welcome to the rainforest

      Memorial Day weekend was so much fun! We left Friday afternoon at 5:00 after a LONG week of work. We drove four hours to Tacoma to stay with Ashley and Katy Ann for the night. We had beautiful weather until about 1 hour out of Tacoma. Little did we know that was the last sunshine we would see all weekend, but it didn’t put a damper on anything. We woke up early and drove three more hours to Forks, WA. This post will be divided into two different sections! Part 1 is about Forks. Part 2 is about our rainforest trip!

My roadtrip buddies for the weekend!

Our view on the way to Tacoma!

I have never seen a wind farm before!

Cascade mountains

Don’t get me wrong. I love the Twilight books, and I was really looking forward to seeing Forks. This town has capitalized on Twilight to the fullest extent possible, considering that the movie wasn’t actually ever even filmed there! They have twilight tours, twilight beer, twilight menus at the restaurants, etc, etc. We got our picture by Bella’s truck, Forks’s Highschool, Carlisle’s hospital parking spot. We even stayed at the Bella cottage (it was the only place open on Memorial Day weekend!). Forks ended up being the perfect place to stay because of it’s vicinity to all of the sightseeing places we wanted to see. It was cheesy, but not many people can say they have been to Forks, WA!

Welcome to Port Angeles.  Home of Edward and Bella's first date!

Welcome to Forks

Bella's truck (not anything like the one in the movie)

Renesmee

Forks Highschool

This is a bulletin board where anyone can send notes to Bella, Edward, or Jacob!

     Bella’s cottage was…interesting. It is a mom and pop establishment that I believe they just renamed once the movie came out. There is one queen size bed with lace on the headboard. I could touch the ceiling with my fingers and that says something. There are many pictures to follow!

Bella's Cottage

Inside our "cozy" little cottage!

      On Saturday and Sunday we spent the days hiking through the rainforest and at the beach. We first went to La Push, where Jacob is from. We drove to First beach and got out and walked. I put my feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time ever! The scenery was beautiful! We hung out and watched surfers on the beach. The water was COLD! Next, we went to Third Beach. We saw a lot of people walking on the trail to the beach with huge hiking backpacks, so we had to see what it was all about. We asked how long the trail was before we started. It was 1.4 miles one way, then you turn around and come back. I was so proud of us for what we accomplished! We were adventurous! I will be camping here on the beach at least one time this summer!

Beautiful scenery, even on a gloomy day

In the Pacific Ocean!  It was cold!

I loved this huge tree!

Wish all of you were here!

After our 1.4 mile hike in, we had to cross all of this driftwood to get to the beach!

I'm so proud of us!

the Sea stacks... the waves crash against them

      The Hoh rainforest was in a different area. We walked through the Hall of Mosses. We hiked through another trail to the Sol Duc Falls, which was so worth it! It was beautiful! The sad part is that the pictures do not do any of it justice! If it just looks like we saw a bunch of trees in the forest, it is not at all what we saw! I was amazed at God’s creation! Life was thriving all through the forest! Listening to the sounds of the rainforest was so peaceful. It sounds just like the noisemaker!

The trees look like Dr. Seuss trees

An old tree that was turned over

Erica and I

I could walk all the way under this tree

The only way to cross the huge mud puddle!

We saw two elk on the side of the road! They were just grazing! They are all over the rainforest!

Beautiful waterfalls!  This one was so powerful!

The view of where I was standing in the previous picture!

This man offered to take my picture with his wife's umbrella because of the beautiful pink against the green!

After a long weekend, we enjoyed some southern food at this restaurant that has

been featured on the food network.  They are famous for their strawberry lemonade with whipped cream!

You can tell I thoroughly enjoyed it!

On our way home!

      This weekend was an amazing trip that I will never forget, and I am so thankful I got to see this! I wish all of you were here with me to see this! I miss you all!

The beautiful double rainbow that was awaiting us when we got home!

