Pacific Northwest: Washington

The last time Matt and I were in Washington was 2016 and when we tried to leave, the aviation world went into complete chaos. We were on a red-eye about to take off when the pilot had to taxi the plane back to the gate at 1 am because the computers shut down. This would later be known as the Delta Meltdown. Apparently, the entire Delta computer system crashed and grounded all their national and international flights. It was a 30-hour travel nightmare.

Since then, Matt and I developed a new policy that we no longer fly in or out of Washington due to poor past experience. We are smarter now. This time, we drove in and out of Washington. RVs for life babbayyy!!!

The benefit of driving through Washington is that you get to see all the inland beauty. We had the special treat of traveling during the fall so all the leaves were a lovely shade of yellow. We did make a stop at a precious Bavarian styled town called Leavenworth and treated ourselves to some delicious German food.

Afterwards, we went to Mount Rainier National Park. Prior to our visit, the mountain received 16 inches of snowfall. The day we got there it was sunny with blue skies. The ranger said it was the first day she had been able to see the peak in over two weeks. We felt very lucky. On our hikes, the snow-covered peak was so blinding in the sunlight that it hurt your eyes to look at it.

We eventually made our way to Seattle. We got to meet up with Matt’s cousin and my childhood friend, Sam Sanders. Together, we drank coffee, ate tacos, played board games (I finally won a game of Terraforming Mars!!), and toured Sam’s new apartment. Sam just moved back from Luxembourg and didn’t have any furniture yet besides his mattress. Undeterred, Matt and I happily rolled out our sleeping bags and slept on his floor. This was way better than driving 40 minutes back in the dark to our campsite. In the morning, we got breakfast and then said our goodbyes. Sam was the perfect Seattle host and we loved seeing him!

Washington is also a place where we overcame great adversity and Matt got to flex his handyman skills. During our stay, I cracked open the door to our RV to let some morning air into the camper. Ten seconds after I opened it, a powerful wind gust flung the door wide open. Unfortunately, this disfigured the bottom door hinge which prevented us from closing the door. This was very problematic.

After much careful inspection, YouTube tutorials, dealership phone calls, collaborating with our RV neighbor, and a crucial Facetime consult with Richard Scuderi (Matt’s dad), Matt fixed our door! It now closes like a dream. I’d even argue it closes better than before!!

So actually as I type this entry in retrospect, I’m having a revelation. I am realizing two things: 1) Washington wind should NOT be trusted and 2) that whether it’s flying or driving, maybe we should just never visit Washington again…