my seattle trip....just incase you were curious

My trip to Australia started off with a little travel in the US. This little bit of travel turned into quite an ordeal, since it took me 3 days to fly from Boston to Seattle. After spending a night in Boston with Sarah Jenkins (on purpose) I got stuck in DC because of rain, so Genna’s little sis Ellis picked me up and the next day she drove me all around DC. I then got re routed to San Fran, and got stuck there overnight. Luckily, my sister Sarah has a friend named Mo who came and picked me up at midnight. She was fabulous and has an amazing place in the Presidio. After a great breakfast, Mo dropped me off at Union Square, where I stored my carry on luggage at the Macy’s Customer Service desk and walked around. There were a ton of big sales, but I was, surprisingly, too tired to shop so I wrote postcards and people watched in Union Square. My flight out of Boston was delayed 3 hours and my flight out of DC was delayed 6 hours, so I was relieved when my flight from San Fran to Seattle was only delayed 1 ½ hours! I did eventually arrive in Seattle though (on the 29th instead of the 27th as planned) and had an AMAZING time. I stayed with Kevin, who lives on Capitol Hill. His family is fantastic and it felt like home. I got to meet a ton of Garfield kids (Garfield High is where Kevin and Jay went to school). On Friday, I got to go to Lego Camp, (Kevin’s creation, which has been a successful little program since he was in 8th grade). After lunch with the kids, and then a full afternoon of Lego’s (with a Popsicle break in the middle), we were ready for some beach time (it was hot out!). Kevin and I went over to Scott’s (who went to Garfield and also goes to Claremont McKenna) and we took his boat out on Lake Washington with some other friends. We toured the shoreline (Bill Gates’ house, etc) and then drove around Mercer Island. Turns out Mercer is a bit bigger than we predicted, and we ran out of gas in front of one of the public beaches. We finally got a boat to tow us, which was being ridden by 4 hippies, but we promised them this would give them good karma for at least the whole summer, if not longer. On Saturday Kevin and I went to Pike Place Market, where we actually ran into Pomona people (Mazohra and Cary), which was fun. Kev and I went to Three Girls Bakery for lunch, which was SO tasty, and then we lost ourselves in a wonderful used bookstore. I stocked up on some reading material for the plane ride and Kev found some stuff to keep him busy when he’s not playing with Lego’s or fixing houses (his other job is construction). We stopped by a UW party that night and I got to meet even more Garfield kids. We also ran into Peter there, who is from Garfield, but also goes to Pomona. On Sunday, David’s family picked me up, and I got to spend the whole day with them. David, his mom, his dad and his sister picked me up and took me to Volunteer Park where there is an Asian Art Museum. There was a great blown glass exhibit, and also one of nature photography. They then drove me out to Puget Sound, to one of the ferry stops, and we got a chance to sit by the shore and chat. David and I returned to Kev’s place where we got some food and then the three of us met up with David’s friend from home and the four of us went to see “An Inconvenient Truth” which was REALLY good. On Monday, I spent the whole day with Jay, which was great! We drove around the UW campus, then took a walk on the edge of Lake Washington. After that, I got to see Garfield High and then we went and got Eizells…(?) Famous Chicken. It was indeed fantastic, and Jay and I chowed down on it in a grassy area in the arboretum. As we were leaving, we discovered that the Japanese Garden (the one that Kevin has never been to and has always wanted to go to) was having a free admission day. So, sorry Kev, Jay and I toured the Japanese garden, which was beautiful. We headed back to his house and relaxed for a bit and then Nate came and picked me up for dinner. Nate drove me all around Mercer Island, showing me the high school and some other points of interest and then we headed to his house. His parents cooked an amazing meal, and then we went on Google Earth and checked out the University of Melbourne and Edinburgh (in Scotland, where Kev and Nate are both going for the fall semester). On Tuesday, my last full day in Seattle, Nate came over and he and Kev and I played some tennis. Nate and I then went to the Mariners game! We had great seats, wonderful weather, and a good time, but the Mariners got their butts kicked. That was a shame, I’ll admit, but I still had a blast. Seeing as Tuesday was the 4th of July, and my last day in the US for 5 months, Jay and Rachel threw me a going away BBQ at Jay’s place. Rachel made fruit salad and baked her first pie ever (and it was a delicious apple pie), while Jay barbequed up a storm. In attendance was Nate, Eric, Kevin, Ryan, Laura, Rachel and Jay and Zach (for Pomona people) and Laura’s brother, and also Greg, Luke, and Sam (?), who are Garfield guys. As a going away present, Jay and Rachel presented me with an enormous can of Foster’s (which was extremely thoughtful but not very tasty, sorry guys). We went to Kevin’s friend Galen’s place, which is on the 7th floor of a new building and has a terrace overlooking the whole city. We got to watch the sun set over the city and the mountains, and then we saw a ton of fireworks displays, 2 of which were close and huge! After a full day of fun, I crashed. At 6:30 am I was up and showered and finishing packing. My half-brother Todd picked me up for breakfast at 8 and we spent a few hours together. I hadn’t seen Todd for over 10 years, so it was GREAT to see him! He took me out to Boeing Field and we saw the Air Force One where LBJ was sworn in and also the Concord. When I returned to Kevin’s, his mom made some fabulous Salmon bruschetta and then we headed out for the airport. Whew! I’m writing this on the plane, and we’re about 30 minutes from New Zealand. I had a 2 ½ hour flight from Seattle to LAX, a 4 ½ hour layover, and then a 12 ½ hour flight to Auckland. We have an hour layover and then another 3 ½ hour flight to Melbourne. I met up with Stuart, one of the guys from Pomona who is going to Melbourne with me, and a bunch of other people from our program. Whew! Almost 2 pages and I haven’t even gotten to Australia yet! I can’t wait to get there, and I especially can’t wait to sleep on a bed. I managed to sleep pretty well on the plane, thanks to a few glasses of chardonnay. J Aussie here I come!