gas when she is driving across the country in her bus-home. I figured I'd give it a go! People must be going between Seattle and Portland often, right? And not everyone is a crazy person! Worst case scenario? I know. I know.

After a few hours of contacting people and making my own desperate post on Craigslist (NEED TO LEAVE ASAP), a woman finally gets in touch with me that she is heading to Portland soon and I can have a ride.

Now that I have a way to back to Portland, I just have to wait to get picked up and hope that I'm not going to get murdered. This will be the first of many.

As we wrap up the adventure in Seattle and I am still thinking of a new place to call home, here are my thoughts: I liked it there very much, but I also like biking a lot and the hills are intense. I should stop being a baby about hills and grow some calf muscles. In conclusion, I'm still thinking about all of these things!

Conquering Seattle.