As I am currently embarking on my next road trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, let’s take a moment to reflect on my last trip, which was merely three weeks ago. This has to be the shortest “home period” between trips.

On my last trip, I probably saw more bodies of water than probably all of last year. It was cloudless as I flew over the Great Salt Lake. Even though it’s shrinking rapidly, it’s still resembles a sea in the sky.

The trip moved fast. By the next day, my mom and I were on the Amtrak Coast Starlight train bound for Seattle. In the U.S., travel by train (especially on the west coast) is almost never the fastest method of transportation. We took the train for leisure – 36 hours of relaxing and enjoying the view.

As the train reached Ventura, California, the ocean came into view. We were in the observation car and as the train tracks began to parellel the ocean, almost everyone in the car stood up and began snapping pictures with their phones. I don’t know how people were doing because all I got was reflection. So I resorted to my trusty camera.

The next evening, we finally reached Seattle and for the next three days, we explored the city. Unlike “normal” tourists who dines and visits trendy social-media-recommended spots, we visited museums. When we were museum-out on our final day in Seattle, we decided to take a harbor cruise because it seems like that’s what we do when we visit a city near the water – we take a cruise.

Seeing the skyline of Seattle reminded me of the Toronto skyline when I visited four years ago – skyscraper as far as the eye can see. The boat didn’t venture out far from land and I was grateful because I have a tendency to get seasick when we’re too far from land. It was also helpful to have a guide onboard, telling us stories about many of the piers.

The next day, we returned to Los Angeles by plane. It took merely 2 hours as opposed to 36. That was also the final day of the trip. We would be flying back to Utah the following day.

That evening, my mom’s friend took us to Mahattan Beach – a place I often saw her friend post about on Facebook. I could tell why her friend came all the time. I would go the beach often if there’s one near me. The water rushing back and forth is very soothing and calming. I felt I could’ve stood there for hours but my stomach was growling, time to eat.

For SundayStills