BANGKOK

Hi everyone!!! I'm updating this as I sit in a hostel in downtown Bangkok!!! I have lots to tell you and I have to write kind of fast because we're hungry and want to go eat. But I have to take advantage of wifi while I can! 

We got here few days ago and at first I was really overwhelmed. Especially on top of being more exhausted than ever because of flying for 2 days straight! BUT, the flights were pretty awesome. On the 12 hour flight each seat had it's own tv with a ton of choices for shows and movies. But most importantly, we got yummy (surprisingly) free Chinese meals and free WINE. So it was worth it. After 17 hours in the air and a 3 hour layover in Beijing (which, by the way, is the most confusing and ridiculous airport ever. We had to go through customs twice just to switch flights!) we finally landed in Bangkok! We took a hotel shuttle to a near by nice hotel that was only 40$ a night! The shower was in the same area as the toilet. Like all in one little square. It was quite interesting. After a good nights sleep and talking to friends and family via wifi, we left the next morning to explore! We had researched hostels and picked one out close to downtown Bangkok that seemed fairly easy to find. Well, joke was on us. After taking the light rail to downtown, we ended up walking around for an hour (no exaggeration) looking for this dang hostel!!! WITH our giant backpacks. Okay well, MY giant backpack and Chris's realistic sized one. In the humidity. And when I say humidity I mean like 80% can't breathe or stop sweating humidity. Now I realize what they mean when they say atleast Arizona is a dry heat! After asking directions from multiple people on the street and going every direction possible, we finally stumbled upon a coffee shop with free wifi and were able to look some stuff up. I honestly do not know how people survived before smart phones. Clearly, we are literally lost without them. Couldn't be more thankful for wifi at that moment! The girls working at the shop were also extremely nice and helpful and even wrote down directions in Thai for us to show a cab driver! We ended up finding another hostel that was even closer and that's the one I'm currently sitting at :) 

A lot of exploring has happened in the past two days and it's a lot to type right now! So I will just tell you some highlights. First off, the food here is amazing and my tummy has been holding up very nicely. Knock on wood. I even accidentally got a yummy boba tea with ice in it and didn't get sick. But now we are careful not to get ice and only drink from water bottles. Also, it's unbelievably cheap!! For example, Chris and I got two big plates of rice and chicken yesterday for $3. TOTAL. As in, $1.50 a plate. Crazy!! I am craving turkey sandwiches and cookies though. But it's been so fun! Adjusting has been a little hard and I get homesick from time to time but I expected that. Another crazy thing is that there are stray dogs and cats everywhere. No joke. Laying on the streets and wandering down sidewalks. It is absolutely insane. Chris pet one of these cats yesterday and I made him use hand sanitizer immediately. Ick. Also, we went to a tempe yesterday!! It was SO incredible. It was really really tall and we climbed super steep steps to get up to the top. My fear of heights did not help in this situation. Anxiety all the way up. But it was beautiful and the view at the top was well worth it. Another thing we did yesterday was get Thai massages!!!! $8 for an hour of heaven. Best 250 baht (thai money) spent yet. My goal is to get one weekly. The transportation here is pretty confusing, but thankfully they have a lot in English. And even more thankfully, Chris is really good at navigating. Lord knows I would literally be walking in circles without him. But we are gonna go get some yummy Thai food now! I'm not sure when my next update will be, because tonight we are taking a bus to the orphanage!! We will be there for two weeks and I'm pretty positive Internet will not be an option. Which is going to e tough, but worth it. I'm excited but also very very nervous so we need lots of prayers and positive thoughts! Love and miss everyone very much, I'll update as soon as I can!

Xoxo

Our bags!! Mine is bigger than any other backpacker we've seen here. It's kind of embarrassing 

First hotel bathroom/shower! 

Bangkok! 

How they sell fish at the market....

This plate of food was $1.50!!!!

So pretty! By the river 

Khao San road! Full of bars, shops, and hostels. Known as backpackers heaven! 

