Back to Washington

Our PCS adventures en-route to Alaska took us to Washington. 

I have such fond memories of Washington. I always thought I would like to be stationed at Fort Lewis again some day. But I think I am just nostalgic for the people. Because the place is bullshit. Not the whole place, of course. Parts of the state are beautiful and Seattle is really cool and the music scene is totally rad. 

But the traffic. I-5 might be Hell on Earth, Fuck the 5. I don't have the patience for that anymore and Fort Lewis is right in the middle of it. A 45 minute drive to go less than 10 miles makes me want to peel my face off. 

One day near Fort Lewis brought it to my attention that I never want to be stationed there again. No matter how great my memories are. 

And so the PCS journey continues. Onward to Fort Wainwright, Alaska I go!

Christmas Wrap-Up

In case you were wondering, I had a very merry Washington Christmas.

My mom and dad came from Iowa to spend the holiday with me. It was a 4 day Seattle-Tacoma tourist event. We went to Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square for some shopping and sight seeing. We went on the Seattle Underground Tour, which was both educational and cool. I never would have guessed that the beginnings of this great city were based on shit and sewage. Heh, you learn something new everyday. We saw the Space Needle and ate some super delicious Chinese food. We had a desert called a Ram Potato which was vanilla ice cream rolled in cocoa and served with whipped cream on it (totally delicious). We also went to the Tacoma Museum of Glass, which was really neat.

Of course, it was raining the entire time we were on our tourist adventures; just to really drive it home to my parents that this area of the country is yucky. I can't wait to move to Fort Campbell, and I'm sure they're anxious to visit me in a place that is dryer.

Christmas dinner turned out fabulous. And, of course it did because Ashley and I tag teamed the kitchen and cooked some amazing awesomeness. When put together, the two of us can make a serious feast. I felt like a bloated calf after dinner, and I think that is the best description for culinary success.

I made some Christmas gift cash and spent it promptly today at Pier One. (Thanks Grandma, that's what I spent your money on!) My living room is just that much more cute now because of the new wall hanging I bought. I got tickets to see The Decemberists in Portland in February! I'm super excited to see my favorite band. I cleaned up pretty good. It was a good holiday. I think I'll host Christmas again next year. :)

Sailor Jerry

The really cool part of being stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, is that Seattle is in my backyard. It's great to have a big city with tons of stuff to do so close. Plus, since Seattle is a hippie liberal city, the stuff they offer to do is usually really cool!

On Friday night, James and I went into the city to go see a documentary on Sailor Jerry, the legendary tattoo artist. Sailor Jerry has also become a brand of spiced rum that carries his likeness in a 92 proof bottle of awesomeness. I like tattoos. I like spiced rum. The whole concept is genius to me.

The venue the Sailor Jerry documentary was held at was an old theater that probably only held 150 people, MAX. As soon as we walked in, we were handed 2 free drink vouchers and free popcorn. No admission cost. Awesome. Upon entering the theater, there is a bar set up on the stage to redeem said free drinks. Even more awesome. I'm watching the bartender pour my Sailor Jerry and Coke, and it's easily 80% booze. Can this night get any more awesome, really!? Oh yes it can! A few minutes later the girl who was at the door handing out free drink vouchers came by and gave us 4 more! AWESOME!

Besides the free booze, which got me quite toasty, the documentary was really good. It was interesting. I learned a lot. And it was entertaining. I would have paid money to see it. When I leave Fort Lewis to go to Fort Campbell, I'm really going to miss Seattle. Nashville is close to Campbell, though. Maybe I'll be able to cook up some fun there, too.

Pike Place Market

I went to Pike Place Market in Seattle for the first time yesterday. Never mind that I've been stationed at Fort Lewis for over 2 years and I have yet to explore Seattle. There was a lot of liquor to drink closer to home so that's what I concentrated on when I first came up to Washington. Now that I feel like I've conquered the liquor battle, I can move on to more touristy and day-light activities.

The Market was packed, but that's because it was a beautiful, warm, sunny Saturday. And let's face it, in Seattle, that happens approximately twice a year. I bought a few nick-knacks at some of the shops, got possibly the most beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers and had amazing Chinese food.

I witnessed and Asian tourist posing for a picture with a street bum. The guy's poor son was taking a picture of his dad giving a bum a quarter. I bet that poor street guy was absolutely mortified. Silly Asian tourists.

I finally saw the famous "gum wall". It was pretty gross. But impressive. I half expected it to smell minty fresh down that alley, but it mostly just smelled like a gross damp alley.

Exploring the area I live is fun! Now I'm going to have to pick another place to visit next weekend... weather permitting of course.