Seattle, WA

Our trip to Washington was a COMPLETELY unexpected experience. Last year Scott and I backpacked through 30 luscious miles of Olympic National Park and this year, we planned on taking our friends along the same trail to witness the beauty we did. Unfortunately, things fell through the day before our flight and our friends couldn't join us, so Scott and I traveled to Seattle without a plan. As amazing as the rain forest is, we wanted to experience something new, so we decided to stay in downtown Seattle and wing it... and it was seriously one of the best experiences ever. Things worked out so perfectly; it was unbelievable. The the sun was out 90% of the time we were there (otherwise, it barely sprinkled); we went to restaurants at strange times of the day, and it happened to be happy hour; we visited the Seattle Art Museum, and it was free entry day; we got to the Pike Place Starbucks, and the line was only to the door. I mean, it was nuts. It was refreshing to be in a completely new city with so much to explore and no schedule. And as much as I love spending time outside, it was nice not having to worry about bears, elk, and killer goats. Last year, Scott and I ate our dinner back-to-back for 360 visibility, just in case. This year, our biggest problems were not having sufficiently large stomachs and bladders to try all the food and drink all the coffee.