Just me and Thai Ronald 

Chris eating a fried scorpion!!!! I almost barfed just looking at it 

A Tuk Tuk! A tourists best way of transportation 

The temple we went to! Wat Arun 

A bracelet made out of real flowers I bought on the street! Obviously couldn't pass that up 

Last taste of America

This post is going to be a novel, I haven't updated in about a week! And lots can happen in a week when your basically homeless along with unemployed. Last update, I was waiting to get on the ferry, thinking it was going to be a challenge. Well, challenge is an understatement. I was pretty much on the verge of tears multiple times. Chris would say that I'm being dramatic when I tell you about this entire experience, (because okay, let's be honest, I can exaggerate from time to time) but this is the real deal. It was probably the longest 4 nights of my life. Because we didn't want to pay a ridiculous amount of money to get a room on the ferry, we decided to tough it out and pitch a tent on the deck. Keep in mind, our idea of camping involves a big silver van with a surprisingly squishy bed and furnace. We provided a great source of entertainment for everyone sleeping on the deck (under a covered part, where tents aren't allowed) in their sleeping bags as we basically almost blew away that first night. On top of that, along with freezing, it was pouring rain and we set up the tent tarp wrong so we woke up with water everywhere and a wet dog smell. EW. Thankfully, after a night of zero sleep, the next day we met some experienced campers who literally re-pitched our tent for us. I've never been more grateful, because that next night the winds were 75 mph with a rainstorm!!!!! I swear to you I was convinced we weren't gonna make it. I was shakin in my boots. The last two nights were much better in answer to my prayers. No more wet dog smell! So I guess aside from the fact that I literally sat around and did nothing but read and play cards for 3 full days, it wasn't the worst thing in the world. I guess. I did kind of feel like a beast though for surviving the cold and treacherous conditions!!!! 

After 4 longggg nights and 3 even longer days, we arrived in beautiful Bellingham!! I think as God's way of apologizing for the hell on water I had just experienced, it was SO sunny and perfect all 3 days we were there! And I got to RUN. After being stuck on water for that long, there is no better feeling. I was like a kid at Disneyland. Actually, I would definitely still act like that at Disneyland. Anyways, next stop was Spokane! We kept the van at Chris's friends house in Bellingham, and took a 7 hour fancy train ride to Spokane. We stayed with our friend Savannah (who is theee best and let us pretty much move in for 3 days), and I couldn't be more grateful to be in a real house!!!! And have a girl friend to hang out with :) We had so much fun exploring the city with her and her boyfriend. Andddd, the best part was I got to reunite with my good friend Jill (who I met in Alaska this summer) who just moved to Coeur D Alane, Idaho which is super close to Spokane! It was the best. She gave me a serious intervention about what I needed to get rid of in my Thailand backpack. That girl is a gem. Along with a whole suitcase of clothes, I sent home 3 different lotions, big bottles of shampoo and conditioner, facial products, and (get this..) my blowdryer. But I did keep my flower headband and American snack bag. I'm becoming a real backpacker!!!!! Even though my bag is still half my size, it's a lot more organized and a little lighter than it was before! 

Imagine something similar to this...

I'm writing this obnoxiously long book (I warned you!) as we sit at the train station at 2 am waiting for another 7 hour train ride that will take us from Spokane to Seattle to get on our plane that leaves for Thailand tomorrow at 2 pm!!!! I'm having some major anxiety and butterflies are eating my tummy. Our train is also running an hour late, which is only increasing my nerves and I kind of feel like I might toss my cookies. Literally. My mom mailed us AMAZING pumpkin cookies and breads (best.mom.ever.) and I've eaten more fall baked goodies today than I would like to tell you. I also keep rambling because it's making a great distraction. But I guess I'll stop torturing you guys. Next post will be coming straight to you from the land of yummy food and elephants!!!!!! SO.EXCITED. I also realized that after tomorrow, I will have been in a train, boat, bus, taxi, and plane all in one week. This travelers life is exhausting! 

Missing everyone so much, lots and lots of love!! 

Xoxo

Our house on the ferry! 

Sunrise view from the ferry!!!

Galavanting around Bellingham :)

View from my favorite coffee shop in the park in Bellingham! Obsessed. 

