My crazy weekend in Seattle

Here is the report of my whirlwind road trip. This last weekend was Memorial weekend and I my original plans fell through so I decided to just hang out here for the weekend. Well, Saturday morning my roomie asked me if I was up for a road trip to Washington. I was excited, then hesitant - it would entail a 12 hour drive. I guess that my other roommate, Amy, wanted to go up there for a concert. Janey and I talked about it and decided we were in - then Amy came back and said she didn't want to go anymore. Janey and I were still in and our friend Jana was already on the way from Provo - so we decided to go up to Seattle ourselves in my car. We left at 4pm and drove as far as we could, about 10 hours, to Yakima, Washington. I did the majority of the driving. The outside scenes were so beautiful - with misty mountains and everything.

We stayed the night in Yakima, then got up and finished 2 hour drive to Seattle. We found a church to attend and got there during Sacrament mtg. Seattle is such a beautiful city - and it was a perfect day for sightseeing. After church we went tot the Space Needle. This cost $16 - but it was worth it. The view from the top was amazing and we took so many pictures. The ocean was so blue and there were many sailboats out. Our hungry stomaches made us reluctantly leave, but it was a enjoyable experience. We found a quirky Mexican restaurant and had a good lunch. Afterwards we walked to the pier and gazed out on the ocean - took some more pictures, etc etc. We heard that we needed to visit Pike's Market while in Seattle and so we walked there next. This was an interesting market and had some eclectic shops. One shop had Egyptian figurines and jewelry and belly-dancing outfits. Amazingly enough, those outfits are pretty heavy with all those beads and coins sown on! (hehe) After looking through these shops we were all tuckered out and decided to call it day - and start our drive back south. We drove for 5 hours and ended up in La Grande, Oregon. Did you know that all the gas stations in Oregon are full-service? I sure didn't and got scolded after I pumped my own gas. "If my manager was here you could get in trouble, even go to jail..." Sorry! The next time we gassed up in Oregon we had to wait and I was a little frustrated because I could have easily pumped it myself and we felt like we should give the guy a tip. Oh well, chalk it up to experience! On the freeway in Oregon we had another interesting experience: I was driving in the middle lane and suddenly the car in the right lane had a bum sticking out of the window. I quickly looked away, then the other car on the left had another bum in the window! Two moons at the same time! Crazy! We finally got to our destination and got some sleep...in one double bed for all of us. There is a story here - but I'm too ashamed to share it.
Monday we enjoyed our little continental breakfast and got back on the road. Janey's family lives in Caldwell, Idaho (right out of Boise) and she wanted to make a stop to see them for a little bit. We met up with her sister, grandparents and uncle and went to Janey's mother's grave site - for Memorial Day. Janey's mother died last year and she hadn't been back since the funeral. They put some yellow roses on it - her mother's favorite. Afterwards, we had some lunch then got back on the road to SLC. The weather had been lovely all this time, but we hit some rain in Idaho and Utah. We were so lucky not to have these storms on our trip! We got back around 8pm and I was exhausted. I had done all the driving that day and I felt like a zombie. I soon got into bed went straight to sleep! What an exciting escapade! (hehe)