i've reached the west coast!

greetings from seattle, WA!

when i started this post i was sitting in a coffee shop in downtown seattle, drinking a soy chai latte and finishing the remains of my green tea mint chocolate chip cookie, watching the rain from the window. the rain shouldn't come as much of a surprise. however, today is absolutely beautiful and sunny. i was sidetracked the last time i tried to post, and now i have some time again at a different coffee shop nearby my friend tiffany's house. i actually felt a little under the weather, and decided to stay longer in seattle while kevin went to hike and camp in olympic nat'l park this weekend. i'm a little bummed about not going -- but i think it was the right decision for this weekend. we arrived here on tuesday early evening, and it was beautiful weather. however, seattle has been true to it's stereotype and rained yesterday and the day before. but it hasn't dampened our plans really, i wanted today to relax in a coffee shop and do some research on our west coast travels specifically national parks in oregon and california, and check emails about woof-ing. we have had to change some plans with woofing, as a bunch of the farmers i had been in touch with for washington were unable to host us. in order for us to get to LA by the end of the month, we will most likely only be woofing in southern california for a few days while on the west coast. hopefully more to come on that, doing some more research on other farms along our southern route. it's definitely good to relax here- being on the road is tiring! i am so glad to have a place to stay, and tiffany's been able to show us some really great places and sites in seattle.

but before i get to seattle - i haven't been able to update on yellowstone national park and our drive through montana, where i celebrated my 23rd birthday. yellowstone is an absolutely stunning park, it's HUGE, and you can spend hours just driving from the north end to the south end of the park. it's the oldest national park in the US and in the world apparently, and has an extensive ecosystem that is protected under the national park system. they have a giant population of buffalo (or bison) which is the wildlife we've seen the most of in national parks and during our long, windy drives. this photos is of a buffalo just walking down the road, passing on the left side of the road. these creatures are MASSIVE and apparently are unpredictable and can charge if you bother them. there are signs everywhere warning you not to approach buffalo and other wildlife in the national parks. we got this picture as we were driving, but a woman in the car in front of us got out of her vehicle and started to cross the street! not smart. nothing happened, but i'm sure they do not enjoy being the spectacle of every tourist driving by.

aside from the vast amount of giant bison from the side of the road, we also saw some amazing sites in yellowstone. the first night we stayed in a rustic cabin in old faithful, and watched it erupt twice in one morning. it's quite the tourist attraction if you can imagine, and the photo to the right shows you how many people were waiting for the geyser to shoot up hot, boiling water, and how insane it looks when it erupts. it wasn't the straight stream of water 150 feet in the air like i imagined, but it was pretty impressive. we actually didn't even intend to see it a second time, but we spent time in the visitor center figuring out some hikes for the next couple days, and went up and did a hike that overlooks the geysers. old faithful isn't the only what they call "thermals" in the park; there are four different types of thermals: geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mudpots. there are places in the park where you can view all of them, and along our long drives within the park we saw many of the hot springs and mudpots from the roads. early in the morning we drove through some the thickest fog i've ever seen, which we deducted must be from the hot springs giving off heat into the cold, moist air. it was crazy! the photo below kind of gives you a feel for how foggy it was on the road.

we did an 11-mile or so hike one of our last days in the park, which wasn't incredibly strenuous, but a nice long hike. we hiked along two smaller lakes in the park (compared to lake yellowstone which is huge) and a river, which was beautiful. the smell of pine needles and fresh air was intoxicating. here's a view from one of the lookout points along the river.

i definitely enjoyed my time in yellowstone, although i didn't really enjoy driving so many miles to just get around in the park. the best way to see some of the views and to see wildlife from afar is in your vehicle, but i feel as though public transit like buses or shuttles could be really advantageous to the park system. we saw many, many tour buses and smaller buses of families or groups traveling, however that was not the norm. you passed frequently smaller cars with two people in them, just like us, that were viewing a lot of the park from their car windows. i'm not sure a shuttle system doesn't exist, but i did not receive any information that would tell me otherwise in the park. something interesting as well about our time in yellowstone was how apparent our age was - we were probably the youngest people in almost every place we went to by easily 40 or 50 years. it was a bit bizarre staying in a lodge the night of my birthday, since we could have been the grandchildren of everyone else who stayed there! kevin and i don't really fit in anywhere it seems when visiting national parks - the only young people or couples we've really seen are foreign and don't speak english all that well. it's something we've picked up on during our drive out west, it's pretty amusing actually. we have had some great conversations with older couples during some hikes and touristy spots, who smile sweetly as if saying, "ah, to be young again."

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when we got in to seattle tuesday we found leah and tiffany, in addition to leah's older brother ari, and i was greeted with some local theo's chocolate for my birthday! so cute. they have delicious fair trade and organic chocolate, and they offer tours of their chocolate factory which they did before kevin and i arrived. we stopped to grab some food, and then headed down to the safeco stadium for a red sox/mariners game. the red sox ended up winning, which was depressing, even though the game didn't matter anyway. it was fun - and we tried for most of the game to get on the large-screen TV by dancing insanely. go us.

seattle has been a really fun city to explore, and another reason i wanted to stay here longer. i wanted some time to reflect on my own and see more of this pacific coast city. it seems as though seattle is a forgotten city in the US, yet it has so much to offer and they do so many things right! take recycling for example - they have a curbside composting program and recycling bins are everywhere. sure, there are towns and college campuses on the east coast that have a robust recycling program and the environmental consciousness of people is ahead of the curve. however i am extremely impressed with seattle's recycling program, and through my experiences thus far i think it's one of the best. there just seems to be a different mentality out here as well, not just with recycling, that is a part of the culture and invokes a sense of responsibility for protecting natural places and the environment. there is a huge local food movement here, which is as delicious as it is amazing to feel somewhat immersed in. i've had only incredible food while here so far, and been thoroughly satisfied with every meal and cup of coffee. out of the couple coffee shops i've been to i was able to see them actually roasting the beans in the back, and confidently feel like a conscious consumer.

i wish the wave of environmental responsibility that i feel here could cover the entire country as i travel across it. however, i know change happens slowly and changing policies like recycling or investing in public transit or supporting a successful local, living economy takes a long time. it's been eye-opening to see how vastly different towns and cities across our country are, and how varied state's priorities are for their citizens and natural landscape. there are many cities that i still have not been to, and i'm sure my amazement will continue to grow as the differences increase. sometimes it's hard to believe we're still in the same country when we go from small town, south dakota where life is nothing like i've ever experienced to progressive cities like seattle.

the trip so far has been interesting in figuring out where i do fit in right now in this time in my life and what is next. i'm not ready to settle down; i still have so much to learn, and so many questions. turning 23 doesn't really feel that significant, and it seems as though i have a long way to go before i know what it is i want to do and how i can have an impact. i'm excited for the changes that are to come, feel incredibly lucky to spend the month of september along the pacific coast in some of the most beautiful places and intriguing cities in our country.