We went crazy and decided to drive 7 hours to Seattle only to spend a day and half there. It was worth to see old friends, eat at all our favorite places (which I have been sadly craving since I got pregnant), and it gave Dale and I a chance to talk about baby stuff the whole way there (and back...hehe).
I was beginning to miss Seattle, constantly questioning whether our decision to move was the right one. Missoula is great, we are more relaxed and happy, but living in Montana means adjusting to a Montana salary. Dale is working two jobs and he still doesn't come close to what he made in Seattle. Alas, things are cheaper, gas, milk, bread and the 20% off groceries we have plus no sales tax means our small dollar stretches far.
In any case, we were missing Seattle. I missed my friends and the late night social hour at the many watering holes nearby. I missed the food and the ability to get food any time of night, seriously, 4am pizza is the best! I missed the fact the city is always moving and there is always something to do. I missed lots of things. Seriously, 5 minutes after arriving we remembered why we moved away. The traffic, the people, and the rain.
It rained the whole time we were there. No surprise. I realized that I was in denial living in Seattle trying to convince myself that I actually prefer rain. After three months of waking up to glorious sunshine (even when its 20 degrees) has changed that. We brought our dog who turned into a mud monster with all the puddles and dirt filled parks. Dale complained the whole time that he was ruining his pants which were about 1/2 inch too long and got soaked to his knees. We were both complaining because our beautiful movie star Montana hair became flat and damp within seconds of hitting the rainy city.
The rain must have an effect on people because everywhere we went people were making rude comments, sticking to their reserved cliquish nature, and driving like assholes. I remember Seattle people being so friendly--then again, the only friends I made were through work or school, generally safe places to meet people without getting your head chewed off.
In Missoula, it takes 10 minutes to drive anywhere, whether you are going across town during rush hour or not. In Seattle, I drove 4 miles to return our modem to Comcast and it took 45 minutes. I spent the day shuttling people to and fro and realized that I spent 4 hour driving back and forth....about 30 minutes each way. I very much enjoy living in a city where parking is free and ample, drivers are relaxed, and traffic just doesn't exist.
Those rude people was referring to, put them behind the wheel and you have a nightmare. I almost broke down because I was turning left and pulled partly through the intersection only to have two cars run the light and pedestrians cross the street. I had no choice but to sit in the intersection and wait. In the meantime some guy was sitting in his car pointing at me, honking, and finally drove by and told me to get a license.
Nonetheless, Seattle was not all bad. I enjoyed shopping at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. I got pho at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant and ended my meal with delicious bubble tea. We had breakfast at Peso's, an awesome southwestern style breakfast joint that specializes in biscuits in gravy complete with habanero sausage gravy. The Puget Sound was beautiful, the water cool and refreshing and lets face it even those raindrops were relief to my sunburned face.
Seattle was great. I will always miss it when I am not there and hate it when I am there.
Dale and I arrived in Missoula relieved to see the sunny open skies and traffic free roads. Driving through Missoula that night brought a sigh of relief when I crossed the railroad tracks to see the sunset on my right and historic downtown on my left. We made the right choice and I think we will become Montana's biggest fans.
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