View of the Space Needle from Kerry Park.

I have not always accepted change as a good thing. Having grown up feeling sheltered, the world outside those 1400 sq ft of space was a very scary place.

The first time I ventured outside the California border (in the continental US) was when I 21 years old. I went with my sister and her then-bf (now my brother-in-law) to Vegas. Wow, that was an experience. For me, Vegas wasn’t my cup of tea. The lights. The sounds. The smoke. The dry air. Ugh.

It wouldn’t be until about 6 years later that I went even further outside California to Seattle, Washington. I’ll admit, when my then-bf (now hubby) suggested we take a train up to Seattle, I wasn’t too thrilled. I didn’t know what was in Seattle. The first thoughts that came to mind were Grunge, Nirvana and my bf’s friend who had moved there from California.

Big. Whoop.

The train ride was great, so the trip was off to a good start. We checked into our hotel fairly late, around midnight, I think. So, on our first night, there wasn’t much we could do.

The next day, we went to explore the city. It was really exciting. I took a lot of pictures. Everything was fascinating. And different. And it was good.

It was summertime, and there was actual sun. I remember hearing people say that it was the longest period of sunshine they had seen in a long time. It was a bummer for us, though, since we wanted to see the rain. (Rain is kinda like seeing an eclipse for us Southern Californians.)

Since that year, my hubby and I have made about 3 more trips. We fell in love with the city and have talked for years about moving there.

And now… it’s finally starting to happen.

TO BE CONTINUED.