The rains have come to the northwest and we hear it stays this way until late spring. That means it's time to head southeast. As we leave Washington and the northwest I feel a need to give some final thoughts. All in all we are glad we were able to spend some time in Washington. The town we lived in, Everett was not the cutest town nor did it have a good downtown or beer scene but there were some cute houses where we lived that did make it nice to walk around. We also were able to see the bay from our house, hear the seals bark and sea gills chatter. On Clear days we could even see the Olympic mountains right off our deck. The drive up and down highway 5 was absolutely gorgeous when the cascade mountains were in view. We didn't like the traffic especially when it would take over an hour to go 36 miles. The locals some how learn to live with this even to the point of forgetting that it's not normal. My job was tough which made things harder too. I worked in a very busy home health office and disliked the amount of paperwork required as well as the amount of time spent in my car driving to patients houses. Our original plan after leaving Washington was to work in southern Oregon but after being so unhappy in Washington I wanted to start heading east sooner. We did stay a night in southern Oregon on our way down to California and I slightly regretted my decision. I realized how much I loved Oregon with the smaller college towns, outdoor adventure, and exceptional beer. As we were walking around Ashland Oregon`s downtown I told myself that yes we would have had fun here but we'd again be strangers in a new town trying to find friends and connections which I know we would. Then I thought maybe we should have started traveling sooner so we could have seen more before getting to the age where having a house and pets and babies became more important. Jonathan says he is fine with how things turned out and I know I am too. If we had come earlier we would have just missed out on all the things we did before this. That night I found a ladybug in the bathroom which I believe is a good luck sign. I let him outside in an attempt to save him, and felt a sense of closure on our northwest chapter.
