Once we got through Ian’s graduation, he and I got to take a short overnight trip to Seattle. (and, bonus, Dawn got some much needed quiet time)
We stayed at ‘citizenM Seattle’; the decor was fun, the location worked really well for us, and the room was a great mix of minimalism meets Stanley Kubrick. We’d stay there again.
Once we checked in, Ian and I walked over to the Spheres. I’ve wanted to show him the inside for a while now but it had been difficult to schedule. With some time off I just took my badge with me for our trip and I could escort him in for a tour.
For dinner, we walked over to Taku and ordered a ‘F**k It Bucket’ of Japanese fried chicken and furikake fries, and it was amazing. (We’ve been watching Top Chef Portland and had to try Chef Shota‘s place – hopefully we’ll get to try a few more of the restaurants from this the chefs of this season)
That evening, we just hung out, watched TV, and it was pretty great.
Started our day with Top Pot Doughnuts – a favorite of mine up there. (We took some home for Momma too)
Made a trip to Pike Place market to look around and Ian found ‘The Purple Store’ so we had to check it out. Fish n chips from Jack’s Fish Spot and we were on our way.
Last stop was Gas Works Park. Dawn and I had visited it before and I wanted to show the dude. From there, we jumped on the freeway for our long journey home. I really enjoyed spending time with my best buddy.
California has been good to me. I was born here and had a great childhood here. I enjoyed many years of youth soccer here, later to become a coach for my own son.
I met my wife here in California. She was also born here and grew up in the state. Though we went to different schools, she and I had similar experiences with it. We went on to get married at a restaurant that her family had a tradition of celebrating things at. It became our place to celebrate things as well. In fact, in the coming weeks, we will be having a going away party there with a number of friends; some we have known longer than we’ve been married.
We had a child here in California. It has been a fantastic place to raise him so far. I think we’ve been able to give him a wonderful childhood so far. The schools he has attended have been something I especially appreciate. The teachers have been amazing; able to push him further than I would expect.
Each of my loving grandparents are buried here in California. None of them were born here though, each migrated here from other places. Heck, my Great Grandfather came all the way over from Sweden. Something I think about from time to time as we do a bit of reflection in preparation for our move out of the state.
We’ve made tons of friends here in California. People I fully expect to know into my later years. Many of them weren’t born here though. Come to think of it, many have moved away as well. Again, something I thought about as we worked towards our move.
It’s time to leave our home state for a new one. It’s time to seek new adventures and new experiences. Time to call a new place home.
We’re moving to Portland, Oregon.
A few years ago, we went and visited some great friends that had moved there. Friends we had made here in California, back in our high school days. We really enjoyed our time there.
Then a couple years ago, we started thinking about moving away. More and more it felt like something we needed to do. It was time to grow. We considered a few places, but somehow Portland kept coming up, at least in my mind.
This past January we traveled back to Portland to see our friends (and a few others we have made over the years). We also went with a different mindset than just simply going on vacation. We chose a week in January thinking it would be questionable weather and we would have to deal with it. Of course when we arrived the sun was shining and our friends thanked us for bringing the sun with us. Figures, right?
This time, within a few minutes of being there, I knew it was somewhere I wanted to call home. As I drove along in our rented car, I looked off in the distance to see a mountain, covered by a forest, fading away into the clouds. I commented to my wife “I could look at that every day.”
Drivers were courteous, people said thank you when you opened the door for them. It just felt right.
Recently flew out to Washington D.C. to cover social media for a Gartner event for work. It was my first trip out to the area, and it ended up being quite the adventure.
I have posted two photo albums on my Exposure.co gallery — check them out:
