Blessed? YOU BET! Everyone says it, but it’s true- what an amazing gift 30 days is!
I was beyond blessed to spend 2 weeks on an amazing vacation with my parents in the Seattle area. My dad is a planner (I come by it honestly!) and loves maps, so he had each day organized by area town. He also had all our public transpiration worked out which allowed us to spend as much time possible enjoying the sites and and not spending all our time getting there. The Chihuly museum was one of my favorite things we did in the city. He’s from Tacoma, WA which we were also able to visit. They have a public bridge there with some of his glass sculptures, so that was an added bonus!
After traipsing the city for 4 days my feet and legs were worn out! I was a little worried how I’d do with my 1/2 marathon after all the hill climbing we’d been doing. I never knew streets could be so steep! Thankfully, I had picked the flat (compared to the rest of Seattle and NOT Abilene, TX) Orca Half Marathon. It was about 5 min over my PR. However, it was 2hr 29min which made it under 2 1/2, so I was pleased with my results. I did not see an Orca, but it was by far the most beautiful run I’ve ever done! And later in the week I got to “ride” an Orca….
We spent some time enjoying God’s beautiful creations which was a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of the city. We visited Mt Rainer (a volcano!) and even though it was overcast and we couldn’t see the top, it was a beautiful day full of waterfalls and even a bit of snow. We enjoyed some coffee by a fire at a lodge in Paradise, WA while looking out the window at snow on the ground in September- that’s a memory to treasure! We spent a couple of days at Olympic National Park from mountains to the rain forest to the beach! Such variety and ample opportunity to see God’s creativity and to take a moment to rest in the quiet of nature. Even the roar of the ocean is a quiet compared to the hurry and buzz of every day life.
We made our way to Canada via ferry where we ran into friends from church! And while in Canada we met some people from Texas that knew a friend of my parents! Small world. Another highlight of the trip was having High Tea in a garden in Victoria, BC!
To end the trip, we got to go to church with Anna Robbins! We had lunch, saw her stunning view, toured her home town and learned about native plants! We also got to see Jyl Lopez on our drive back to Abilene after flying into DFW. It was wonderful to hug their necks and fun to see 2 remote offices 🙂
This was an all around amazing trip. I feel so blessed by FD for the time off and my parents for the memories. And best off all, I’ve had time to recover from vacation before returning to work. This period since the trip has definitely been a time of rest and it’s been incredible!