My mini U.S. tour

Washington, DC --> Myrtle Beach --> Dallas & Austin. What a whirlwind. We came, we visited, and we ate. Then we ate some more.

Matt and I were constantly busy, me more so than him, since of course I was still plugging away on paper writing. It was exhausting but super to see so many friends and family.

When in DC, one goes to Nooshi for honey peanut chicken (and thai iced tea, and a mai tai, which, after testing several, I've determined Europe doesn't do very well).

Nooshi nights often end in Pinkberry. I'm so glad our friends came to this, I haven't laughed that hard in ages!

We also had an obligatory stop at Quarry House Tavern in Silver Spring. It boasts a wonderful beer menu with lots of European favorites, plus something we couldn't get overseas - Pumpkin Ale :-)

Half price burgers + tater tots?! A totally winning Monday evening.

In Myrtle Beach we hit up a fancy grocery store and were pleased to see so many products we had in Europe! They even had this olive oil from an Italian castle THAT WE TOTALLY VISITED!! So very cool.

Also, we went mini golfing, because that's what you do in Myrtle Beach.

To travel around Texas, we got ourselves this beast of a rental car, the Kia Soul. We got soo many looks on the road!

We had our share of Tex-Mex, like this delicious chicken burrito. Mmm.....

In Austin we ended up at a restaurant I've actually been before. So, because I'm me, I ordered the same thing I ate before (because it was so delicious the first time around). Cornbread fried chicken tender salad with honey mustard dressing.

While we were in Austin, we visited the Texas state history museum.

They're quite proud of their history.

Woo hoo, Germans!

On Matt's must-do list was eating at the Salt Lick, which is the best BBQ place on the planet.

We ordered family style - so we got a huge plate of everything - just look at that meat plate piled high with ribs, sausage and brisket!! And you could order more of anything (which we did)

I barely got this picture taken before shoveling all this in my mouth.

Matt was totally annoyed when I took this photo before we could try the chocolate chip pecan pie.

Here's us at the Salt Lick, post food-shoveling.

We were so excited to see our friends Charlie and Hillary in Austin (and little Oswyn! She's new, like only several weeks new) - and equally excited when we all got to go eat sublimely delicious tacos for brunch.

Back in Dallas, we hit up the Texas State Fair, one of the closest things we could get to a German-style festival.

There was also a car show! Certainly not the size of the Frankfurt Auto Show, but still fun to mull around.

Texas robot.

Big Tex! An icon of the fair.

Matt did a few test drives with Chevy. I don't know what this face is supposed to mean.

We really got stuck with yellow cars this trip.

This. Was. The. Best. Corndog. Of. My. Life. I'm glad we kept walking after we ate it, otherwise I would have gotten two more.

State Fairs = BUTTER SCULPTURES!!

OF PONIES!!!

 More Big Tex....

I cannot describe the excitement that Matt and I shared when we came upon these SAUNAS that you can have in your home. We loved our sauna in Germany, so this is definitely on the list for when we have a house or something. Very exciting.

The food court area did not disappoint - full of fried food and more fried food.

Not sure why there was a place to buy fruit, though. It wasn't even fried.

These pickles were, though!

Hehe, live Beeeees! We did not investigate further.

Red Velvet funnel cake? Don't mind if I do...

There was powdered sugar everywhere....

A day after the fried-fest, Matt and I hit up Whataburger, which has one of my most favorite sandwiches I've ever had - their Patty Melt just melts my heart (and clogs my arteries). So good.

Soon though, it was time to head to the airport. This little guy wanted to join us, and did for a few miles, but we decided since he didn't have an ID, we'd drop him off in a parking lot instead.

A crazy trip necessitated a nice lunchtime ginger ale and whiskey, with lounge passes courtesy of a friend. And cheese and baby carrots. (We also got some BBQ and scarfed that down shortly after taking our seats on the plane).

Side note: I really liked flying with Alaska Airlines. What a nice bunch - and they had Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea! It was especially fun seeing Seattle for the first time from the sky, because we essentially circled a good part of it, and on a clear day it was pretty much perfect.

