The Wonders of Washington: Sleepless in Seattle.

Our trip came to a close with another two & a half day dose of Seattle before jetted back to the East Coast. We packed up the cabin... our snug little hobbit hole for almost two weeks of neverending comraderie & adventure. We made a little stop at a farm, a home belonging to some of Rachel's friends, where we saw turkeys, pups, fancy chickens, and bunnies, and said our goodbyes to Mrs. Bradley & dear Gena!

We ended up back at Pike Place Market where we hung out with the golden pig (also named Rachel). We soaked up the sunshine from a waterfront viewing window while we waited to meet our friend Brittney & her boyfriend for a delicious dinner at The Spaghetti Factory.

We drove around the city as the sun was setting & finally after an hour of hunting, we tracked down the ominous Fremont Troll under the Fremont Bridge. (The same troll from the film 10 Things I Hate About You.)

We spent the next two nights at a hotel right outside of the city & rode the bus back into Seattle (along with quite a few interesting characters) the next morning for even more exploration & sight seeing. My favorite part of the entire day was the hours of conversation about life, love, and the future in Espresso Vivace... where I had the best coffee EVER, the White Velvet Mocha, recommended by Jason Gray the great!

We traipsed everywhichway stopping in little shops & photgraphing everything in sight for the rest of the afternoon & then had a glorious goodbye feast at The Cheesecake Factory.

And then... the ultimate tourist event! We visited the top of the Space Needle & watched the sun set hundreds of feet above the city, staring at Seattle until thousands of twinkly lights took the place of the daytime bustle down below.

CHEESY!

Our last night together was a good old fashioned sleepover, filled with laughter & little bit o' sadness because we would once again be sent to different corners of the Earth. Life just makes so much more sense when we're together! (or perhaps it makes less sense, but that's the way we like it.)

On June 28th, 2010 we followed the yellow paint road to the airport & said our tearful farewell to our favorite Japanese-tipped Singaporean Indian Abby & sent her off to Japanland. We spent the ENTIRE day at the mall where we shopped, played in the Apple Store, shopped, ate Thai food, shopped some more, saw Iron Man 2 at the movies, ate Ben & Jerry's Icecream, & then a final stop at Starbucks before we had to part with our dear Rachel. We cried. Yes, again. Tears of sorrow for the impending seperation, tears of joy for the jolly good time we had together. And then we flew away into the sky & back home to Virginia Beach.

The End.

(The end is not the end. Ending is beginning.)