A Will in Washington

I wrote this article, over a thousand miles from Kalani High School, from Lake Sutherland. If there’s one thing for certain, it wasn’t humid. It was a nice 78 degrees. A true road trip felt so good, rather than driving in circles on Oahu. I missed the third week of school, but it was my grandma’s 80th birthday, and she wanted everyone to be there.  My visit helped me do new adventurous things I otherwise would not have done back home. It amazes me how much can be accomplished in a week. It is all about different perspectives, Washington may seem like an unpopular vacation destination compared to Hawaii, but making it your own popular vacation destination is what I did.   That is what I did in Washington, I made the most I could with my time there.

We stayed in a beautiful lake house filled with my little cousins running around. I sat on the dock of the lake, saw people in their boats, and pine trees instead of palm trees, much different than what you see at Waikiki. I could smoothly paddle in a kayak, or float in an inner tube without the waves crashing in.

My family and I also went to Olympic National Park, a short and scenic drive from the lake. The park was full of trees standing up like skyscrapers, with moss growing on them like out of some creepy movie. Fun fact: the Twilight saga was filmed here. At this park, my older cousins were talking about jumping into Lake Crescent in the National Park off a thirty-foot bridge. I thought, “Well, I don’t want to be stuck with the little girls, I’ll just hike up with them and watch.” So I hiked to a waterfall in the woods, about a half a mile up from the trailhead.  Little did I know, I’d be putting on a life jacket in the bushes, letting my cousin push me off a bridge, and letting my inner daredevil shine. Rush, cold air and intensity are the only words I know to describe  the jump. It happened so fast and then my two favorite cousins were jumping in. I figured I might as well swim in the sixty degrees lake water because I don’t know when I will ever be back. We spent around five days in the lake house. Everyone, except the seven girls and Grandma stayed up until midnight because it was most peaceful time of the day. At the end of the trip, it was a madhouse, packing, cleaning the house and getting the little ones ready. The fridge was full of food. Everyone was sucking down five Otter-Pops, while I was in charge of eating a half-quart of ice cream. We said our goodbyes and headed west to go sightseeing.

The next day was the the best day of the vacation, at least for me. We headed back to Seattle with Grandma. We knew we were exiting the country when we boarded the ferry. The University of Washington campus was beautiful with all the Greek fraternities lined up across the street with a library that looked like a Roman cathedral; something you don’t usually see in Hawaii. When the tour was done, we parted into two cars, one to the hotel and one to CenturyLink Field, where I watched the Seahawks play the Vikings. I saw everyone that got out of their cars were dressed in blue and green. CenturyLink Field is nothing like Aloha Stadium, it made ours looked puny. We were seated well below to watch the action. I had a great time sitting down watching the game, munching down garlic fries. Unfortunately, we lost to the Vikings but I had a great time.

For the last two days, we went to do some touristy things like going to Pike Place Market and riding the Seattle’s Great Wheel. I learned why people go to colleges on the mainland. It is to escape the rock and try something new. You can just take a drive for miles and not end up in the ocean and I could get used to the city life with family I get to see more often than inat Hawaii.  So that’s why my cousin offered me the basement jokingly. It was so that I could experience college on the mainland. But winters are something I would not want to get used to with wearing heavy layers and fighting the cold on the way to school.

As I checked out of Sea-Tac, Airport, I thought about how we might be  the only ones that are going home and not going on a tropical vacation. It is all about different perspectives. At the end of the day, your favorite vacation destination is your own. Some like the tropics, or some like colder weather just for the change of scenery.  I didn’t think about all the people that were going back home at the start of my lake trip, as I called it, with no complimentary tropical drinks saying “Welcome to Hawaii!” aboard. They were sad to leave the Hawaiian islands and board the plane to head home. Now I was in their shoes, going back home and ending my vacation. About five hours later, I saw sunshine with clear skies. I’m home, rock sweet rock.  No pine trees here, only an island filled with everyday habits, and back to reality.