SUP is what's up.

Congratulations SUP.  You win.  I would always see people stand-up paddelboarding when I was at Gas Works or at Golden Gardens and think it looked like such a calming, fun experience.  Little did I know, until I tried it with my friend Hang. 

We probably picked one of the brightest, sunniest days of the summer, which made the experience that much better. 

Hang seemed to be a natural and didn't fall in once.  I on the other hand struggled to feel comfortable just tooling around on my knees.  It was so hard to keep balanced with the waves!  It wasn't until nearly the end of our 2-hour session that I took the plunge (literally) and tried actually standing up on my paddleboard.  Once you get the feel, it was pretty fun, but I still struggled to feel super comfortable without my lower kneeling paddleboarding position.  After falling into the water about 4 times, I decided to stick to my knees to make it back to the shore.  I must say that the instructor was a pro, though, at snapping at least 1 picture where it looked like I knew what I was doing. :)

Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad

My parents and I headed to the shadow of Mt. Rainier to hop aboard the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad in Elbe, WA.  Although it was an early morning, it was so much fun to ride the steam-powered train (and hear the sound of the train whistle!), which took us to and from Mineral Lake.  In the past when I have visited Mt. Rainier, I have seen the area as a hiker, but it was interesting to see that area by venturing on the tracks through people's backyards (one which featured tons of metal figurines and sculptures). 

After our ride, we had lunch in an old railcar that made almost everything they served from scratch.  Although the place was a bit pricey, the food was good...and who wouldn't love eating a meal in an old train car for an experience?).   

Although I should have gotten home to study for my upcoming CPA test, we drove through Mt. Rainier National Park.  At Paradise at the top of the mountain, clouds covered our view of the mountain, but once we headed down the back side of the mountain we were able to get straight shots of Rainier in all its glory. 

The trip was not complete without a stop at Black Diamond Bakery...I think they have the best baked goods I have ever tasted.  Maybe I am exaggerating, but I don't think so.

I think my mom summed up the day nicely when she said she felt as though she had taken a weekend vacation even though we were just gone for the day.  Lesson learned: I love a good steam-powered train and the PNW is indeed a beautiful place to be.

Kayaking Poulsbo

My friend Kim and I took a day trip through Bainbridge Island to the town of Poulsbo where we had a wildlife kayaking tour. I had heard of Poulsbo (mainly because of the brand Poulsbo RV), but did not know it was such an adorable place.  Before hitting the water, Kim and I stopped for morning coffee and pastries (I love a good maple leaf shaped shortbread!) in the Bavarian themed town. 

During our nature tour, we got to see so many seals (they are sooo adorable and even came to play with us in the water!), starfish, crab and other crustaceans in the water. (Kim is an amazing photographer and snapped the following with her waterproof camera) 

Afterwards, we stopped at the small Marine Center and looked in the tide pools before grabbing a quick bite to eat and walking around town (who doesn't love awesome vintage clothing and a good bead store?). 

Fay Bainbridge State Park was our last stop before getting in line for the ferry back to Seattle!  We loved seeing the Disney themed kites in the sky and sitting on the beach and listening to the calming noise made when the waves brought in and washed away the rocks on the shore.  It's the simple things that make this life so great!  

White Water Rafting the Wenatchee

My friend Dharani and I headed to eastern Washington the weekend after I graduated with my Masters for a white water rafting adventure on the Wenatchee River.  We spent the night at my aunt’s house in Leavenworth and woke up early the next morning to head to Cashmere, where our adventure began.  We poured ourselves into our uber attractive wetsuits and took some pictures while we waited to board the yellow school bus that took us to our launch spot.

I think we were both nervous since the river was higher than normal for the time of the year and there had been reports of some tragedies on the river in weekends past.  After a quick safety training, we took to the rapids of the river and I snapped some pictures with my new waterproof camera when I wasn’t busy paddling as if my life depended on it.

Of course the pictures they took captured the intensity of the day much better:

I look forward to my next white water rafting experience since the trip was so much fun and definitely gave me an awesome adrenaline rush!  Since then, I have been getting lots of tips for good places to go to and can’t wait for next summer.  Of course before our adventure was over, though, Dharani and I stopped at the adorable Anjou Bakery for an afternoon snack.

Atlanta!

I arrived in HOTlanta ready to visit my friend Christopher in a lovely suburb of the city.  I had a great first day rocking out to some Nicki Minaj and walking around a lovely park while catching up.

Over the weekend, we had fun exploring the offerings of downtown Atlanta and had a fun night out with Tia, my old roommate from Memphis. 

In the morning, we headed over to Mary Mac's Tea Room, one of the only existing tea rooms left in Atlanta and a place that many famous personalities and political figures have eaten at over the years.  They had the most amazing southtern home cooking and more sides than anyone could ever dream of!  I even bought a recipe book since I hope to bring the amazing home-cooked food they have to the Pacific Northwest.

Christopher and I were supposed to spend another night downtown, but with an expected snowstorm decided to head back to the suburbs for the night.  The next morning, we awoke to almost a foot of snow...something that only happens once a decade or so in Atlanta.  After watching a cooking show, we were inspired to venture through the snow to a neighborhood grocery store and buy all the ingredients we needed to make our very own homemade pizza (and might have made snow angels as well).

After my flight was delayed a day and then I missed my rescheduled flight due to a jackknifed semi on the freeway, I finally made it on the plane back to Seattle.  It was a great trip indeed!