I arrived three nights ago after finishing up our tour of the Pacific Northwest, going to a seminar in San Francisco, and then staying in San Francisco a few extra days to hang out. Now, I'm looking at today's to-do list and it includes three main things: 1) write a blog entry, 2) replenish my toiletries, and 3) board a plane at 7:30 p.m. to go back on tour.
It feels less like a three day break, and more like three nights at the Morris Inn & Suites, with fully furnished rooms, a stocked fridge, a cat, and parents.
Quite luckily, my time home coincided with my high school's graduation. Not only did a violin student of mine graduate, but also, more poignantly, my incredible choir teacher retired after 29 years of teaching. Easily one of the most brilliant music educators whom I've known, he was incredibly inspirational and motivational in my development as a musician. I'm so grateful I was able to be there for his final conducting performance at Dobson High School!
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| With Mr. and Mrs. Evans. |
Attending graduation is always bittersweet because it brings back memories of how much I loved high school. How have the past seven years of my life passed so quickly?!
But now is not the time for emotionally-charged reminiscing! No! I must write about happier things, like the Pacific Northwest!
I'd been looking forward to this past bit of tour for quite some time, especially after having just visited for the first time a few months ago. I love the area because it the opposite of so much of Arizona: it is rainy/wet, has lots of trees, and is overwhelmingly green.
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| Riding the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston, WA. |
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| We asked a stranger to take a photo of us with the mountains in the background. This was his first attempt. |
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| This was his second and final attempt. While he successfully captured Kiana's windblown hair (which is incredible), we never did get a good group photo...but this one is hilarious. |
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| The beautiful Olympic Mountains. |
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| While on the ferry, our GPS device accurately showed that we were, indeed, floating on the water. |
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| Is this not the largest tulip you've ever seen? |
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| Driving across a huge bridge with the Olympic Mountains in the distance! |
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| Early morning ferry ride from Port Angeles, WA, to Victoria, British Columbia. |
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| Port Angeles, WA. |
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| On the ferry, with Port Angeles and the Olympic Mountains behind me! |
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| A park in Victoria. |
After performing in Nanaimo, BC, we took a ferry over to Vancouver, and drove down to Puyallup, WA, where I met up with my newly-engaged friends, JJ and Jenna. While heading to a nearby coffee shop after lunch, I wondered aloud about finding a park in which to hang out because the weather was absurdly beautiful, especially for such a rainy area. About one minute later, we happened to drive by Bradley Lake and our afternoon plans were quickly solidified.
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| Bradley Lake [Click on the photo to see it larger.] |
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| Canadian geese and their young gaggle of babies! |
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| With Jenna and JJ after the show in Puyallup, WA. |
After Puyallup, we drove to Kennewick, WA, where, coincidentally, one of my great friends from high school lives with her husband. In stark contrast of my day with JJ and Jenna, I saw Katy--quite literally--for about 2 minutes. We had made plans to get dinner, but then the band needed some last minute rehearsal in preparation for our upcoming tour in China. Katy and her husband, who are the owners of the Kennewick Coffee Company, were awesome enough to drop by large containers of coffee and tea, and a bag of scones for us to enjoy with dinner, and then I had to get back to rehearsal. They couldn't see the show because of prior plans, so the only time I saw her was when she arrived to drop off the coffee. While our meeting was unfortunately short, it was nonetheless great to see Katy very briefly! Plus, the coffee and tea were both really, really great. Please check out their shop should you find yourself traveling through Kennewick anytime soon!
Off to grab lunch with my dad and pick up toothpaste and floss!
2 comments:
Funny story. I am in AZ too. Got here last night. I'm glad you got to see Mr. E. Don't imagine we'll manage to meet up--good luck with embarking again tonight.
And yay for the Pacific Northwest. What a cool place.
Okay, so you know how you went to ASU? Well, thats the college I am going to in 5 years! Haha! My parents and I already decided that it's okay for me to go there.. mostly because we're moving to California after I'm done with high school.. so I'll be close to home(: And plus you're such an inspiration to me(:
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