Update

Hello all.

I am so sorry I abadoned you before the end of my trip to Europe. Basically, Paris became a little insane, and Dublin was amazing, and Hillary and I returned back to the US safely.

I thought I would only use this blog to keep in touch during my summer overseas, but since I've been back to the states, I have found that traveling has become more of a habit than a privelege, and why not share it all with you? It's also a nice way for me to have a permanent record of my travels.

Since I returned to the US I've been a lot of different places. I went on a roadtrip with my friend Dominic to Memphis, TN. We took a round about way however in order to see a few other things and people on our way. We started by staying in Indianapolis with his sister. The next day we drove to Springfield, IL to visit Abe Lincoln's home and tomb, amongst other things. That night we drove into St. Louis to stay with one of my roommates, Kathleen. The next day we got a tour of the city, and went up in the arch, where we met many strange, strange people. After that, we drove to Memphis and stayed there for a few days doing the essential tourist things such as Sun Studios, Graceland, Beale Street, the Gibson Factory, and other cool things, like realllly good BBQ.

Memphis is really fun, and has a lot of character. The musical history there is enough to impress anyone, but there is something I find so charming about Memphis. I recommend everyone goes there at least once in their life...if not more!

On the way back we stopped briefly in Nashville, another one of my favorite cities. It is such a fun place to be, whehter or not you are into country music. I have been there a few times now, and always anticipate when I can go back. There is something about Tennessee (sp??) that I've fallen in love with. After stopping too briefly in Nashville, we made the rest of the trip back to Columbus.

I thought my summer travels would end here, but it turns out I was wrong. I went on an impromptu bus trip to Washington DC with my sister to rally for former presidential candidate, Ron Paul. The experience was incredible, hot, and moving. I have never in my life seen so many different people come together for one cause (and you probably haven't either given the lack of publicity his campaign received...) The daytrip to DC was awesome, and made for great photographic opportunities. Not to mention I got to visit the Native American museum. That was my 2nd time in DC, and it is definitely on my top 5 favorite cities. I would move to that area in a heartbeat.

Since returning to school, I have been on a few more trips including, Nashville to visit my roommate's family, Chicago for a PhotoClub trip, St. Louis for Mardi Gras, and a few other smaller trips such as Athens and New Bremen.

I guess my main reason for picking this back up again is the fact that it is FINALLY spring break of my senior year in college, and instead of sitting at home like a couch potato this year, my friend, Hillary (who you all should know well by now!) and myself decided to DO SOMETHING, meaning, go SOMEWHERE! We wanted to go to a city we have never seen before, so somehow we settled on Seattle, WA. Turns out plane tickets were pretty cheap, so we booked a flight! We will be staying with one of her friend's from high school for half of the trip, and the other half we will spend on the Pacific coast of the state in a sleepy town called Forks. Many of you may know this from the Twlight saga, but this is not our reason for going (even though I will admit that I'm a HUGE fan...) We want to see the state of Washington in all its glory, which means you CANNOT factor out Olympic National Park. Forks happens to be settled in the Olympic Peninsula, a perfect location to stay in order to get to many different parts of the natural landscape. We had to rent a car, which I am a little nervous about....but we should be fine. I am really looking forward to relaxing in a natural setting for once. Bring on the rain!!

I will post some images from some of my past travels in the next few posts, and will most likely update from WA. If not, I'll talk with you all when I return in time for Easter.

Enjoy!
and take a peak at where we will spend the next 7 days!