Tall trees and lush greeneries met my vision when I woke up. They were far from the often brown mountains and foothills I used to see in my hometown. Gloomy rain clouds also blanketed the blue sky I once knew. These sights were all new to me, and as much as I didn't want to let go of them, one exceptionally bizarre thing caught my attention. It couldn't be a bird because it didn't fly smoothly. It could be a frog, but no frog can be that big to go hopping on tree branches that stood 300 feet from the ground. It stopped for a moment on a branch near enough so I could focus my eyes on it. It was a man, carrying a beautiful brunette girl piggyback. These were all surreal, and I told myself this could not be happening. He was impossibly fast and strong. What kind of guy can carry a girl piggyback hopping on trees at highway speeds? He must be something. Up above, the dark nimbus clouds was giving way to a slit of sunlight. The sunrays shone on me and to those two strange creatures. And what added more to my piling uncanny feelings was the man's chest glittering as the sunrays shone on him, like what a person would see from a shore when he/she stares at the ocean water reflecting the sunlight. The girl's cheek was pressed on the man's glittering back and feeling its warmth, while giving a smile that seemed to me that she's just really happy to be with him. Her hands were also wrapped around the man's chest. As green shone on the traffic lights, our car sped off to the freeway and these two strange yet amiable creatures suddenly vanished.
Fail. I was never a fan of the Twilight saga. I was just swept by the fad and current of teenage pressure to keep up with what's in, and so I decided to give the first book a shot (and this was two years ago). As with any other books I have read, no matter how boring they were, I didn't close and turned it down. I finished it! I…liked it, but it felt too girly and awkward for me so I didn't bother reading the next books (Talk about a guy's pride. Hahaha.). But I wouldn't get any more technical about Twilight. Excerpts from Bella's lines translated to my perspective on the first paragraph were enough to show how engaged I had been while reading the first book.
To keep with the Twilight tone of this post, my family and I just came home from Washington, the state where the setting of the book is. We stayed there for a week. As I have mentioned on the first paragraph, tall trees and vast expanses of green surrounded us as a result of frequent rain in the state of Washington. I felt excited as it has been already two years since I saw and felt the relaxing gloominess of rain clouds. It is often sunny and warm in Southern California, so a week in Washington felt like we were back home in the Philippines, where in this time of the year is the rainy season. However, I felt disappointed because they were just simply dark clouds. No rain poured, and sunlight was still penetrating the clouds. I thought I would be having a break from the hot California summer sun. Via car, it took us one day and a half to reach Washington, 1,171 miles from our home in California.
- This field is wide and even greener in personal
- The trees and these greeneries smell so good you feel paradise
- This may look like the grass on our lawn, but these are actually trees that are hundreds of feet on the mountain.
Every Twilight fan knows that this romantic novel was set first in Forks, a city 140 miles from Seattle. We didn't get to go to Forks because we only had one driver, our ever so industrious dad. We didn't want him to drive an additional three hours, so we contented ourselves in Seattle.
I felt as if I was living in the 1960s while we were in Seattle. Nicely preserved centuries old building standed out from the modern day skyscrapers. For some reason I felt safe in Seattle, unlike when I went to downtown Los Angeles, where street walls were full of unwanted graffiti, a sign of gang presence. Some streets and sidewalks have tiled pavements, which felt different when we walked on it, since almost all of the sidewalks in the world are just cement. We went to the Space Needle, a tower I used to just see in postcard stands. We saw spectacular views of the Seattle skyline from up above the tower. The preserved Seattle underground city gave us a glimpse of life in the late 1800s.
- Not our photograph...
- underneath the space needle!
- View of the Seattle skyline from the top of the Space Needle
- Various views from the Space Needle
- Old Seattle - it really felt good to be here!
- My sister and I pose near a big, chess, city decoration...and you can actually move the pieces. haha.
- One of Seattle's street performers. I wish there's one in Manila.
- At probably the most famous market in the world, Pike Place Market
- A performer at Pike Place - he's actually pretty good a huge crowd gathered around him.
- Entrance of the underground Seattle tour
- Crap. They literally called this a crapper (and the contents of this centuries old toilet), so I'm not in any way cussing here. Haha.
- Imagine a WOODEN pipe installed on your home. haha. This was the late 1800s pipe.
- A random passageway
- Old brick buildings! yay!
The trip to Washington was tiring, but definitely worth it because of the scenic byways and many geologic features that one could not see in the cities and suburbs. As we headed down the I5, we made a quick stop at Mt. Saint Helens, where one of the largest eruptions in the world took place, and where we also learned about a man named Harry Truman (not the president) refused to leave moments before the eruption because of his genuine love of the mountain. You know, in the many American national parks I have been to, I could just really conclude that we humans need at least a month long (hopefully paid) vacation with nature. Studies show that just seeing beautiful ranges of mountains helps to relax our minds and bodies. This could boost productivity in the workplace, thus more profit for the company!
- Hoffstadt Creek Bridge - a bridge we passed on the way to Mt. Saint Helens
- Isn't this just gorgeous?
- Smells so good!
As with how our many travels end, we stopped by the souvenir store to purchase a magnet, showing a miniature picture with the words Washington PLUS, a cup of coffee at Seattle's Best (tasted so original. Haha.).
- So we've been all over this place. I wish to add more!
credits to my sister for the photographs.
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