Hello dear readers! I hope that all is well? I didn’t mean to leave it so long before finishing this series but here we are, months later and I’m only just finishing it up!
Every January I vow to get back to blogging regularly but this year myself and fellow blogger, Sarah, made a little pact to stop procrastinating and get caught up with our travel writing so I’m going to commit to putting a post out every Thursday! Hopefully..
Anyway, we have made it to the seventh and final post of this little wedding series of blog-posts! Congratulations if you made it this far!
If you want to catch up on the series, I’ll leave links at the bottom of this post but just to remind you where we left off; it’s April 2022 and last time out on the blog I was wrapping up our time in Utah before returning to Washington for what would be my final week in the States.
Those that have been following the series will know that I’d already had one “final week” in Washington. Sadly this time it really was, it was time to go home!
Of the six weeks I had in America, this was probably the least eventful. One of the highlights of the week was meeting up with our friends Maddie and Cassie. We’d hoped to meet up after the wedding but it hadn’t quite happened for a multitude of reasons so one perk to staying longer is we were able to catch up with them.
Maddie and Cassie live over in a college town called Pullman, home of Washington State University (WSU). It’s a couple of hours away from Walla Walla and right on the Idaho border. We booked ourselves a lovely AirBnB on the outskirts of Pullman which was very peaceful and had some pretty views showing off even more of Washington’s beauty.
We met Maddie and Cassie at a brewery in town – based in an old post office which was pretty cool. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of the venue itself but the beer was good and we had a nice catch up alongside some good food. It was a really lovely time and a definite highlight of the week.
On the way out of town we detoured over to the WSU bear centre – a centre dedicated to the study and conservation of bears and somewhere you can have a little look at some grizzly bears up close. Again I didn’t get any photos but it was a fun little detour before heading back to Walla Walla.
That trip to Pullman had broken up the week quite nicely. The rest of the week I was just trying to make the best of the remaining time that I had in Washington with Haleigh and her family.
On my final night we went out and had dinner together and then popped over to this bar in town (the Green Lantern) I’d yet to visit. One of Haleigh’s family members had said to me at our wedding that I really needed to visit so I was pleased to squeeze in a visit before leaving, particularly as my family had got there themselves before leaving town despite their limited time in Walla Walla.
I’ve yet to actually go back but it’s somewhere I’d probably consider a local favourite and had more of a pub vibe than many American bars.
After a couple of beers it was time to call it a night and head to sleep. I had an early flight out of Walla Walla the next morning so following on from a short sleep we made our way to the airport and had our first “goodbye” as a married couple.
“See you..? ”
Yeah, who knows! I truly sympathise with anyone going through the nuances and bureaucracy of immigration.
Anyway, we said our goodbyes and I had half a day to kill in Seattle. I jumped on the link and headed downtown to find somewhere for breakfast – stumbling upon the infamous “5 point Cafe”. I enjoyed some pancakes alongside some tea and then pondered what to do with the rest of the day.
There’s a few different things I’d previously done in Seattle over many trips, there are other things I’ve yet to do in Seattle but we were getting in to May – crunch time in the football season and Spurs were playing Saturday morning Seattle time.
Seattle have its own Spurs supporters club that get together and watch games at a specific bar and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity this time around. The game wasn’t until 11:30 local time so I had a little time after breakfast to go and do something if I’d wanted to but I made my way over there early as it’s a bit further North of the downtown Seattle area.
Good idea? Bad idea? Was it the best use of my layover in Seattle? I don’t really know but I enjoyed the football, enjoyed a few beers and made some new friends in this busy ol’ Seattle bar. On Tuesday morning I woke up in England with a scratchy throat.
I’d tested negative Tuesday morning, I’d tested negative on Thursday morning but on Friday my suspicions were confirmed – a positive test! Covid had finally caught up with me.
I can’t say for certain where and when I’d caught it but I’m pretty confident it happened after leaving Walla Walla and before arriving in London. Maybe it was in the airport, maybe it was on one of the two flights I’d took, maybe it was elsewhere in Seattle but the likelihood is that after two years of avoiding Covid I’d caught it day-drinking watching Tottenham.
It wasn’t the souvenir that I’d wanted to take home with me but it obviously had no impact on my trip. If you’re going to catch Covid, do it at the end of the trip I suppose!
and what a trip it was. Six weeks, four states, two weddings! It’s hard not to look back at it with a lot of fondness and I always feel a little privileged and humbled following such a trip. It’s one of the longest trips I’ve ever taken and I don’t think any blogging or travel-writing or whatever documentation can ever really do such a trip justice – it was special.
A lot has changed in the three years since. I’ve been sitting around twiddling my thumbs for the last 15 months waiting on a visa decision that’ll allow me to move across the pond and throughout that time I’ve repeatedly been asked “why..?” – why on Earth would anyone want to move to America!?
I get it. Some of the reservations about the US are entirely valid, there are things that seem so strange to non-Americans and I think some of the things currently happening feel particularly scary and concerning.
I actually feel a heavy dose of guilt knowing that my immigration experience is likely to be much kinder because of things outside of my control. I’ve made light of previous arrivals in to the US that have been intimidating and that’s partially because it has always resulted in a positive outcome.
It’s impossible to ignore that my experience isn’t everyone’s experience and so I completely sympathise with people perhaps considering avoiding visiting the US.
I actually flew out to Seattle this past Thanksgiving and it’s the quietest flight I’ve flown on since April 2020 so the first real sign I’ve personally witnessed of changing travel habits towards the USA but man, it makes me sad to think that people won’t get to experience the best of this country.
I’m not saying that it’s perfect by any means. I think politics is as legitimate a reason as any not to visit and I feel much the same about Russia. I would LOVE to visit St Petersburg and Moscow one day but it’s hard to envisage it happening any time soon.
Hopefully there’ll come a time when foreigners do feel more welcome Stateside because it is a great country and it doesn’t make me any less sad to know that people are missing out on the opportunity to travel there.
I think when you’ve spent significant time in the country, as I have, that you see plenty of the good too. This trip really epitomised that. Admittedly I’m guilty of easily falling in love with places (and people) but as the eternal optimist, any time I’m asked why someone would want to live in the USA my natural response is to focus on the positives.
Peterborough and London are both home to me but I’d be lying if I pretended the Pacific Northwest didn’t feel a little like home too. Every time I see Mount Rainier I feel warm and fuzzy. On my most recent trip I crossed over the Columbia River and was in awe of the view with its mountainous backdrop as the sun was setting, again warm and fuzzy thinking someday soon this’ll be my every day view.
Reflecting back on this particular trip rewards me with memories of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah. Memories traveling along the Oregon coast and dipping my toes in the Pacific Coast, of waterfalls in Idaho and Oregon, the mountain views of Washington and Utah.
I spent six glorious weeks in the USA and it’s that America that I want people to experience. The USA that is and always has been great without the need for any presidential intervention. I’ve been to 15 states now, more than most, and I’ll be damned if I don’t visit them all one day.
Anyway, I suppose this was a long-winded way of saying that I had the best time on the trip of a lifetime. Thanks for reading along if you made it this far through the series!
Until next time!
Jason
P.S – if you want to catch up on the previous posts in the series, check the links below!
A wedding in Washington: an introduction!
A wedding in Washington: week one!
A wedding in Washington: wedding time!
A wedding in Washington: the honeymoon!
A wedding in Washington: the final week!
A wedding in Washington: Idaho, Utah and a second wedding!
Jason likes to travel 