Want to know something neat? I usually write my blogs on a Word document before posting it. Here’s the kick. Right now, I’m 39,207 feet in the air aboard a non-stop Virgin America flight en route to LAX!
First off, I didn’t really intend to make this blog solely a travel-blog but it sure seems like it became one. My intent was to write about things that inspire me, things that have a strong impact on me. You know, things that I experience and would love to share with you. There have been so many things I wanted to write about but I could never find the time to do it. I’ve been on multiple mini trips, have had many new local experiences, and I recently graduated from the California State University in Fullerton! See, look how happy I am to get out of there. Okay, okay, I'll miss that place.
My plans now are to eventually be admitted into a graduate entry-level nursing program to obtain my RN license and master’s degree. While I wait for the schools to respond, I figured I would continue with my current job, save money, spend some time with friends and family, relax, and of course… travel.
With the accomplishment of earning a bachelor’s degree after five years, I thought it would be a good idea to treat myself to a couple trips outside of the Orange County "bubble” I call home. I’m pretty excited about this summer. It’s nowhere near as extravagant as the past summers I have planned, but I must admit, it comes close to it. To start of my celebratory travels, I headed to Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas… enough said.
As a gift, my mom got my friends and I a room at the Palazzo. Thanks Mom!
To change it up a bit, I decided to plan a short trip a to places a little over a thousand miles north of southern California. Places where cool weather, rainy days, and amazing scenery is nothing new…Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington. We spent about four days in each city, which was a perfect amount of time to check out the major tourist sites. A great thing about this trip was being able to stay with my family. It’s always great to hang out with people who can call themselves “locals” because it truly gave us a taste of what it would be like to live there. We ate at their favorite places, shopped at their everyday shopping spots, and checked out some of the things the city is known for. I usually find it hard to express what I’m talking about in written text, so here are some photos. Enjoy!
Susie and Natalie didn't know how to keep warm, so they danced.
The peir at White Rock Beach
Would I go to Canada and not hike? Nope.
My cousins gathered up some of their friends and took us on an amazing bike ride along the Vancouver Sea Wall. Definitely one of the highlights of this trip!
Japadog Hotdogs... Yes, that's seaweed!
Olympic Center
Catching up with the cousins at my Uncle's house in Silverdale, Washington (a small city about an hour and a half outside of Seattle)
Pikes Place Market and the FIRST Starbucks store
One of my favorite city skylines... Seattle
Happy Hour!
My best-friend-cousin, Cheng-Cheng-Cheng
The Freemont Troll
The great thing about this trip was the company. We were extremely lucky to have stayed with such hospitable hosts and I couldn't thank them enough. I'm happy with how these trips went and the friends that accompanied me truly made these trips memorable.
Also for all you Facebookers, if you're interested, click HERE and check out the full set of photos I posted. It should be open to everyone so you shouldn't have a problem looking at them.
So now, I have two days to get ready for my next trip. At 9pm on Saturday, I'll be heading to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic!
I'll try my best to blog as soon as I can (this on was written a while back, but I never posted it)
I hope ya'll are doing well!
Until Next Time,
Alvin
