I’ll admit that I was anxious about our trip back to the US. As excited as I was to be in the wedding of one of my dearest childhood friends, I was afraid that being back on US soil would make it that much harder to return to Australia and see out the rest of the year.
Away we went: Melbourne to LA, LA to Seattle. Though Seattle is still half a country away from Iowa, Seattle felt like home. We both shouted excitedly when we passed American staples like Target (the real one), DSW, and Jimmy Johns! We made an obligatory stop at Chipotle and dropped a large portion of hard-earned money at Target, Kohls and American Eagle. Oh the joy of being able to go into a store, know exactly where to find it, what size you are, how/where to try it on, and not have to do any conversions in your head.
We spent a morning at the famous Pike’s Market and took some quick snaps at the original Starbucks.
We caught a ferry to get to the wedding location and took in the great Seattle skyline.
The ceremony and reception were held near the Hood Canal at Alderbrook resort, which had to be one of the most beautiful, picturesque scenes for a wedding. Here’s a shot during setup, the day of the wedding.
The bridal party stayed together at a nearby mansion called The Bend. It was rented just for the wedding party and family and it was, in a word, FABULOUS. Click on the link above if you want to see pics of the inside.
I can’t put into words all that this wedding meant to me. Seeing a childhood friend get married, in such a beautiful setting, and when memories of our wedding were so fresh…the only word that comes to mind is blessed.
We left Seattle on Saturday and headed back to Melbourne. I was pleasantly surprised that, when landing in Melbourne, both Ryan and I remarked how good it felt to be “home”. Funny how that word can mean two different places. And within less than 24 hours of being in Melbourne (and 8 loads of laundry later), we went back to the airport for our trip to New Zealand. Our bodies and brains had seen better days but who has time to complain about anything when the next adventure awaits.
