Tina and I left the comfort of our beds at three in the morning on a Friday. We said goodbye to the palm trees, the pleasant weather, and our animals to embark on an adventure partially paid for by our loving employers. We drove to LA, hopped on a plane, and landed in Seattle, home to the space needle, Starbucks coffee, the Mariners, Nirvana, and of course Grey’s Anatomy. We rented a car and began our drive to Olympic National Park.
The trees were red, orange, yellow, green, and the leaves were falling. It was an amazing sight I have not seen since I lived up North. The three hour drive was beautiful. While we were driving through the park, we would stop the car frequently to get pictures of the fall telling the winter, “Take care of my world while I’m away.” In response a breeze would blow into my face and chill me completely, it was winter whispering that it would be there soon.
Sole Duck falls was the hike we decided to go on. Every few steps one of us would exclaim over a color of a leaf or a plant. We would stop at each little bridge and gaze up and down the creek beds. We followed the noise of the water until we ended up on a bridge overlooking Sole Duck falls. I walked past the bridge and climbed down the little hill and stood on a rock by the falls.
All I could hear was the water falling. It took effort to even hear my own thoughts, and so after a short while I stopped fighting the noise of the falls and just let it overwhelm my ears. I felt a mist falling on my head and so I looked to the sky. It was only when I looked straight up that I could see that it was raining. It was raining only pieces of raindrops. When I looked straight ahead it would appear that the rain had disappeared. As we began our hike back the rain clouds began forming full drops of rain and releasing them onto us. All of the animals went into their hidey holes. The birds quieted down and found shelter. All I could hear was the distant falls and the rain pattering onto the trees, through the leaves, and onto the ground. It was abundantly clear to me that this was where water reigned. I was a guest in this place.
I stopped walking for fear my footsteps would offend, being the only sound aside from the water. After a minute of being still, listening to the rain, the river, and the falls, the rain lightened and some nearby birds chirped, assuring me I could continue my journey.
The city of Seattle held quite a different feeling to it than the park. Saturday morning we sat drinking Seattle’s Best coffee, reading the Seattle Times, and enjoying a quiet breakfast. Pike’s Place was an experience nearly opposite of the quiet forest. I was surrounded by multitudes of people, food, and very creative junk to fill your home with. We smiled at the cute young men chanting and throwing the fish around. I stopped and smelled the organic flowers. I tasted lemon covered hazelnuts, which, in my opinion is one of the tastiest treats in the world.
There was some work at this point, and some interesting talks (and if you are interested in small animal oncology I would be happy to share my favorite parts of the conference…) Sunday evening consisted of having dinner with the oncologist that we work for. We all enjoyed fish and chips that were air fried (?) and it was FANTASTIC! We also loved the beer sampler, after all it was Pike’s Place Brewery. We voted Pike’s Tandem as #1 beer. My close second was Pikes xxxxx Stout. After dinner we joined a very great friend of mine and his amazing wife, Mike and Suzanne. They abandoned me in Santa Barbara a few years ago and moved to Seattle. While I was in Seattle I began to see why.
The next day included some more talks and then we hopped on a ferry and went to Bainbridge island. It’s an adorable place with cute houses along the water. We walked until we found a pub, at which point it was a requirement to stop, eat, and drink (that saying always stuck in my head better than stop drop and roll). I read the paper and stared out at the still water. I watched as the multicolored leaves drifted from the trees to the ground. Each day that I was there I saw the fall packing up its’ leaves and the winter inching closer. I live where palm trees shed their fronds all year round, the grass stays green, and I can usually get away with jeans or shorts any day of the year. The season change in Seattle was almost palpable, and that had me in awe.
In the afternoon we got back onto the ferry and watched Seattle approach. After we got back I was slightly disappointed that the ferry didn’t crash, I didn’t almost drown, and Dr. Shepherd didn’t rescue me… who am I kidding? I would have settled for tripping, getting a sprained ankle and having a tall handsome Seattlite in North Face fleece help me off the ferry.
