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It’s hard to stay positive with all that life throws at you, let alone what the Army throws at you. In general I try to not let moments get me down, like a bad day at work, an assignment gone wrong, or time apart from loved ones, but it’s hard. There are always days or weeks that you have the blues. So just what do I do to stay as positive as I can?
Thanks to one of my favorite sites Brit + Co. I discovered Goldbely. The site offers regional favorites from across the U.S. to your day the next day, and as someone that lives far away from some of my favorite foods (both from Arizona and New York), this is a fantastic idea! And it lowers the cost a bit (I’ll explain).
So when I discovered that my husband’s all-time favorite food, I knew I had to buy them for his birthday. And…well, let’s just say: Best. Birthday. Present. Ever.
We took the end of our vacation and a long weekend to drive to Glacier National Park in Montana. The Seattle area is the largest metropolitan area to the park, airport wise, but there are closer cities and towns. While we are living in Washington we wanted to be sure to visit this natural beauty. We had a total of 5 days to drive there, visit, and get home; to be honest it was a bit rushed in some ways but perfect in others.
We drove to the Washington/Idaho border on day 1. And wow was Eastern Washington pretty! It reminded me of Arizona in a lot of ways. It was a lot dryer and flat. You could see for miles upon miles. The next day we drove across the panhandle of Idaho straight into Montana! In my research I realized that on our way to the park was the National Bison Refuge and well, we just had to stop and see the animals!
When we went on our trip to the Olympic National Park we stayed in Forks, WA. It’s the biggest town on the Western side of the park and if you didn’t know it is most known for (at least as of late) for being the setting of Twilight. The logging town has seen better days and it is definitely trying to capitalize on the popular books and movies.
First off let me tell you this: I don’t like Twilight. I have not read the books but I saw the first movie and it was awful. I have heard they got a bit better, from a friend who had to watch them for her job at an entertainment magazine. But I’m not sold. But alas, it’s popular. And you can’t turn a corner in or around Forks and not be reminded that it’s set there. The movies weren’t filmed in the area, but the town has identified homes as those belonging to the main characters. And you can take a picture with Bella’s car (from the book version):
This is repurposed from my “old” blog. Enjoy!
The town of Bremerton, WA is located in the Kitsap Peninsula. You can reach it via Highway 16 or ferry from Seattle. This waterfront town is home to a Naval Base and Shipyard. It’s also home to Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Adrian, member of the U.S. Swim Team. Driving into the town you see large Naval destroyers and aircraft carriers that are either in port for repairs or are retired. We headed up there on a Sunday, which I would not suggest, most of the town’s stores and restaurants weren’t open, so try to go on a Saturday or weekday if you can.
This post has been repurposed from my previous blog. All photos by Jessica Hall.
Before deployment last year we took a mini-vacation to the charming Bainbridge Island just west of Seattle. The island feels like a small town and has breathtaking views of Seattle along its shores, as well as on the ferry ride over.
This post is repurposed from my former blog Hall Pass and an article I wrote when I used to work for the local base paper (you can read that as well on their website) when I attended the media day prior to opening last year. I haven’t made it back since so some of the photos may be outdated. All photos by Jessica Hall.
In downtown Tacoma is the new LeMay America’s Car Museum. I won’t lie to you, I love me a beautiful classic car, and the museum does not disappoint. But they also had cars that the average person today has owned or driven at some point, like station wagons and hybrid cars. And that is part of what makes LeMay America’s Car Museum special: it’s relatable.
One of the things that I love about Joint Base Lewis-McChord is it’s proximity to cities and culture. Coming off years of living in NYC where I lived down the street from museums, film shoots, great restaurants, this is a huge plus for me! HUGE! I had been meaning to go to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma since we arrived but one thing or another always came up and I hadn’t gone yet. They hosted a Military Appreciation Day in February so we headed on over to enjoy a free day at the museum.
Tulips are a big deal in Washington. You’d think it’s Amsterdam. Actually, flowers in general are awesome out here, but the reigning queen of Spring is the tulip. I think part of this reason is that north of Seattle is a place called Skagit Valley and they grow tulips upon tulips upon tulips. And daffodils. And irises. And it’s gorgeous. We went up a little early in the festival (it runs all of April) and caught the end of daffodils and beginning of tulips. One thing that amazed me was the variety of tulips. Not only in color but petal shape too. And they had some awesome names like Ninja. Honestly that’s the only one I remember right now but awesome right?