Welcome to Idaho

      I officially survived my first week of fieldwork. It was LONG and TIRING. By the way, Washington had a small tornado about an hour East of us on Wednesday night. It only destroyed an old dilapidated barn, but you would have thought it was an F5 tornado! They interviewed this farmer from morning to night going over and over what he saw when the tornado came through! Very funny to me.

      I have also learned this week that I have been pronouncing Colorado and Nevada wrong all of my life. Everyone picks up immediately that we are not from here. Imagine that!

      Also this week, we decided to go to the movies to see Letters to Juliet. We didn’t quite make it to the movies because I locked the keys in the car… while it was running! We had to call a locksmith which was not fun! Hahaha

      On Saturday morning we decided to go explore so we left to visit a place called Coeur d’alene, Idaho! (Chuck, I am quickly adding to my 50 x 50 list!) It is about 40 minutes from Medical Lake. We left around 9:30 for a day trip! It was so beautiful! The weather is still trying to adjust to the summer season. It is about 50 degrees here and very windy. Coeur d’alene is a resort town. It is actually hosting the ironman triathlon competition on June 27, which our small group leaders from Jackson happen to be coming for! The town boasts a beautiful lake where we actually saw someone kite surfing! They have a beautiful park which offers live music on specific nights during the summer. There is also a strip of unique boutique shops. We walked up and down through the shops and found a few gifts for our families! They have this wonderful toy store called Figpickels! I found Jacob a super hero starter kit! Packed with a red cape, wrist bands, stickers, and how to come up with your own superhero name! The town or the state is known for the Huckleberries they have. There are all these huckleberry jams, pepper jellies, and everything huckleberry you can think of! They also have a lot of local wines made in the area, which is also very unique! The town is so charming! We will definitely be frequenting this place throughout the summer!

      Next week at work, I will pick my one to one patient that I will spend a lot of time with and write a huge report on for the summer. I will also go over some OT assessments in depth and learn how to document in a psych hospital!

     Next weekend for Memorial Day, Katie, Erica, and I will be traveling to Tacoma, WA on Friday night to visit with Katy Ann and Ashley (two of our classmates). Saturday morning we will all get up really early and drive to the Hoh rainforest! It is a total of 8 hours away from Medical Lake! On Saturday night we will drive to FORKS, WA and stay in “Bella’s Cabin” at this family-owned place! I am sure I will have PLENTY of pictures to share from this trip also!

I hope all is well at home! Love and miss you all!

P.S. I am so proud of Joseph, BQ, Brett and Jeremy for their triathlon performance! I wish I was there to cheer them on, but I know they did have plenty of support and love there!

I am still amazed at the beauty of the weather rolling in over the valley!

Me, Erica, and Katie celebrating our first Friday night!

Entering Idaho! The western border of Idaho is beautiful! I dunno about the rest of the state! 

Chuck, I am quickly adding to my 50 x 50!

Beautiful Lake Coeur d'alene.  It was windy and cold this day!

They offer jet ski rentals, water skiing, hiking, camping, etc. etc. 

This is also home to the ironman triathlon on June 26-28!

One of the many beautiful boats we saw!

We watched in awe as someone was kite surifng! they have their own beach inside their downtown center area!

The beautiful park! they have live music and picnic spots for the summer time.  Such a romantic city!

Local Wine Tasting room in the strip of shops!

Rusty Moose

So the past two days have been smooth.  I was asked if I was an alien or a vampire because of the color of my eyes.  Our Walmart trip was interesting...ha this is a VERY small town.  I think it makes Mississippi look good.  We had dinner our frist night at the Rusty Moose! hahaha.  I got to watch a horticulture therapy group.  The patients come down and water plants for money that goes into their account so that they can buy candy or "smokes".  Another work group allows them to do "piece work" where they can put together coffee packets, shred paper, or fold towels for money.  I have learned how to play seven new card games since I have been here.  I spent 3 hours on the ward yesterday.  We are to observe what goes on and write a report.  I just sat and talked to the patients, and they taught me how to play card games!  Many of the people admitted to the hospital have come from severe drug use and their mind is just gone. "Say no to Drugs!". After the next two weeks, I am going to be set free and will develop into having the schedule of an entry-level OT!  Exciting! This weekend we are thinking about taking a day trip to Cour de alene which is about 45 minutes away.  Friday night dinner at Zola and then off to see Letters to Juliet!  I miss everyone at home very much!  I love you all!  I guess I may not get to update again until next Monday because the library does not open again until then!

