Beautiful Views

Hello!

Last week was full of discoveries and adventures! We are getting more settled into our apartment and continue to explore our neighborhood each day. One of the best things about our new lifestyle is that we can walk almost anywhere in downtown Seattle! We have been trying to walk anywhere within two miles to avoid driving when we don't have to (especially since we only have one car now). I can walk to work everyday which is amazing! Travis has a few leads he is exploring for a job opportunities and we are hoping to hear something in the next week or two. I started work yesterday at zulily and so far it's been great! It will be nice to get into more of a routine here during the week and also start really exploring on the weekends! 

Here are a few highlights from the last week:

We had brunch this weekend in West Seattle with a former co-worker of mine from Target who also relocated to Seattle last year. She let us tag along with her and her adorable little boy (and cute pup) for a nice walk along Lincoln Park. It was quite windy but the scenery was beautiful! 

After a week of slight cloudiness we were so excited to finally see Mt. Rainier clearly from the city. Travis took this great shot today, what a view just across the street from our apartment!

Although we walk by Pike's Market almost every day, this still hasn't gotten old! I love the vibrant people and shops at the market and it's so fun to have fresh, delicious groceries right outside our front door.

After a long, steep and sweaty hike a few miles up the street to Queen Anne Hill we stopped at Kerry Park. It was  a very small park but the view more than made up for it! Sweeping views of the city, Elliott Bay and the mountains.

 We made the drive around Lake Union to Gasworks Park. This is a very unique park with lots of great trails picnic spots and historic scenery. There were over a dozen people flying kites on the hill which was also a great site to see! 

 One more shot from Gasworks Park, this one facing Lake Union with Downtown Seattle in the background (if you can stand to look away from the hunk in the foreground of the photo)

We are missing friends and family but certainly not the Minnesota weather! 
Cheers!
KP

WE MADE IT!

WE MADE IT TO SEATTLE! It was a long two day road trip with a slow start out of Minneapolis due to the eight inches of snow that fell just before we left.  The first three hours were filled with constant meowing/howling while our two cats tried desperately to escape from their carrier. The icy roads didn't help since they were making the drive very noisy. Once we hit North Dakota it was smooth sailing (and boring, flat scenery).

After a sixteen hour day we settled into our hotel in Bozeman, MT. I wish I could say a good night's rest was had by all, but I spent the entire night laying on the floor awake with the cats as they meowed their way around the room. Thanks to some ear plugs Travis was able to get some sleep though! 

The second and final day of driving was about 11 hours and had fantastic scenery through the mountains. Our favorite town to pass through was Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. What a gorgeous place, pops right out of the mountains overlooking a beautiful lake.

After several sleepless nights in our new apartment (thanks to an air mattress and our noisy neighbors upstairs) we were very excited to see the movers on Monday with all of our furniture! We've unpacked most of our things and are starting to feel more at home in our tiny apartment. We have LOVED exploring our new neighborhood each day, trying new restaurants and shops, as well as buying fresh food from Pike Place Market. 

Although saying goodbye to friends and family was even harder than expected, we are so excited to be here. Now that we are getting settled in our guest room is officially open for visitors! We hope to see lots of friends and family out here soon! 

Here's a few photos from our first week! feel free to follow me on Instagram too!
KP