NEWS FROM WORLD: Vacation 2010

I finally got out of town for an extended bit the past couple weeks. You don't realize what a bubble DC is until you get out for a bit into the real world. No doubt I love DC--but what I saw across America recently reminded me of some of the pitfalls to life in the Capital.

Here are the top-five pitfalls about DC:

1) LEGITNESS: People in DC are not always authentic. One thing the new Real Housewives of DC has right is that the commodity in DC is power. I noticed when I was in bars in St. Paul and Portland that the conversation didn't lean towards the surface topics---the guy next to you really wanted to know how your day was. He didn't want to know what you do, and what networking opportunities you might provide. You were a person, not a potential tool of success.

From NorthernNorthAmericanTour2010

Me and Stacie at a Bar Called the Happy Gnome, do you have to guess why I liked that so much?

2) NATURE: DC has great sights. I still get a little giddy when I drive over the memorial bridge at night and see Lincoln all lit up. However, none of the sites in DC can really compare to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. I drove out along the Oregon coast one day and was gobsmacked by the beauty that nature has to offer. If you know me, you know I am not really an outdoor girl, but I can appreciate it all the same. I pulled over in the Tillamook national forest to take a few pics, and the complete silence of it was almost unsettling to this city girl---which proved how much I needed to be there.

From NorthernNorthAmericanTour2010

From a Scenic Overlook on the 101

From NorthernNorthAmericanTour2010

Miles of Forest in the Tillamook National Forest

As sunbeams stream through liberal space
And nothing jostle or displace,
So waved the pine-tree through my thought
And fanned the dreams it never brought.
--From Woodnotes II, Emerson

3) BREW: Both the beer and coffee scenes are insane there. I am not even a coffee drinker, but look how pretty my hot cocoa was in Portland:

From NorthernNorthAmericanTour2010

And there were great small breweries in MN, OR, and WA.

From NorthernNorthAmericanTour2010

4)ECO-FRIENDLY: Ill admit DC is a pretty educated area and a lot of people are mindful about the environment. But it is SO ingrained out in the west coast. They prove that its a lifestyle, and not a hard one to maintain.

From NorthernNorthAmericanTour2010

This Set Up Was the Norm in Portland Composting >Garbage

5)BFF: Well obviously since Stacie moved to MN, DC is lacking in the friend department. I wish her and Aaron the best in their recent engagement and his stint in medical school. And now I have a place to visit whenever I need a lake, there are 10,000 of them (though Stacie and I agree what qualifies as a lake out there is somewhat debateable to us, Sorry MN).