This is the rain coming in over the valley! beautiful!

How many deer can you spy? This is my breakfast company.

More deer

I survived!

             So I survived my first day of fieldwork! Erica and I flipped for which supervisor we got because we were both afraid of one of the supervisors! I got Connie, so I will be working with adult psych patients. They are all very close to my age, some are a few years older! It is kind of scary. They just seem like a crowd you would see out on the streets in a large city. I will be leading my own group at week 7. At week 3, I will choose one of the patients to do a one-on-one treatment with, and I will also perform an extensive case study on them. I will do a lot of evaluations this summer. My first assignment is to spend four hours on the ward by myself just “hanging” out with the patients and getting to know them. Everyone here is very laid back, and it is hard to distinguish between the staff and the patients sometimes. The only difference is that the staff wears nametags! I will be leading a lot of groups with my supervisor. Most everyone that works at the hospital has a lot of family members that work there also. I feel like this summer will be very challenging for me in a lot of ways, but in a good way. I am exhausted after just my first day of work. P.S. in the lunch line today they asked me if I wanted soup or a sandwich… I told them a sandwich. I got cheese and bread. I even asked for extra mustard. Ha. Needless to say, I did not eat my cheese sandwich and I was starving by the end of the day! I will get a chance to see forensic psych and geriatric psych. We also have assignments to tour the group home in downtown Spokane and to attend two support groups. One is for depression and the other is for schizophrenics. I am anxious to see what the summer has in store! Everyone has pegged us from the beginning that we are from the south.


I will leave you with a new but inappropriate joke my I heard today from a patient:

Why is Dolly Parton afraid of the jungle?

Answer: the booby traps!

Arriving in Spokane!

So the trip went smoothly.  We had no hiccups in the travels except that I lost my gray sweater, which Joseph found.. and my bag was 15 pounds over the weight limit!  Haha here are some awesome pictures I have taken along the way!

Mountain ranges.. and then they just stop and there is a city at their base

Snow patches

Mt Hood

The land is in patches for some reason

Mount St Helen with Mt Ranier in the background

                                                         The front view of our house.  When we got there, they gave erica and I each a room key and a house key.  The room keys only opened one room, the other room key did not work.  I spent the first night of our visit on the floor in this house!  It is facing the forensics unit.. lovely.

The back view of our house

My bedroom with views out over the lake.  At night you sleep to the sound of bugs and crickets outside your window.  There is no air conditioner or internet... we discovered that we have fuzzy ABC and a VHS player! Our Monday and Wednesday nights will be spent at the public library using the internet.  They are only open 2 nights a week!  This is what they mean when they say small town USA.

My bedroom desk

                                                                    Our living room

Kitchen

The view from the back porch... It has the most beautiful morning sunrises.  I am amazed at the beauty God created!  I will definitely be taking some sunrise pictures.  I am still on MS time so I go to bed early here and wake up early!

Some more views from the house. That is the hospital in the upper right corner

The mule deer are EVERYWHERE.. they eat breakfast with us haha

On our way into Spokane, the metro area.  The mountains make for a beautiful backdrop!

 

The waterfalls at Riverfront Park! the pictures definitely do not do them justice.. people get killed here alot because of the power of the rapids!

The water fountain that all the kids play in at the beautiful park! the fountain goes as high as the ring on top!

The great Spokane clock tower

The tourist picture

The ginormous radio flyer wagon!

Of course I had to get my picture made on it!

Wonderful day!