Washington Vacation--post #2

Ahh, I'm finally getting this post up almost a month later. So sorry about that, guys! :P But . . . better late than never, right? ;)

Okay, now for the next five days of my visit . . .

Saturday:

Saturday we got up early and headed to work at the orchard! It was a bit rainy when we got there, but pretty soon it cleared up and there were lots of people! And, guys, it smelled soooo good! There was hot caramel apple cause, hot cider and . . . yeah. It was amazing. I would die for the apple sauce. (Okay, maybe not literally, but you get the point!)
I helped Emily at the outdoor register, weighing apples, boxing apples and cider, etc. It was so much fun! When work was done, we went and picked some apples for some pies we were going to make, and I grabbed a few pictures. 

Apple trees everywhere!

Sunday:

Sunday we went to church. And we went to Idaho. Which was super fun. ;) 

The view from their church window. 

But yes, I was able to attend Emily's church in the morning, and then we drove into Idaho, since their church is right on the boarder of the two states.And Emily and her two sisters and I had so much fun taking pictures. And realizing there was  train coming. that made the pictures even better. ;) 

 After that we drove home, having an interesting conversation about personality types on the way. ;) And then Emily, Ana May, their mom and I headed out to go hiking! Which I was super excited about, since . . . you can't really hike in KS. xD

It was super foggy when we started out!

But it cleared up, which was nice!

Emily and I in a lean to of some sort. 

And Emily and her sister, Ana May.

All three of us. 

Shh, I was stalking them. Okay, not really. ;) 

Monday:

We didn't have work this week, so we went and fed Bodie, and then Emily's sister took us to go and grab some shavings for his stall. Which was fun. We go to ride in the back of the truck. ;) 

Lots of pictures of mountains in this post, folks. Because I never get to see them here. ;) 

After we were done with Bodie, Emily, her mom, and two of her sisters and I got in the car to head to Steptoe, which is a place unique to eastern WA. It's pretty much just rolling hills going on forever. It was sooo pretty!! There was one small hill/mountain (I have no idea how it's classified!) that we drove up and got some amazing pictures!

Stalking from behind again. *nods* I'm good at at that.

This is probably my favorite picture from the whole trip. I just love it so much! My sister told me it looks like we Photoshoped the background in behind us. ;) Thanks to Emily's sister for taking it! :D

After this we came home and had supper. And then we made apple pies! 

And, folks, I tried Dutch Bros coffee. For the whole time I'd been in WA, I had insisted that Starbucks was better. Because, I mean, nothing's netter than Starbucks!

Well they convinced me to try Dutch bros. And then I felt like strangling them. Because it's SOOOO good and amazing and ten times better than Starbucks! And Kansas doesn't have one. 

But yeah, that was amazing. ;) And then we watched Bridge of Spies and ate hot apple pie. which was realllyyy good! (both the movie and the pie ;))

Tuesday: 

Tuesday Emily and I were able to get together with . . . Ivy Rose! Now, Emily and her had met before, but I never had. So, needless to say, I was a bit nervous. Just ask Emily.
We were meeting at a coffee shop and we got there a bit early, so we picked out a table and waited. And then Ivy came! And she's so sweet and amazing and wonderful, and AUGH! It was so much fun! We talked for a while over coffee, and then we went and Ivy was able to meet Bodie. And then Ivy drove us back to Emily's house and we talked there for a while. :)

The sun was bright. Obviously. ;) 

And than that night, two of Emily's sisters and I watched "Cinderella." It was my first time ever watching it, and it was so amazing!! I loved it so, so much!

Wednesday: 

We just pretty much hung out and talked and had fun with Bodie. Since I was leaving the next day, we didn't really do a whole lot. We took pictures. ;) 

We also took shadow pictures. *nods*

Also, that night I got to ride Mia, her sister's horse, bareback. It was so much fun!!

 I have a picture with both Emily and I with Mia . . . but I can't get it to upload right. :(

That night I told her family goodbye, and then we talked for a while and I got packed up. We went to be somewhat early because we had to be up around 3:45am the next morning to make my flight. 

Thursday:

We got up and went to the airport. And it was sad. And we had to say goodbye.  

So we said goodbye and I had to go through security. 

I walked to the flight gate when it was still dark, and airport lighting only goes so far.  I was super sad. and when I'm sad, I often sing to myself in my head. (don't ask me why). But I literally could only think of two songs.

It started out as a feeling, which grew into a hope. Which grew into a quite thought, which grew into a quite word. And then that words grew louder and louder, till it was a battle cry. I'll come back when you call me, no need to say goodbye. 

When I think back on these times, and the things we left behind, I'll be glad 'cause I was blessed to get to have you in my life...

So they helped cheer my up just so much. *insert sarcasm*  I was really mad that those were the only lines that kept playing in my head. ;P 

So I went and walked around the gift shops for a while, since I still had about an hour.  And I picked up this cup. 

Because coffee + Washington = perfect. And I managed to get it home without breaking. So that was good. ;) I use it for coffee every morning, and I told my sister that is she uses it and breaks it, she's paying for my to fly back and get a new one. ;) 

One thing about getting an early flight, is you get to watch the sunrise on the plane. It was gorgeous! The pictures do not do it justice! I was so thankful that I ended up sitting by two really nice people in this flight. They were super considerate, and that was a blessing! I was blessed on every plane I was on with who I sat next to. :)

Well, that concludes my October trip to WA state to visit the McConnell family. It was the best experience ever, and I hope to do it again next year! :)