Tulips and Doors...

So I have a new obsession with Tulips/flowers in general! We went to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival yesterday and it is the culprit for my new obsession! Fields and fields of Tulips and Daffodils!!!

These pictures definitely do not do it justice! I love going to small towns and getting to experience the little fun things they put on. I have to confess that we did not actually get to go into the fields, I could not convince Chris that walking through a field of flowers was worthy of our fun money lol, so we walked around the outside of the fields and drove the Tulip Route and saw all the fields! He was nice enough to slow down long enough for me to take pictures out of the car window! I kind of agree with him on the money part, it was beautiful but I don't think it would have been that much better getting to walk down rows of flowers! Bless his heart, he is a good sport!

Now onto Doors...

Since all the guys are not out here yet that will be in Chris' office, I have not had much to do office manager wise so I have been hitting the streets and knocking doors with Chris. Definitely better than sitting in the hotel room by myself! It has been an interesting experience. Usually people are pretty nice cause there is a lady with Chris....but not everyone! It's usually old men and women that are grumpy and a little rude. The first time we knocked on a man's door that fit into this category, I actually got my feelings hurt a little bit! I didn't tell Chris cause he would have called me a wuss! It doesn't phase him anymore, between being in this industry for 7 years and his mission you learn to not take it personal! The one thing I love about going out with him is that we have been able to meet some very nice people that make you forget about the grump that just slammed the door in your face. We placed an alarm in a couple's home that would have talked our ear off all night if we would have brought our jammies and a pillow! I now know an extensive amount of knowledge about rockhounding...for those of you that are not familiar with this activity it is digging for volcanic rocks and minerals. They were so cute! In their late 60's and just loved telling us stories. He had run 10 marathons and wanted to run a hundred but after he died, yes literally died, on the table after his 10th one, his heart doctor advised that he should call it good! It makes you wonder what type of old person you will be. Chris asked me what type I thought he would be, I said the type that puts on WAY too much after shave and pinches the butts of all the younger ladies that walk by! lol He laughed and then said, "ya, you're probably right!".

Everett, WA

We made it! I swear Chris and I feel like we have been living in our car lately! We calculated that in the past month we have driven 2,500 miles (that doesn't include the 1,600 that my mom and I drove to get to Texas!)! I love road trips and really don't mind being crammed in a car, Chris on the other had gets antsy and a little bit of cabin fever. He did really well though! 

We spent 2 days in Utah after we got back from Texas before we headed off on our next adventure. We spent the night in Oakley, ID with Chris' grandparents and we had a lot of fun. We stayed up way too late playing cards and subsequently laughed hysterically at things that really weren't very funny! The next morning we picked up Chris' cousin and headed on to Washington. The drive was half as long as the one to Texas but for some reason it felt twice as long. It was gorgeous though and that helped! I really could live in a travel trailer and just go from state to state. Chris on the other hand...not so much! He said he would just fly and meet me there!

My Washington findings so far:

1. It smells like a huge evergreen wallflower from Bath&Body!

2. The people here LOVE their coffee! A lady behind us in the check out line at Wal-Mart told us as she was sipping on her coffee that she doesn't wake up til 10 am and definitely has not had enough coffee this morning to be awake yet....it was 3:30 PM!! lol

3. There are an abnormal amount of redheads in the ward here.

4. It reminds me a ton of Alaska...the plants and trees and the houses.

5. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the road layouts!

6. It really does rain as much Grey's Anatomy makes it seem.

7. I have a strange urge to watch Twilight movies all the time! (and secretly want to go to Forks!)

We are having a lot of fun seeing this state so far. We went to a fabulous Thai restaurant when we first got here where the spring rolls were...

the size of my head!!

I was full by the time our curry came! But don't think that kept me from eating it! lol

We also indulged Chris' new obsession, bow hunting, by going to a local gun range where they had an out door bow target course.

There were 2 courses with around 20 targets and you hiked, yes hiked, a trail up and down a mountain and shot the targets at various distances. Chris was in heaven so it was fun to share that with him. It was also a good motivator to get me back in shape cause that course kicked my trash! Needless to say, I started running the next day!

We have found a few local things that we are excited to do while we are here and one is the Tulip Festival which I think we are going to try to go to this weekend!

Deep in the heart of Texas...

Well our fantasy month is over.  We had so much fun and were so sad to leave but I guess a month away from reality is longer than most get so I shouldn't complain! Texas has a big part of my heart, which made it so fun to show Chris and Trayden my old stomping grounds and why Texas really is the biggest and best place on earth! lol Here are a few highlights of our trip...

It was real rough traveling conditions for Tray as you can tell! Thank you portable DVD player you saved my life! 

 

Every time I turned around Tray had caught something!

We went to Galveston, the deer lease, and Sea World in San Antonio.

We went bowfishing, road tubes and wakeboarded, and went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and saw Zac Brown Band.

All in all it was a BLAST! My mom and I were teasing as soon as we crossed over the Texas boarder that we had a month to brain wash Chris and Trayden to make them think/want to be Texans...I must say I think we did a good job!

  Tray was wearing boots with shorts and singing "Deep in the heart of Texas" with an impressive Texan twang! I've never been so proud! The only negative, and it's a big one, about the trip is that we had so much fun that it made it next to impossible to leave! I don't know how many times Tray told Chris and I on the drive back to Utah that he was sad cause he just wanted to stay in Texas. lol It really was a priceless trip with a lot of firsts that we will never forget!!

 Until next time I'll be dreaming about Texas sunsets, snowcones at the lake, and blue bell ice cream!