Me and Jill in Spokane!

Preparing to head to the train station in Spokane! My bag is bigger than both of his combined :) oops

Aurora Borealis and bear cubs

The last few days of our road trip have been eventful!! I'm currently typing this as we cook fresh salmon in the van for dinner. YUMMM. Chris had a bunch of fish left from all the charters he did, so we've been super spoiled and eating fresh halibut or salmon for dinner the past 8 nights!! Fish tacos never get old. Especially when I just get to sit and drink wine while Chris cooks :) 

The night before last night we were blessed enough to get to see the NORTHERN LIGHTS! It was unreal. It definitely wasn't easy though, we sat in the cold for about 4 hours until they finally came out at about 1:30 am. It took a lot of patience, which I lack tremendously, so thank God Chris has enough for the both of us. I was pretty whiney and cold. But it was worth it!!! It was probably the most amazing thing I've ever seen. We drove to a spot down by the water and it was the best view. Yesterday we spent the whole day driving through Yukon and back into Alaska to get to Haines. We drove through an area that was FULL of bald eagles!!! Today we've just been hanging out in Haines all day, which is a lot like Seward but even tinier and more remote. It's also kind of depressing cause most places are closed for the season. All I wanted was a fresh cookie from a bakery, and of course the only bakery open year round is closed on Mondays. I wasn't too happy about that. BUT we did get to go on a little hike! Chris hates hiking so I basically had to drag him the whole way. Just kidding. Well, kind of. I'm also still terrified of bears so of course I had my bear spray in hand the whole time. At one point we came across a man with a big brown dog and at first glance I though it was a bear and literally screamed bloody murder. That was SUPER embarrassing. After the hike we went on a scenic drive to a salmon run river and spotted an ACTUAL bear. A mama grizz with her little cub!!!!!! We got to stand on a bridge and watch as they caught dinner. It was the closest I've ever been to a bear and it was awesome. And kind of scary. But the little cub nugget was SO dang cute and fluffy, it took all my will power to not run down and snuggle him. 

In a couple hours we will be getting on a ferry heading down to Bellingham! 4 days on a boat, so that should be interesting. We're also sleeping in a tent on the deck. Camping without a van, in the freezing cold. It will be a challenge, but they have showers!!! So that's a definite plus. I'm sad about leaving Alaska :( But there's more exciting adventures to come!!!

Xoxo

Always a scenic drive out here! 

Views from our hike :)

The northern lights!!!!! 

Mama grizz and cutie cub!!! (Not zoomed in!)

Don't you just wanna take him home?! 

Just a stop on the drive :)

Little Chena

Hi guys!! I guess this is my first real and exciting post! How do you start blog posts? Am I supposed to just start talking? Hmm. Well, we made it to Canada today! I love Canada because Canadians are extra nice, and they have maple syrup for pancakes. mmm. We are making our way down to Haines to get on the ferry by Monday. And I am FREEZING. All the time. It's 37 degrees and the Alaskans are basically wearing shorts and sandals. And I'm bundling up like an Eskimo. But the whole drive has been even more beautiful than I remember! Fall in Alaska is unreal, it's just an abundance of green and orange and leaves everywhere. Being Ive never seen a real Fall, I just want to eat pumpkin things all the time here!! After experiencing some van issues (something about a u joint?) and being stuck in the little town of Fairbanks for a day, we made it to Chena the day before yesterday to experience the hot springs!! It was incredible! There were also showers there. You don't realize how great a shower actually is until you don't have the convenience of taking one anymore! Fun fact about Chena hot springs: the Chinese believe that conceiving in the hot springs under the northern lights is good fortune. So there's a large mix of different cultures there if you get what I mean. Speaking of Northern Lights, we still have yet to see them :( Were staying in the middle of no where in Canada tonight in hopes of seeing something. Someone at Chena actually told us that the Northern Lights forecast prediction for Canada tonight is good,so fingers crossed!!! 

Hot springs! 

Driving through the snow! In October! What?!

Discovered a swing set :) Best.day.ever