Fetching our puppy

We are quickly on our way to winter (we haven’t had one yet!  Left Melbourne at the beginning of autumn and arrived in Seattle at the beginning of spring.)  Shortly after we arrived, we found a lovely family selling Golden Retriever puppies.  The catch was that they were in Quincy, on the other side of the mountain.  It was a great opportunity to see more of Washington state.

There is lots of farmland, with beautiful houses and barns.  The trees were all budding new leaves, bright-green all along the roads.

Snow was melting up in the mountain passes.  Small waterfalls were pouring down the mountain sides next to the road.

We drove past some of the ski resorts, the closest we have ever been to snow.

Our puppy was just too sweet in the car.  He cuddled with the kids, they were fighting about who got to sit next to him.

He kept looking out the back window when we drove away from the farm where he was born.

The other side of the mountain is not nearly as hilly as where we stay.  Lots of beautiful lakes and low rolling hills and large plains filled with farmland and wind farms.

We made a few pitstops for Binks to take a walk and stretch his legs.  (We made it home with no accidents!)

 

It was a beautiful trip!  Loved seeing more of the country.

First Days in Seattle

We arrived in Seattle during the first days of spring, with regular blue skies and bright flowers starting to peek out everywhere. 

After so many hours travelling, we were grateful to arrive at our temporary home in Redmond.  The corporate housing was very pretty, with a great view over the river out the back.  It was in a complex with lots of families around.  The kids had friends to play with every day.  The stairs just weren’t so great up to the bedrooms.  They were quite steep and all of us slipped at least once, hubby taking a fall.

 

Driving there was interesting, especially since we were tired.  “Wrong side of the road” kept making it feel like we would be t-boned every time we turned left.  A friend had given us the tip “righty tighty, lefty loosy”.  It doesn’t just work for opening jars.  When you turn right, keep tight to the edge and when you turn left, keep loose.  It is easy when there are lots of cars around, since you mostly follow the other drivers.  The concentration has to kick in when you are the only driver around. The roads are mostly quite well-marked and spacious, which made it a lot easier.

The trees here are tall and green, new shoots were budding everywhere.  The cloudy skies were something to watch, the kids finding creatures in the sky.

 

A beautiful walking trail runs behind the corporate housing.  It runs along the river.  It was permanently filled with families walking their dogs, cycling or rowing on the river.

  

All the streets are lined with trees as well.  It makes you feel a lot closer to nature.  All the plants and trees camouflages the buildings.  It doesn’t feel like you are close to a city.

Redmond is really beautiful.  We are slowly finding our way around and getting lost a lot less often!

So we have moved

November last year, about the time I was finishing my studies, I got an excited call from my husband.  He had been approached by Amazon to interview for a position.  Something we had not been expecting or had planned for.  (They had discovered his cv through LinkedIn.)  After a long process of interviews, he was offered a job in Seattle (yeah, the USA, way on the other side of the world).  Thanks to some wonderful friends who jumped in to help, we managed to get everything organised to move by the end of March.  On a beautiful Saturday morning, we said goodbye to our home and our friends.

With everything happening so fast, (job offer only came in end of January), there weren’t many flights available.  Lets just say that having 2 hours between connecting flights were not nearly enough.  We were sprinting between domestic and international lounges.  Thank goodness for my ThinkTank International camera roller bag.   It turns into a backpack, which made running a lot easier.  Somehow they never weighed it.  I suspect they couldn’t believe someone would be running with 20kgs on their back.  Sorry I never got a photo of how I packed it.  I had stuffed all our valuables in there as well as all my gear  (3 bodies, lots of lenses, flash, etc.).  The straps they use are brilliant, for once I didn’t end up with sore shoulders or back.  (It also fit easily as carry-on for all three different airlines we flew with.)  Thanks to Simon who helped me find the bag in time for our flight!

 

The flight to San Francisco wasn’t the most pleasant, but we survived.  Grateful that we landed early as the flights behind us were all sent to LAX due to computer problems at emigration, as well as  fog.  We spent three hours waiting in line before the systems were up and running again.  The kids spent the time sleeping on our bags.  Ironically, due to time differences, at that point it was earlier in the day than when we had left Melbourne.  The staff were really friendly and helpful, trying to make the best of an unpleasant situation.  The waiting passengers, not so much…

The flight for the last leg to Seattle had thankfully been delayed, otherwise we would probably have missed it and had to have stayed over as the flights were so fully booked.  Somehow, at this point, we also misplaced one of the kids’ jackets.  I don’t think we were very good company any more.  The pilot from Alaskan Airlines was really good, compared our previous two landings on this trip, the kids didn’t even realise we had touched down.

 

We arrived to a quiet airport, got our bags and our rental car and found our way to the corporate housing. (Yeah, it wasn’t quite that easy, but will blog about that part later.)

We arrived at the start of spring, with beautiful weather and bright colours everywhere.  This place is really gorgeous, adjusting is just taking some time.  If you have school-age kids, moving across in April is not ideal.

Finding the rainbow

My daughter came running in, really excited.  We all had to go look, she insisted.  Out the back door, we could see the brightest rainbow I have seen in a long time.  With the sunset behind us, the sky was filled with glorious colour!

 

Sometimes the world around is is just magical, we just have to look.  (Walking everywhere at the moment, I need anything to keep my mind off my sore feet!)

When routine goes out the window

Lately we have had quite a  busy schedule going, with my classes starting, hubby’s work pressure increasing a little and a lot of other small things.  Last night it was especially hard to motivate myself to go to class.  Being tired seems to make me gloomy!  Well, looks like I was meant to take a break.  After waiting for the train, which came into the station really slow, everyone jumped on board for a (VERY) slow trip to the next station.  A three minute trip took forty minutes.  Then the dreaded announcement:  Power lines got tangled at Dandenong station, so no trains are available into the city.  The train was going back.  A three minute trip and I was back where I started.  (At least I wasn’t in the city when this happened!  Imagine trying to get home!) 

Well, since there was quite a stunning sunset, I decided to use the evening to relax and take some photos for no reason other than I liked what I saw.

Today’s routine is also out of the window.  My younger son has developed a fever, so I am being forced to relax at home.  Hope you find a natural way to relax this weekend and don’t need to be forced, kicking and screaming like me!

Walking Around Carlton (Scott Kelby World Wide Photowalk)

I got  a chance to take part in this year’s Scott Kelby World Wide Photowalk.  We walked around Carlton, past the Melbourne Museum and through some alleyways.  It was so much fun just walking around with other photographers, seeing the world through different eyes.  I am still working on the photos, but here are a few of the first ones.

Lots of old buildings with interesting designs on the doors

 

 

Fabulous trees with the most interesting branches against the sky (ok, I cheated and turned the grey sky blue for a bit of an abstract)

Fabulous colours everywhere.  I seem to get attracted to the blues most of all.

I haven’t walked around the back of Melbourne Museum before. The park is gorgeous, especially with all the fallen leaves everywhere.

The skies turned dark and gloomy every now and then, but that works when you take pictures of the sky! (ps this is a colour picture.  I didn’t make it black and white.  The sky made everything grey for a while)

Here and there were a few colourful roses in gardens.  Spring is not too far away any more.

 

The abstract shapes the museum forms, make a fascinating contrast to all the nature and historical images around.

More soon, time to put my little one down for her nap.