Crossing into Canada: Travel Adventures Part 1

We have done quite a bit of traveling while being here in the northwest and are taking a short reprieve, exploring more of Spokane and surrounding cities and spending time with people we have gotten to know. I believe our last post had us leaving soon...whelp, we're still here :) Have been asked to extend our contract x2. We absolutely LOVE working at this current hospital. The floor can be ROUGH but the people we work with more than make up for it. More on how we're doing later on. 

We crossed the US/Canadian border by car, crossed this off on my non-existent bucket list. We were told about a hot spring in a cave located 3 hours north of us in a small town called Ainsworth and had to go and check it out.

I know, not very exciting. We played the national song while crossing the border. Weirdo Natalie already had it on her playlist (it was a Disney version).

 Our passport pictures (don't laugh) we had to present at the checkpoint to a really good-looking Canadian guy. We both got our passports the same year! Our friendship was meant to be. 

Oh Canada! Had to pull over and take a picture with the welcome sign.

We got into Ainsworth late evening, stayed at the hot spring resort and enjoyed a Canadian dinner (we do not have pictures of our food, don't know how that happened). It is a 150ft horse-shoe shaped cave with stalactites and hot-steaming mineral water. (We couldn't get many pics because the lens fogged up). There were some creepy guys lurking around in the dark corners of the cave so if we revisit we plan on sticking to visiting during the day.

Canadian brekky (ham and brie stuffed french toast and santa fe burrito with pesto potatoes).

Nat enjoying her first cup of joe after giving it up for a few months.

Ainsworth, BC Kokanee River. It was really cold that day!

Did some light hiking in Kaslo, BC. There was a "big Bear" (reference from Allison Bear) sighting :) It's a BEAST.

Enjoying coffee. Views of the mountains everywhere.

I was pretty excited to be in Canada.

 Walked around a small, Canadian town named, Nelson. Loved the old architecture and views of the mountains! People here were so friendly! They would say "hi," "good afternoon," or just smile at us. Really enjoyed the Canadian accent...well, at least I did :) 

So we can't use our cell phones in Canada other than where there is free wi-fi. Definitely did not pre-plan on driving directions and such. We didn't get TOO lost but we did end up taking a different route home. And that's ok because while we were driving up a mountain there was a look-out point with a beautiful view. Natalie captured the moment perfectly, bird and all.

This is just Part 1. We recently went to Portland, OR and Vancouver, BC and that will be Part 2. It seems like there is usually a few weeks before we blog again but we won't do it this time! Maybe...

*Just a quick update: Our landlords have been so gracious and hospitable towards us and have let us extend our stay at their condo (more on that later). We have made friends at work. I know, shocking, right? We absolutely LOVE working with them (more on that later, too). Did I just mention that again? ;) Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read about our life! 

Seattle and Other Updates

All right, so it's about time for a Spokane update y'all!  Natalie here-- it's been awhile since I posted on here.  Been kinda out of the writing/blogging loop for awhile but I'm trying to get back at it.  A few weeks ago we took a trip to Seattle!

^^^On our drive out.. we were excited!

^^^Snoqualamie Pass.  At certain times of the year depending on the weather it can be super treacherous requiring use of snow chains.  Thankfully we didn't have to use them, although we definitely were ready!

^^^The first of many indulgences on this weekend trip.

^^^We took a trip to the first Starbucks!  Unfortunately, it is not *actually* the first Starbucks.  I was pretty disappointed to find that out, but it still made for a good photo op!

^^^The gum wall.  DisGUSTING

^^^Our awesome Pike Place food tour guide, Tyler!  He seriously was awesome and kept us laughing the whole time.  And may I mention that food tour was the BEST thing ever!!!

^^^The famous fish market!  They throw the same fish around all day.

^^^Hanging out with our friend from work, Gwen.  She joined us for a night while we were there!

^^^Space Needle!

^^^Seattle skyline from the bay

^^^Up in the Space Needle.

^^^Skyline from the Space Needle

^^^We had some drinks and dessert at the restaurant in the Space Needle.  It was pretty cool, because it spins around so you get a view of everything!

^^^The drive home through Snoqualamie Pass was definitely much better weather.  Beautiful!

^^^We got stuck inside allll day last week.  It snowed about ten inches and this is what poor Ron (my car) looked like.

 ^^^Determined to get out of the condo that evening, we spent a good 45 mins digging poor Ron out of the snow.  It was really heavy, wet snow, but we triumphed!!!  First time experience for these FL girls!

^^^We took a trip out to Mt. Spokane Park in hopes of hiking around last week, but there was just too much snow.  So we built a snowman (Bela's first) which ended up looking like a demon. 

^^^At Mt. Spokane Park

^^^On the drive into work a few days ago.  We realized that we haven't seen a beautiful sunset since FL!

^^^Just some more foodie pics from Seattle... this was called the Vancouver.  Quite possibly one of the most delicious/unhealthiest meals I have ever eaten.  But I enjoyed every bite!

^^^Bela's sassy calamari. 

 ^^^My healthy, balanced breakfast!  Best meal of the day!

^^^Paneer naan!  Holy cow that stuff was good!

