Okay, so it's been a loooooooong time since we did our last textwalls. Stuff happened, and then more stuff happened, and we've generally been short on interwebs ever since the last textwall went up. We finally made a push to get everything written up tonight, but it's too late for the photos. We'll put all those up tomorrow, so watch this space.
Mar 23--CrystallizationAs you might have heard by now, Hunty is bad at getting up in the morning. Like, really really bad. I have to drag her out of bed with the help of coffee, and even then it takes nagging and hassling.
So, when
somebody needed to get up at 9 AM to meet Crystal at the airport, Nimras and I went and left Hunty behind. It was a two hour ride on the light rail, including a layover downtown. The first ticket machine we tried was broken, which resulted in us missing the first train. The second had a crowd of people in front of it who were all, "How do I credit card?" The third one finally worked, and we boarded.
The ride was long, but fun. Nimras and I talked about things and stuff and doodads. I got a good look at the Portland area. Then we finally met Crystal. That went something like this:
Crystal: *Walks up to Nimras* You should be ash--wait, you're not Fraze. *Walks up to Fraze* You should be ashamed of yourself!
Fraze: Why?
Crystal: I don't know.
So yeah, that was the first thing she ever said to me in person. I assume this is because I'm in a relationship with a Pirate. We rode the light rail in a back-ish direction, there was mad contacting of people as we tried to decide where everyone would meet, and we finally settled on Nimras's place. There was a tunnel, I tried to hold my breath through it and failed (the thing was a good five or six minutes long), and Crystal totally fell asleep on the way even if she denies it.
We got back to Nimras's place and found a fully awake Hunty, and Nimras's sister, who used to visit the forum (Reasie). Pirate/Ninja rivalry ensued.
As this was at around 1 PM and nobody had eaten, we decided it would be in everyone's best interests to go get food. We decided on a Vietnamese place, because Hunty had never had Vietnamese food before and I'm on a mission to get her to try as many ethnic cuisines as possible. It was good stuff. After that, we went to Powell's Books, which is a crazyhuge bookstore in downtown Portland. We wandered around there for half an hour (could easily have done several days, but we were on a time limit) before meeting up at the nerdy area and geeking out over various things.
Then we made another trip to Voodoo Doughnuts (spelled "Doughnuts" instead of "Donuts," they seemed quite consistent in that regard). After waffling back and forth about what each of us wanted, we finally decided to get two dozen of the store clerk's choice, the results of which have already been shown.
When we got back, we decided to play another round of the Order of the Stick boardgame, since we had six people (Nimras and her husband, Crystal, Fraze and Hunty, Reasie) and there are, of course, six characters. This worked up until Crystal's brother showed up and she fled the scene like the sneaky ninja she is, only louder. We took this as an opportunity to find food, so we went to Burgerville. There was one within easy walking distance of Nim's place, but there was another farther off with a magical mystical soda machine with 150 flavors of soda. I discovered the best combination in the world, half raspberry Fanta and half raspberry lemonade. And the place served rosemary fries. Oh yeah, and we ran into Crystal and her bro there, too.
After saying our goodbyes again, we headed back to return to the game. We continued on a while longer until Reasie also needed to head out, and finally the remaining four of us finished the game, far too hyper on doughnuts.
Mar 24--Another One of Those Where We Drive a LotOver the past few days, we had found out that the next leg of the trip would be difficult to manage. We would be staying at a small cabin on the property of my aunt (mom's sister) and uncle, but their schedules were both really busy and we couldn't see much of them for today or tomorrow. I somehow magically coaxed Hunty out of bed, through methods involving food, coffee, and arcane magical runes. We packed up from Nim's place and headed out. This would be the first of many stops.
First, we went to a store to get a new air mattress, because the one we had kept deflating. We found a big tear in the valve that slowly leaks, but the tape we used to patch it up didn't do anything. We got a new mattress, with a handy carrying handle (not so handy since it's hard to get the handle out of the bag), and then headed all the way back to my grandma's place yet again to get the stuff we left there. We also decided to do laundry--two loads--which meant we were there for a good two hours. We packed stuff up, washed laundry, and finally said goodbye to my grandma and aunt (dad's side of the family, since this will get confusing otherwise). They sent us off with a big bag full of snacks and a thick wad of cash. My family is awesome.
And so, we set off once more. We decided it wouldn't be smart to try to get to my aunt's (mom's side) cabin tonight, so this aunt found a hotel for us for the night. It was a nice hotel.
Mar 25--The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Shaving Cream CansMorning came without too much poking and prodding, and we packed up in time to check out of the hotel and see my aunt briefly. From there, we headed on to meet my grandma, who lives at a retirement home. It's a very nice facility, as far as I can tell. This grandma traveled all around the world for many years before she became unable to do so, and took me on several trips as well. We talked, she met Hunty, and we headed on our way.
Next, we went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, a state park-ish area with a lot of birds. Most of the trail we walked on was on a boardwalk over a wetland. Apparently it floods at every high tide, but we saw it at low tide and it was mostly mud. However, there were a lot of birds there, along with a ninja bird viewing station.
