Spring on the Palouse

Springtime in Moscow is beautiful. 

This is at the beginning of Spring when everything was beginning to turn green.

Morning run up the road from where we live.  I loved the clouds in this picture.

I go on walks with my friend, Chelsey, and her kids.  We always stop and see the animals.  This day they the gate was open and the ducks were walking all over the place.  We also get to see pigs, chickens, roosters, and horses.  Who needs a zoo when your neighbors up the street have animals?

The Arboretum on campus.  Our first time was 2 weeks ago.  So sad we didn't go sooner. I love this photo!

In the Arboretum.

I don't think these pictures do justice to how beautiful it really is right now in Moscow.

Everything is even greener since these pictures were taken.

I will miss the rolling green hills of the Palouse.

Spring Break

Spring Break was 2 months ago.

I am so behind.

I don't know if I will ever blog about something a few days after it occurs? 

Maybe someday...

For Spring Break we decided to go to Seattle.

Nate actually went to Seattle the week before for trial team.

He got to fly, stay in a $200 hotel and eat expensive food and didn't have to pay a cent.

Now that is the way to travel!

He was able to scope things out and then take me to the places he enjoyed the most.  

It was a nice trip but ended up costing way more than we thought it would.

Who knew that there would be a $30 parking fee per day at the hotel we got on Priceline.

We totally thought we were getting a good deal until we found that little piece of information out.

We saved some money by buying cereal and milk for breakfast and we brought sandwich stuff to make sandwiches for lunch. 

We also didn't spend money on the sites.  They are all expensive.  

We could have done a city pass but we were only interested in like 2 things so it wouldn't be worth it for us to do it.  

So we decided to see the things that were free.

We walked here every day.  I loved the fresh flowers and produce. I really wish I would have taken pictures. If we lived in Seattle I would expect fresh flower weekly.  They are so cheap.  Produce on the other hand not so cheap but looked amazing and I'm sure is delicious.

 

We drove by the Space Needle.  It looks old.

The one place we spent money at was a Thai Restaurant our friends told us about.  We loved it.  Nate loved the noodles.  They were really thin, thinner than angel hair.  The place was a little dirty.  We sat down and I looked on the top of the backs of our booth and the fabric was covered in dust.  That was a little sketchy but the food was top notch.

We enjoyed walking on the Piers.  I loved this view, looking back at the city.  There were some fun shops on the Pier.  Nate loved the Curiosity Shop.  They have two mummified humans.  Pretty weird but kind of cool at the same time.

Outside the Art Museum.

The famous gum wall.

Seattle has a lot of fun shops.  We enjoyed walking downtown and stopping at all the shops.  Nate had found a store called Watson Kennedy when he was in Seattle the week before.  He told me it reminded him of Anthropology, like the home decor section, so we went there and a lot of the stuff you would find at Anthropology.  We bought a book there about Washington, D.C. by M. Sasek. It gives all the facts about D.C. but in story form with great pictures.  The author has other books about Paris, New York and some other places.  Some day I would like to collect them all.

For a long time Nate has wanted to get a globe or a map of the world.  Seattle had a great map store so we bought a huge map.  It is pretty cool but I do not know where we are going to put it in our small apartment.  I read this blog called 71toes.  They have a huge map near their kitchen table.  The map is to help spark conversation about the world.  One day, I think it will go near our table so our children will talk about what is happening all over the world and know where it is happening.  I just love the idea!

Our trip home, from Seattle, was a nightmare.

It usually takes about 5 hours from Seattle to Moscow but it took us 9.

Outside of Seattle there is Snoqualmie pass.  Can you guess by the name what happened?

It snowed, big time. 

Just as we were supposed to go up the pass, cops were checking every car to see if they had chains or 4 wheel drive.  Well we didn't have either.  So we had to drive back 30 minutes to find chains.  Then we had to wait in line to get checked by the cops again.  We probably waited 11/2 hours.  Then when we were on pass we had to stop for avalanche warnings.  Once again we sat for 30 minutes.  The driving was slow going, too.  It wasn't sure we would ever make it home but we eventually did!

 

At the end of Spring Break, I went to Coeur d'Alene with some friends.  We stayed at a friends timeshare on the lake.  The view was amazing.  We stayed up until 4 talking, painting finger nails and eating.  The next day we woke up way too early to go shopping in Spokane.

The great friends I love here in Moscow.

 

We are moving in 10 days.  I cannot believe it is already time to pack our stuff up and move to Boise.  I think I am in a little denial because I tell myself we have lots of time left, but we don't.
I never thought I would be sad about leaving Moscow.  Well the truth is, I am not sad about leaving the city I am just sad about leaving the friends I have made.  I have enjoyed many a girls night, workouts, walks/runs, and movies all with great friends.