The Emerald City

I have arrived! I landed at Seattle/Tacoma ["Sea/Tac"] airport on Thursday afternoon and I've been in love with the Pacific Northwest ever since. Flying into Seattle we saw the Pudget Sound to the left (and the "floating bridge") and Lake Washington and Downtown Seattle to the right. Mount Rainier was not visible (I've yet to see it in all of its glory) but I'm sure it will emerge out of the skyline one of these days. The bird's-eye view was just as I imagined it - lots of green, trees and water everywhere (and thus began the differences between the Northwest and the Northeast).

Seattle is named after Chief Seattle, and the Native American influences are prominent. It is a city of c. 600,000 people. It's nickname - The Emerald City - refers to the many evergreen forests in the area (Washington is The Evergreen State). Seattle is known for its heavy coffee consumption, which is (let's face it) why I'm here. I'll write more about Seattle when I visit on Saturday!

I've spent most of my time since in Tacoma, staying with the best friend. Tacoma is c. 30 miles South of Seattle, and is another large metropolitan area in Western Washington (population c. 200K). Tacoma gets its name from the original name of Mount Rainier: Mount Tahoma (more Native American influence). The area is so lovely - both similar and vastly different from New England. The area is SO green, with lakes everywhere - people are very nature-friendly here, and I would be too in this environment; lots of walking paths along waterfronts and huge, beautiful parks. The air is so fresh and crisp here - and it always smells like Christmas! I am surprised to find myself not missing NYC. It's much chillier than I'm used to here, but I do NOT miss the high humidity and stickiness of a New York City summer. I've loved being outside and exploring the PNW. It's much more similar to New England than New York City, of course, and I'm happy to be back near the ocean and the beach. Washington is much bigger than most of New England, and it feels more vast and spread out.

Michael & I have been exploring maps to figure out my route to Alaska. There is quite aways North to travel in the Pacific Ocean before I even reach the Southernmost tip of Alaska (it takes about a day and a half at sea to get to Juneau on the cruise ship). We first have to sail out of the Pudget Sound and get into the Pacific Ocean proper. Lots of people here have been to Alaska (either flown or cruised) and I've enjoyed talking to them about their travels. Clearly, I was expecting MUCH different weather and packed ONE pair of pants. This might be a problem...

I love the Pacific Northwest! I'm very much looking forward to exploring Seattle this weekend (another big city to cross of my list) and to head to San Francisco on Monday. I've spent SO much time on the East Coast and so little time on the West Coast, so I'm very grateful for the opportunity to explore this part of the country. And again, I now know more about Western U.S. geography than I do about my own coast! Good thing geography isn't on the GREs...