One more post to go! See everyone here on Monday...

Thoughts on the Transition back to the US

Well, we made it to the U.S, visiting Maryland, DC, Myrtle Beach, Dallas, Austin, and then finally made our way to Seattle last Thursday.

Look how relaxed Matt is! He totally whipped me in mini golf in Myrtle Beach.

Matt had a rough time zone adjustment at first, but it's been a little better now. We still wake up at around 6am here in the Northwest, but that's like 9am on the East coast which still feels alright. Much better than the 4am business he was on for the first few days after arriving in Maryland.

I'm so tired of lugging my bags around. But I am so SO happy we got to see so many people. You've all been making babies, moving, learning, changing jobs - just getting a ton done while Matt and I have been wandering around Europe. I've kept up with you all as much as I can, and I hope to continue that with a few less time zones in the way.

When I landed at Dulles with Matt, I was immediately saddened when I said my last German word (bye) to the flight crew on the way off the airplane. All of a sudden I could understand every sign and conversation around me.

It was actually a little overwhelming to hear so much noise - I'd grown so accustomed to tuning everything out and I'm still not all the way there.

Everything feels, I don't know, a little off. The outlets all just work without an adapter, there's free water and ice everywhere, and Matt got thrown for a loop when ringing up at a register because this country is lame and adds tax at the end (so you don't really know how much something is when you take it off the shelf. You weirdos.).

Also, Matt cannot find his beloved latte macchiatos (he will have them at work, though). At hotel breakfasts, all they have is regular coffee, and you guys, they don't even have cheeses and cold meats out! What messed up world is this?! There are bagels everywhere but zero pretzels. Or croissants :-(

Everywhere we've stayed has cable. We didn't have that before we moved to Europe so it's been strange to binge watch HGTV whenever we want. How do you guys get anything done? I'm struggling to get my school work done because I'm so drawn to all the channels at my disposal.

OH! And a microwave. My food is ready so fast I'm almost not ready for it.

While our corporate apartment is quite nice (there's a restaurant, mini mart, bike shop and all-important coffee shop all in our lobby), it's really in downtown Seattle. In fact, it's so downtown, we are next to the land for the new Amazon buildings (complete with cranes and all the construction noise we all know and adore). I'm listening to it now, actually.

The traffic is awful here as well, full of one-way streets which is just great when you have no idea where you're going. Our key fob on the garage stopped working, too, and I have to get that fixed so we don't have to push a button to get in and out anymore.

I'm going to be as pleased as punch when we get into our new place, which I hope is much farther from downtown. Matt won't work in downtown anyway, so to not feel so closed in will give us some much needed breathing room.

I was also surprised at the lack of grocery options. Right now I'm within walking distance of a beautiful Whole Foods, but it's hard to find some staples, like canned goods. Unfortunately, when we visited a more mainstream grocery store, they still didn't have some canned goods I like.

What's your deal, Seattle, where are your reduced sodium, low salt cans?! Even the commissary on base in Germany had this stuff.

We are definitely going to be trying out this grocery delivery thing soon, too, because driving for food is so not worth it. The driving almost makes me miss driving around tight corners in Italy. Almost.

For my next post I'll cover all the food and fun we've had since being back (including the Texas State Fair!). But for now, here is what our current place looks like!

It's a one bedroom, one bath place. This is the bathroom....

 ....with washer and dryer inside....

 View from the front door.

I'm so not used to such a large fridge, and a microwave, and normal-sized sink, and even a garbage disposal. Woah.

Matt and I were concerned the bed would not be soft enough, but luckily, it is! Super comfortable.

And there's a closet! No strange wardrobe for us anymore!

There's a TV in the small bedroom, as well as a dresser for all of our (Matt's) clothes.

A neat sliding frosted door closes off the bedroom.

Here's the living room. Plenty of windows to look out and see....

Construction on the new Amazon buildings. Well played, Amazon - putting up a building next to where Google has corporate housing, well played.