^^^Bela and I indulged in a little shopping this week... we decided to try on our clothes last night and took pictures!  Being roommates has been so much fun!

^^^And so you all don't think we do nothing but travel, some work pictures!

^^^Bela's Hawaian dad scrubs... Bela says this goes out to dads everywhere

^^^I don't even know

^^^On a nice, (rare) slow night at work

 ^^^And this one is for our awesome career consultant Charity, aka our number one follower!

Sadly we have to say goodbye to Spokane in a couple of weeks.  We had really high hopes of renewing, but it wasn't in the budget for the hospital.  We don't know at all what is coming next, which makes me a little nervous, but a trip to Florida in a couple weeks is in the works!  Which we definitely are in good spirits about!

Washington has definitely been our favorite of the two assignments we have done so far.  Everything has just fallen into place, which we can only attribute to God.  I don't think I've ever been in a position where I feel so out of control, yet everything just happens nearly perfectly.  We were talking the other day about being really bummed about not being able to renew, but Bela pointed out that God knows just how much we love it here, so there has to be a reason... something better or something to stretch us and make us grow.  Time will tell.  In the meantime, we are going to enjoy our last couple weeks in Spokane!

New Adventures in Spokane, WA

Well, we said goodbye to the Bay Area and our family and friends last Friday early morning. It was bittersweet. We are happy to move onto another assignment as our first one was quite challenging but are sad to have had to say (for now) bye to our family and new friends.

These folks have become part of my family :) This is Shivangi, her husband, Bhairav and her (two - other one was sleeping) son. These boys are WAY too cute, funny and smart! Loved spending time with them. They were so gracious to invite us over and feed us, make us chai (one of my comfort foods), and provide us with good conversation. They also celebrated my birthday last year, cake, candles and more food :)

This is Glenn and Julie (their 4 kids are not part of this pic!). We met this family "randomly" through a church we contacted prior to moving out to California. They graciously invited us over for their Thanksgiving dinner and opened their home to us telling us to come over anytime. They are a couple whose lives glorify God through service. They are wanting to do some pretty cool things with displaced veterans by helping them to be self-sustaining and have an incredible vision of what the future could hold. Very excited to see what happens!

This is Pelican Pete and nameless (he doesn't have a name...yet) enjoying their first views of Washington state all covered in snow. Given to us by the Gschmeidler family :) They will be journeying with us during our travel nursing adventures!

                                                    

So grateful I was able to meet up with these two lovely ladies, Mansa and Usri, before leaving! They are old roomies from my Gainesville days. We met up halfway and they both came from work AND Mansa had to go back to work after. (It was pretty late). Fun to catch up with old friends!

The only ones we didn't get pics with was with my cousin, Pran and her husband, Raju :( Pran called me and checked on us several times during the beginning of the assignment and was so sweet and encouraging. There is something about having family nearby to talk with and visit. They are so giving and caring! Didn't get to catch up with them before leaving but that's ok because that will give me a reason to go back :)

Our obsession with Philz. The BEST coffee in the country. Nat is a coffee connoisseur and she thinks so her self. This was our last Philz run. I was praying that cup would last a long time. We were so sad.

BUT then we showed up in Spokane and came across Dutch Bros! The SECOND best coffee introduced to us by my best friend, Robin, who we stayed with in Colorado. (Thanks, Robin!) We knew this was a good start to our assignment. 

We had a 14 hour drive (driven in one day). We drove up north through California, into Oregon (so looonng and boring on the west side no wonder people went crazies on the Oregon trail) which the speed limit was 55. We may or may not have been stopped...oh and no cell phone talking allowed while driving in Oregon and Washington. You're welcome. 

We watched the temperature drop the farther north we drove. I have NEVER been in this kind of weather...and I really like it. Nat LOVES it. The snow makes everything so beautiful, it's like being in a magical winter land. This is how a real winter should be! Not hot and humid! Although I do miss being able to run out in tshirt, shorts and flip flops to grab something from outside but here we have to wear tights, pants, long sleeve shirt, jacket, snow jacket, wool socks, snow boots AND gloves. Wooh!

Our first snowy day in Idaho at our new home.

It was flurrying! Love watching and being in snow as it falls. I feel like a little kid. 

This assignment has been more than we could have asked. We live in Idaho and are renting from one of the nicest couples we could have met coming into this (and everything is furnished!), travel to Washington for work, have 12 hour night shifts, both have the SAME schedule, and the people at work are so friendly and team oriented. During orientation we made friends! As in, friends we are keeping in touch with. Not something we experienced so quickly on our first assignment. Nat and I like to say, "people are warmer here." We really are enjoying where we are and the assignment we have. We know that not everything will be perfect but we just feel at peace and not stressed. I think working together also helps!

We have so much fun at work. It's nice to work with someone you already know. We help each other out when we can and keep each other laughing throughout the night. Not to mention our runs to Dutch Bros and new friend, Kale (it could be pronounced Kel, not sure how to pronounce his name since we are not sure if he has an accent), who knows our names and has full fledged conversations with us at the window. Ahhhh, life is so nice right now. Thankful for the small things and that this assignment has turned out so well. 

Thank you to all who have been reading this and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!