Our apartment in NW Olympia is in a great location with lots of opportunities for exploring in nature and around town. We can walk/ride to the Puget Sound and downtown Olympia. In under 2 hours we can be at either the Pacific coast beaches or Seattle. Then there’s Mt. Rainier (which we can see from our apartment), Olympic National Forest and Park, and Cascades National Park all within easy reach. As we got settled in our apartment, we made sure to check out some of the highlights.
The Apartment: We found our place on Furnished Finder- a website to connect traveling nurses and therapists with housing. We are renting a basement-turned-apartment from a couple in NW Olympia. The apartment has a private entrance and is furnished with everything we need (very important as a traveler) and includes access to the fenced in backyard. They have an older Great Pyrenees who gets along great with Cooper.
The Puget Sound: One of our favorite parts about our apartment is it’s proximity to the Puget Sound. We can ride our bikes or walk down to the 4th or 5th street bridges which overlook the Sound and Capitol Lake. Our landlord had told us to walk down and “see the salmon” and so we did on our second day in town. We found out that the salmon swim upstream every fall to the hatchery to spawn (and die). When we looked into the water we saw schools of salmon swimming around on their way to Tumwater (where the hatchery is) from the Pacific Ocean. We also saw several seals chasing the salmon down. In Tumwater there’s a fish ladder and we’re hoping to see the salmon there but haven’t had any luck yet as they haven’t swum that far upstream yet.
The Pacific Ocean: One day we drove west to the “beach”. It takes about an hour and a half to get to the coast and we were able to drive right up onto the beach. It was cold and windy but we got out and played fetch with Cooper for a bit before heading back home.
Seattle: Seattle is also about an hour and a half from us so we spent a day in the city before my mom flew back home. Our first stop: Pike Place Market. We saw the famous fish throwing, enjoyed some amazing market snacks and then hit the gum wall (adding our own) on the way out. From there we walked to the Space Needle and wandered around the Chihuly Garden and Glass sculptures. Since we parked near Pike Place Market we headed back there, this time walking through the Olympic Sculpture Park and along the water. We grabbed and quick dinner and walked through the market again so that Ryan could buy me the flowers I was eyeing up earlier (but didn’t want to carry around town). Last, we walked past the original Starbucks (but the line was too long so we passed up the iconic coffee).
My Job: After 2 weeks of road tripping and exploring our new home I started my first travel contract as a School Based OT. This is a 9 month contract which is a lot longer than the usual 3 month travel contracts that are available for traveling healthcare providers. My assignment is about an hour away from where we chose to live, in Olympia, but the drive is easy enough. I got a whole week of training before I was expected to see any kids which is really incredible in the world of travel OT. I got my desk set-up, visited with teachers to discuss scheduling kids, became familiar with software I would be using, and got to know my coworkers. During my second week, I “pushed in” to classes with my students to get to know them better and fine tune my schedule and treatment plans. I really love the district I have chosen to work for and am really looking forward to this school year. I am so excited to continue to learn and grow as an OT while making a difference in the lives of all of my students (and exploring the beautiful PNW on weekends).
School: Even with everything else going on, I started my second semester of doctorate classes at Salus University. It was hard to complete everything the first week of courses but I’m hoping to get into a routine soon which will make it easier in the future.
Labor Day Weekend: One of the best things about moving to Washington is that one of my best friends from grad school, Hannah, lives about an hour away. So, our other best friend Kendall flew in from Texas last weekend to see us! On Friday after work I drove up to Hannah’s house to see them. We got dressed up and went line dancing at Steel Creek Friday night. Saturday morning we all woke up early and drove to Ellensburg WA for the Ellensburg Rodeo- one of the top 10 professional rodeos in the US. Conveniently, the Kittitas County Fair is the same weekend and shares a venue so we had a whole day worth of activities. On Sunday Hannah and Kendall came down to Olympia where we showed them some of our favorite spots so far: Salmon watching on the sound, Tugboat Annie’s for dinner, exploring around the waterfront, and Juju’s Iced Cream (yes, iced) for dessert.
We are really looking forward to our next adventures and are hoping to update this blog weekly now that we’re settled!
Comments
Looks like you’re having some pretty awesome adventures out there! Keep living your best life! We all love & miss you but we are loving the journey you’re on! Give Coop some hugs from me!
Author
We’ll be back home to visit! We are having so much fun out here though for now!