Jaded in Emerald City

Adventurous romps in Seattle city experienced by yours truly

Sheer Beauty

July 12, 2010



I had a BLAST this weekend with Sara and Brian who came to visit me in Seattle! :) It was so good to see friends again. I was a little sad when they left but I realized that I’ll be back home so soon! I only have 3 weeks left in Washington. Wow…where did the time go? I’m sad and happy…I want to be home with my family and friends again but I’m also sad to say goodbye to this place.
On a lighter note, the three of us packed so much stuff into two days! They saw my apartment and met my roommate and I got a chance to show them around my neighborhood and the U-district. We had some lattes and French toast from Café on the Ave and then left the city for a bit and went to one of the islands nearby and shopped and ate and had so much fun. That night, we decided to see Eclipse again at the historic Metro cinema down the street from my apartment.



But, I think the most fun was definitely had on Sunday. The Olympic Peninsula is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t imagine that there are many more places more spectacular. We rode the ferry from Seattle to Kingston and drove through Port Angeles and Sequim on the Pacific Coast Byway all the way to the absolute farthest point at La Push beach through Forks. Sequim was so purple! It was the epitome of a little cottage mountain town. We went to a lavender field and I just stood there breathing for a few minutes. I have a new respect for all things lavender scented or flavored. :) Ahh..Sequim was so quaint. Port Angeles is on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a body of water popular for whale watchers. While we didn’t see any orcas, we did get to take in a breathtaking view of the snowcapped Olympic Mountains at lunch. :)





After passing through those towns, we made it into the less populated forest where we passed Lake Crescent, a turquoise glacial lake in the middle of the mountains. The only way I know how to describe it is to just say it was majestic. God is so amazing to have made something like this possible; it was hard to believe my eyes. Of course, we had to dip our feet in! It was freezing!





We took way too many pictures, then jumped back into our little rented Mazda and hightailed it to Forks. Honestly, the town of Forks isn’t too special. There are some great trees, but other than that, there’s really nothing there. They do have a very extravagant Twilight tourist shop there now and a great fudge store where we stopped, of course. But, the real beauty was down the road at La Push beach.







In the place of soft white sand, there’s driftwood galore and small stones intricately shaped and smoothed by Mother Nature in a multitude of different colors. I’ve heard that the beach lights up like a rainbow when the sun shines, but we ARE talking about the peninsula so it was raining when we there. The rain here is so different because it’s usually just mist. In Florida, it’s more or less like the expression “when it rains or pours.” Actually, its one of the only things I prefer from back home-the torrential downpours are actually really comforting to me. Anyway, I took some stones home with me. :) I wish I knew how to make jewelry out of them!





About 100 yards out in the water, there are cliffs broken off that look so tribal or ancient, so not man- made that you knew you were really in recluse. There are trees just sprouting up on the top of them. The tidal pools back on the beach were teeming with life, from starfish to sea urchins and the like. Sara and I finally had to drag Brian back up the long trail through the beachside woods to the car because we were getting hypothermia! Lol….






The beauty of all these things had me really thoughtful on the way home. I think it’s impossible to be surrounded by such beauty and not believe that someone has an absolute plan for your life. It made me really ambitious and excited too. Lately, I’ve really felt like I can do anything. If I have what it takes to be brave, I’m capable of reaching the stars. :)

Until next time….


Song of the Day- “No One’s Gonna Love You..” (More than I Do) Band of Horses