We Made It: Seattle Edition

We arrived on the west coast this past Sunday.  I realize that this means a major event occurred two whole days ago, and I am just now getting around to blogging about it.  I realize that this makes me a bad blogger.  I'm trying to live with myself.

Now that that's settled, I can tell you all the things I love about this area so far. 

This:

This is everything.  Beautiful, tall, dark green trees everywhere. It makes me want to go hiking. 

Again with the big gorgeous foliage! Good gracious!

So basically, I can confirm that the Northwest is as picturesque as the Twilight movies, Grey's Anatomy and Sleepless in Seattle led you to believe.  Oh, and the temperature has been hovering around 60-70 degrees.  In June.  This southern girl is having a tough time comprehending that part.

Onto other things I love about being at Fort Lewis!

Our rental car:

Long story short, the Enterprise rental place was running really low on compact cars, so they upgraded us to this 

Volvo XC60. It is super easy to drive and comfortable and has AWD just in case I decide to do something outdoorsy (unlikely, but you never know... I'm in the northwest now!).

The gym, Jensen Family Health and Fitness Center, has free yoga classes 4 days a week! They also have TRX at another gym on post that I am looking forward to trying out!

Einstein Brothers Bagels has two locations on post... this is a major upgrade from the usual restaurant options on military installations (read: McDonalds and Burger King).

Our hotel room at the Rainier Inn is the best we've had thus far, for several reasons.

          - The building was built in 2007

          - There is a kitchenette with two burners, which means I can cook! And I did:

We had seared U10 scallops, risotto, and peas for dinner tonight.  A little fancy for paper plates and no dinner table, but that almost made it taste better... almost :)  Last night we had this pasta dish.

            - The shower maintains a reliable, appropriate temperature.

          - There is free WIFI

          - There is free breakfast downstairs every morning

I am sure there are more things that I love about this area, but right now, I am falling asleep.  Either due to jet lag or the early mornings. Probably both... I can't decide right now.