Washington 2014 in The Wanderer

Arrived Monday and J picked me up from the airport. He has a really gross beard thing going on. I mean I am not against beards, but when it doesn't grow in right, don't go for it. Yuck. We went to Seattle and got a room at Kings Inn, as tradition! We wandered around town and stopped at the YH and the stupid world cup game was on so it was crowded. We walked to Pike's and I got a few postcards for pen pals. Then he and I did the geocache thing and found a really cool one in the middle of town. The hint was "Items change weekly". Sure enough the cache was located in the Seattle Weekly magazine cage! I got a button and a sticker and put a coaster in since I didn't have much on me to trade. We had been drinking all day and were ready for a nap since it was still early and we wanted to go back out after! Finally the sun set around 10 and we wandered around 2nd st. We went to the Rabbit Hole and the bartender was douchey but I liked the theme of the place. Next we ventured to the clown bar which always reminds me of Portland. Pinball tables and crazy bar food. During our bar-hopping we met some dude from NY who was in town with his parents and looking for people to hang out with so he tagged along with us for awhile, but he got kind of weird at the end. By the time we went to the Hawaiian karaoke bar, he was pretty drunk and telling us he was ready to go back to our hotel room and stuff and we were just like uhhh. Luckily, he decided to head back to his own hotel and J and I called it a night!

Day two we headed back to Oly/Tumwater where J lives. I like the set up he has...a nice back house surrounded by trees and fields of wildflowers. We went to WalMart for groceries and I got a bottle of wine. I drank the whole thing in about an hour and I was talking to his landlord outside about divorce and other stuff. Then he brought out his two goats and his adorable little puppy and they were frolicking around the field it was sooo cute! I couldn't stop staring at the trees. I forgot how HUGE they really are. And everywhere. I love love love Washington in the summer time especially. So many vivid colors. So much beauty to get lost in.

The next day we wandered around downtown Oly. Went to the farmers market. Got some fresh produce and listened to a local folk band. We hung out at capital lake and I was lying on the grass for over an hour just taking in the fact that I was in Washington. We did some more bar hopping and then stopped at this wine shop where I bought another bottle. Finished it that night and he showed me this website called reddit and you can seriously got lost on that thing. Apparently there is this sub reddit for pen pals and also one for mystery boxes where you can send a stranger a box of items that show who you are and you get one in return. Very cool! I will have to look into that some time.

On 4th of July I realized I was starting to get sick or my allergies were just going crazy. I felt so shitty so I ended up sleeping most of the day. Around 9:30 we headed towards the firework show and luckily found parking without having to pay and walked over to the bar. We had a really good talk about our parents and relationship and what not and then we walked out when the firework show started. It was cool because the bar was located in the perfect spot where we got to be right in between two shows. I couldn't help but wish I was there with D! I missed him sooo much. But I knew he was having his own fun in San Clemente with his friends.

The next day we went back to Oly and went to this tea place and I got this tea called Olympia Sunset. It was sooooo good. J got some locally grown honey and I made a lot of tea which helped with my sore throat. I got another bottle of wine called Josh, which I first had in Mass and just love that it is called Josh since that was the name of my best friend who passed away in 2004.

Toward the end of the trip I was getting homesick for D and Jasper, and I felt my cold getting worse and worse. (I'm sure drinking a bottle of wine every night also didn't help!) But fuck it, I was on vacation!! J and I watched this movie called Her and it was really good! I love Joaquin Phoenix.

On my last day there, J wanted me to try his favorite burger place and I wanted him to try mine which was in Lacey! So we went to his for lunch and mine for dinner. It was such a mind fuck being back in Lacey. I passed the place Dave and Kurt lived. The strawberry field. The QFC and Safeway. Pints and Quarts. Our apartment. Such good memories, yet sad at the same time.

Overall, it was such a good trip! Very relaxing, and somewhat of a closure to the whole Dave and I thing. I also feel closer to Washington again, but coming to terms with the idea of perhaps not ever actually living there. I say this because if I do move out of state again, it will probably be to NC to be close to Andrea and Tyler. But really, I think D and I are going to be together for awhile. Things are going so good with us and who knows where our future together will take us. He finally asked me to be his girlfriend in the most adorable way. I am really falling in love with this guy! <3