Seattle, Washington

As a small town girl from Texas, I never really wanted to leave this awesome state. But that totally changed once I got the urge to travel around the world. I wasn't able to at first, but as I got older, situations arose and opportunities came where I was able to discover more of this awesome world...well, the United States, as of now.

The ministry I'm a part of on campus, Mustangs for Christ, has a leadership conference every summer in Bellingham, Washington. I was so stoked to go at the end of my freshman year of college.

I had never ridden a plane before this trip, so going to the airport and finding my way through the maze of people and sections was incredibly confusing - not to mention it was early in the morning, and I am NOT a morning person.

Being on the plane was a spectacle in and of itself. Needless to say, I was terrified as it took off. My friends Kevin and Andrew, along with myself, were first time flyers and we were all sitting together scared out of our minds. Eventually though, we got used to it, and the plan ride was smooth.

When we landed in Washington, I could hardly believe my eyes. Seattle was absolutely gorgeous. I thought most big cities would be dirty or things like that, but this was the exception. Seattle was a wonderful place and there were an infinite amount of things to do to fill up our time.

We walked around the wonderful city for the whole day, and I loved every minute of it. We got to go to different sight-seeing places, marketplaces, and all sorts of interesting places. We got to go to the Gum Wall in Seattle, which was oddly disgusting yet very fascinating at the same time. There were thousands upon thousands of pieces of gum stuck to the wall, and tourists were lining the alley to take pictures of it, us included.

After buying some souvenirs from one of the many shops we went to, we got to take a boat out to a little island where we had dinner outside. It was wonderful weather, and the food was absolutely amazing. We got on the boat to come back to Seattle's shoreline right around sunset, which is where I took the picture below. It was a breathtaking sight, honestly, being on the ocean, looking at the city, and seeing how clean it was.

This was just day one of my adventure as well. There are hundreds of stories I could tell that would take up too much of this post, so I'll stick with the best one: the trip in the mountains.

We were staying with a host family while we were up at the conference, and they privileged us with a ride to one of the mountain trails near their house. This was out of Seattle, of course, and in Bellingham. Our group had such a fun time being in the trees, hiking a trail, looking at waterfalls, and enjoying being in nature.

I even got to climb a huge tree trunk, and for once in my life I felt so incredibly tall. My new feeling, sadly, disappeared as soon as I clambered down. Well, it was good while it lasted.

My favorite memory was after a group photo, we were making our way back towards the start of the trail, and I tried to step out to get back on the trail. My foot, on the other hand, didn't have the same idea.

I felt myself falling off the side of the cliff we were on and all I could think was, "Well, crap."

Luckily for me, my friend Jill came to my rescue, grabbing hold of me and basically hurling me the opposite direction. Both of us stared at each other with wide eyes and pounding hearts. I had nearly died.

Hours after this fiasco, we were joking around about how clumsy I was, and how Jill was a superhero for saving my life. To this day, she still makes jokes about me being too clumsy, and I still smile and shrug it off.

I mean, what's an adventure without a life-altering moment?

As I said earlier, I could go on and on about my trip to Seattle. But there will be a part 2, and so on and so forth. So stay tuned, please keep reading, and if you have something you'd like to tell me, contact me and let me know!