Off to Washington

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I made my first trip to the Northwestern part of the United States last week, and boy was it one for the books. This blog post will go over some of my experiences in the state of Washington, and how they shaped my opinion of this area as a whole. In order to better understand my point of view, I believe it's important to note that I have personally lived in El Paso, TX the majority of my life. If you know anything about El Paso then you probably understand that it consists of primarily desert and little vegetation. Although it is not much to look at, I am happy to say that you will not find better Mexican food and friendlier people in this small yet humble city. That being said, over time I began to grow quite complacent with my surroundings, unaware of the magnificent landscapes that may reside in other parts of the country.

I made my trip to Washington predominately to visit family and attend my cousin's wedding, as well as to visit with a local orthodontist in the area (I'll explain why this is important later). I was only going to be in the area a little less than 5 days, so I wanted to make the most of my time. Since my cousin lives in the area, I made sure to remind her beforehand to make a list of restaurants with food I wouldn't think twice about sinking my teeth into. Food is a high priority for me right now, since everything seems to taste just a tad better ever since I got my braces off less than a month ago. Our first stop once we got into Vancouver was a Donut shop called Voodoo Doughnuts . I highly recommend it! I must say, though, that it was almost hard to concentrate on the taste bud explosion happening in my mouth because of the beautiful scenery. There were what looked like 50ft trees everywhere you looked, and a everything was so green! Needless to say, I was not in Texas anymore!

I was able to explore much of Washington, going through Portland, Camas, Vancouver, and even Leavenworth when we were driving to the wedding. The whole time I was overwhelmed at the beauty of the state. Along the way we stopped by a place called Icicle Creek , which made me feel like I was transported into the movie, 'The Revenant.' From our Cabin we could see the peak of one of the snow-capped mountains near Vancouver (I think), as well as a ridge of trees that went on for what seemed like at least 5 miles. Every morning, without fail, I would wake up and sit on our balcony with a hot cup of coffee, and simply admire God's work. Four mornings I did this, and by the fourth day it was still as entertaining and rewarding as it was the first time. What I liked best about this place is that the Mountains somehow made me feel small. Not small in a bad way, but in a way that helped me put things into perspective. In a subtle way, it allowed me to sort out what was truly important.

As I mentioned before, I am currently working with an orthodontist who works in the area! Because of this, I believe it will be much easier to convince my boss to let me make another trip back to this area sometime soon. Until then, though, I must be satisfied by the leftover VooDoo Doughnuts I brought home from my trip.

-John

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Photos

Venue
Leavenworth, WA