We reached the end of the trail and headed back. From there, we went on up to the cabin where my aunt and uncle live. My uncle had to unlock the gate to let us in. We got up to the small cabin where we would be staying, which involved the most winding and treacherous road we've been on so far in this trip. Hunty nearly wasn't able to get up the final incline to a flat space where she could park, but at last we managed it. We unpacked at the small one-room cabin where we would be staying, and then went back to the larger cabin where my aunt and uncle live. After hanging around for a bit, we all met up to go to dinner at a Japanese place. It was delicious.
You know, I'm not normally one for scandal, but this tripthread is in need of some waking up. So, I've decided to give you a taste of what Hunty and I do in bed after the lights are out. Starting with a scene from this night:
Hunty: You should start using shaving gel. If you do, you'll never go back to using soap for shaving.
Fraze: I know, and that's why I don't want to start using it. Besides, it creates a lot of waste. Soap just comes in bars, it's nice and compact and you use it all up and at most you have a little bit of paper trash. Shaving cream comes in those aerosol cans that you have to throw away afterward.
Hunty: Then get shaving gel, not shaving cream. It comes in tubs, not cans, and it foams up.
Fraze: Hmm. For us, the shaving cream comes in these cans and you press down on the thing and it's all chwshwshwchweeooo *finger wiggles*
Hunty: *Fit of giggles* What was that?
Fraze: That was the sound of shaving cream coming out of an aerosol can, of course.
Hunty: Do it again.
Fraze: Chwshwshwchweeooo *finger wiggles*
Hunty: *Another fit of giggles* One more time?
Fraze: You just want to hear me do that so you can laugh at it!
Hunty: Yep, I am. We have to tell the tripthread about this.
Fraze: Definitely. Chwshwshwchweeooo *finger wiggles*
Hunty: *Yet another fit of giggles*
...She still laughs every time I do the noise.
Mar 26--Trekking Across the NorthwestWe got up as we usually do--which is to say, very very late and with much nagging. There was some sort of breakfast, and we headed off for Northwest Trek. This was a place I had memories of that were both surprisingly fond and surprisingly vivid. On a scale from national park to zoo, Northwest Trek falls somewhere in the middle. You can walk around and see animals, but the enclosures are the animals' natural habitat, since it's all just sectioned off pieces of the Northwest rainforest. Of course, like a zoo and unlike a national park, you have to pay to get in.
First there was an hour-long bus ride, with a driver who gave a running commentary and pointed out the animals and generally made it clear that he loved his job. All the herbivores were kept in a many-acre patch of land and allowed to roam freely, with the only human intervention being these bus rides. The carnivores were kept separately. We got to see all three of the park's moose right when the ride started, which was probably the highlight of the ride.
After that, we walked around and saw the various smaller enclosures for carnivores. There was a pack of screaming kids and a pack of screaming teenage girls, this being Spring Break, so we tried our best to keep away from all of the above. This occasionally proved useful, especially in the case where we waited for one of the screaming groups to pass by, and got to see the park workers feed the coyotes. This was probably the highlight of the entire park experience. After wandering around looking at the carnivores, we spent quite a while watching the two bald eagles, which Hunty asserts sound far too cute to be the US's national bird. We didn't get to hear them say anything, so I can't confirm that.
After exploring the park, we headed back to my aunt and uncle's cabin. We took some time to explore the area around the cabin, found a small sentry tower that would be perfect for a zombie apocalypse, and finally went back for dinner. It was a delicious meat-free meal--my aunt is staunchly vegetarian--and afterwards headed off to bed like reasonable people.
Except we couldn't get a good fire started, try as we might. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth and probably some language that can't be repeated here. I suspect the wood was too wet and wouldn't burn properly. We got a fire going eventually, but it fizzled out midway through the night and wouldn't restart.
Mar 27--Childlike WonderAfter the usual dragging-out-of-bed-kicking-and-screaming, we headed up to Puyallup to see my cousin (dad's sister's adopted son, brother of the cousin we saw back in Mountain View, CA, this stuff gets confusing if you don't already know the people involved) and his kids. I'm pretty much the youngest of my extended family, and many of my cousins already have families of their own. This particular cousin is raising four kids on his own, and seems to be doing an amazingly good job of it. We talked as much as we could, with frequent interruptions of the four-to-ten-year-old type. There was some drawing and a trading of sketchbooks in there somewhere, and I tried to get in on all the artsy action with an origami piece.
Dinnertime started to approach, and we cast around for something to eat. My cousin was happy to let Hunty and me take over his kitchen for a while. We ended up doing breaded chicken breast strips and mashed potatoes, accented by a Skype video chat with my mom who happened to call while we were there. The meal was a hit, which I consider to be a great success for my cooking skills. Children are a tough audience to cook for, so if I can cook a nutritious meal that's approved of by four kids, then I can cook
anything.
After dinner, we tried out my cousin's Kinect. There were hilarious and embarrassing photos taken by the machine itself, which we do not have. Hunty beat me horribly at the boxing game, which she will never let me forget. But I stand tall in the face of this crushing blow to my masculinity, since I beat her at skiing, bowling, and that one obstacle-course-on-a-track-that-makes-you-jump-around-a-lot game. By this time, it was well after dark and we had to leave. My cousin let us use his shower--the Kinect was a great workout--and we headed back. We stopped at a store to get sticky notes (found) and scrunchies (not found), and once again went to bed like reasonable people.
Mar 28--The Road NorthAfter staying a night longer than we had expected at my aunt's place, we took longer than we wanted packing up and set out way later than anyone could have desired. We headed on towards the Tacoma/Seattle area, stopping at a bakery in Olympia that we hadn't managed to get to before then, but my aunt had highly recommended it. I have another cousin (dad's brother's daughter) in Seattle, but she wasn't able to put us up for this night, so we found a hotel to stay at.
Mar 29--Glass HousesSo, Tacoma. It's got an infamous crashed bridge, I know that much. But what else is there?
Well, an awesome museum of glass art, for starters. We headed into the downtown area and found the Museum of Glass. There was a bridge with pretty glass art leading up to it. By which I mean, well, just look at the photos.
We paused to find food, looked far too long before finding it, and finally got back to the museum itself. The prime attraction was a working glass shop, where you can watch people blow and work on glass vases and sculptures and such. We got there in time to watch them make a regular clear glass bottle, but there was a quite informative guy with a microphone explaining the process, and it was really cool to watch. There were also some very interesting and attractive exhibits, but unfortunately they didn't allow photography. I've been fascinated by glass sculpture for a while now, so this was very informative.
We headed back outside of the city after that, to look at a bonsai exhibit. I've also been fascinated by bonsai for a very long time. The plants were gorgeous. A few of them were several centuries old--they were wild trees that were found by bonsai artists and trained to be bonsai plants--with one being over 1000 years old.
Oh, it was also raining heavily at the time. My boots were thoroughly soaked by the end of it, for which Hunty nagged me extensively.
We headed to the mall where we were to meet my cousin and her husband. We had seen them earlier at my uncle's (her father's) wife's memorial service, but had only been able to talk briefly then. We looked around the mall for a while. We spent quite a bit of time in Crate and Barrel looking around at all the cool gadgets. Hunty pointed out with great amusement just how it would look for the two of us to be hunting through an interior design and appliances store. I wondered aloud and at great length why anyone would buy river rocks when there were countless rivers with rocks free for the taking. Hunty accused me of being low-class, a point I did not argue.
My cousin and her husband came, and we headed to a restaurant to have dinner. And it was
fancy. It was the type of place that used the phrase "haricotes vertes" in the menu, because "green beans" is criminally low-class. It was a seafood place, so Hunty tried the swordfish and I had salmon. After the main course, we all sat transfixed by the dessert menu. It had the angelic choir and everything. All four of us ended up getting something different, and then shared between ourselves. I think mine was the best: a molten chocolate cake with caramel and whipped cream and dolce de leche ice cream. I ended up using the phrase "sweet baby Cthulhu," which caused great amusement for everyone at the table.
We drove back to their place, lollygagged for a bit, and finally crashed.
Mar 30--Hello Seattle...I never got to make that reference on Facebook, so I'm doing it here. Don'tjudgeme.
We got up fashionably late as usual, walked to Chipotle for breakfastlunch, and headed out into the city. Hunty formulated a theory that it pays to look at the gift shop of a museum/tourist attraction before entering the main area, since it usually has the best parts of the attraction and you don't have to pay anything to get in. We made use of this theory twice today, and it worked. First, after our usual troubles with parking and finding our way, we went to a science fiction museum. This turned out to be mostly a music museum with a sci-fi section added in. The gift shop wasn't all that interesting.
Right next door was the iconic Space Needle, so we went there too. It was a lot shorter than I had always thought it would be. Seriously, I'm pretty sure my apartment building in Taiwan was about that height, if not taller. And it was definitely not the tallest building in the city, though all the pictures show it towering twice as high as everything else. However, the gift store was pretty nice.
After that, we walked to Pike Place Market, an outdoor market with a bunch of small shops. This turned out to be not the smartest thing we've done on this trip, since it was quite windy and we had a headwind the whole way there. It had similar vibes to the outdoor markets I found everywhere in Taiwan, though more expensive. We found a nice bakery, anyway. We also got to see the very first Starbucks ever, which looked to be something of a pilgrimage site, given all the people standing outside taking photos.
We headed back to my cousin's place, and soon it was time to eat. We decided to try an Ethiopian restaurant, since neither Hunty nor I had ever had that food before. It was awesome stuff. They give you these huge rounds of tangy rubbery bread, and you tear off chunks of it and use it to scoop up gobs of whatever food you order. My cousin claimed this was the best Ethiopian place in the city, and it's definitely something I want to find again.
I had schemes for breakfast, so we went to a store to pick up some supplies before heading back to the house.