Boston Day 2

I fell asleep the night before my last day at about midnight. I can't believe I was able to stay up so late! I didn't eat enough that day and only had about 4-5 hours of sleep. I was runnin on fumes!

Around 8:30am I slowly crawled and lifted myself off of the air mattress. At 9am I hit the gym on the lowest level of the apartment building and put together a CrossFit workout. Felt good. I successfully worked out 4 out of the 5 days I said I was going to!

Once I showered, I got a few things together to hit the sidewalks for a stroll to Fenway Park. It was very sunny out and the walk was literally a 10 minute, IF THAT of a walk. We took tons of pictures and bought some memorabilia.

To back track slightly, we were walking up a street that ran parallel to the stadium. Foolishly, my sister and I are in t-shirts and it was colder than a witch's tit in a brass bra outside! This man walking down the street stops me and asks, "Wow, do you train?" Now, mind you I'm in a t-shirt, I'm toned, and I egotistically assumed he was asking about my "impressive guns". Haha.

I asked, "What?"
Dude: "Do you train to get like that?"
Me: "Um, yeah all the time."
Dude: "Wow, what do you do? How do you stay warm?"
Then I think to myself, Oh crap, he is wondering how I'm not wearing a jacket..."Well, I'm from Seattle. This is like great Spring weather for us!"

I kind of felt like a moron but this dude seemed very serious about my warm training regimen. I should invent one!

On the sides of the park there are World Series banners and banners of the names of the most memorable players of the franchise.

Also the park has tours every hour. I thought that was only during the season. so we missed it. Oh well! Next time I want not only a tour but to go to a game. BOOM! Next trip there already planned.

Here are a few more pics from the park:

Once we did that, we cabbed around to a grocery store and back to the apartment to pack and go home.

Did I learn anything that day, you ask? Why YES!

1. Only take cabs that label they can take you to the airport. Otherwise it is illegal. I waved a cab down and two pulled over. One laid on the horn to get the other to leave. Then the guy told me why. CRAZY.
2. If you recently got married always triple check your IDs and travel info match up. My maiden name was on my ticket. The only ID I had with that name was my Costco card. The ONLY reason I got home was because I had my military ID and the TSA guy said, "If you weren't in the military, I wouldn't let you through." Wow right? Its like no one believed my mistake. So check your shit!

My entire east coast trip was awesome. I saw my best friend Ashley, Boston, Fenway and had a blast with my sister. I learned quite a lot about traveling solo and navigating unknown territory but I survived. It has me totally pumped for Japan!

Now it's back to the daily grind. I had a blast but I was ready to see my hubby! I miss his face!

Boston Day 1

Listen. If you have never been on a subway before STUDY  BEFORE YOU GO TO BOSTON OR NEW YORK! Holy hell...the T (Boston's subway system) kicked my little tooshie!! If you are headed to Boston ever, here are a few basics to know:

• The different subway routes are indicated by color.
• Within each color are different cars marked by a letter.
• Make sure you are on the right color/letter subway train and then decide if you are going outound or inbound

There are plenty of maps though to reference your info. Be prepared to take multiple trains. Each color relates to a different district of Boston. It won't cost more...well maybe a few brain cells...

Be thankful for this information cause I did not know these things when hitting the subway! I thought there was one route. Yeah, I'm a moron. I called my sister, Tracy about six times in four minutes to make sure I was getting on the right subway. I had one transfer to make...ONE! I took the wrong one and got off at a stop that was about 1.5 miles away from the apartment I was supposed to be at.

As I sat at the stop, I weighed my options. I could either wait for another subway car to take me back to where I started and risk a second fiasco, or I could suck it up and walk. I figured since I do CrossFit, walking will not kill me. So walking I chose.

Well that was really stupid. I was raining, I was pulling my lyggage, and my phone nearly died before I could map out where to go! Half a mile into the hike I realized I should have challenged the subway one more time. Although, at that same moment I had a self-checking realization. I thought, Torie, next year this time you will be in Japan. Not only will you be figuring out the train system there but you will have to read it in  goofy picture language! So I stopped complaining and actually enjoyed my walk through the Brookline neighborhood of Boston, Massachusets.

After a brisk 30 minute walk, in the rain, I made it! I laughed and told my sister my story and we walked up to her friend's apartment. We then changed and mapped out our day's adventures!

First thing we did was hit the freaking subway! Oh, you know what else had me crazy?! Had I taken the RIGHT rail, it would have stopped right in front of the apartment complex. How do you like them apples? (Name that movie that line is from and where it was filmed? Then congratulate me on my sense of irony and wit!) ;)

Here is what we did and what we learned (with pictures) in downtown, Boston:

1. The cops are very nice! One called me "Miss". Cops in Seattle usually yell, "Let's Go! Move it!!"
1. We also witnessed an officer help an old man in a walker fross the tracks. Then he offered to pull this man's car around for him! I mean, this officer stopped what he was doing just do help this guy. So sweet!
2. When they say "light" rain in Boston, they mean heavy and constant. FYI

1. There are 2 Cheers bars - go to the real one near Boston Commons!

1. The Freedom Trail is a MUST! You tour all the major historic spots in Boston!

1. Someone had a sense of humor when they made one of our Founding Fathers and signers of the Declarations of Independence , John Hancock's, memorial monument...it is in the shape of a freaking penis!! Lo at this picture and tell me I'm wrong!

1. We went to one of the oldest churches in the U.S.. King James Chapel. It contains the oldest pulpit still in use today in the United States.

1. Paul Revere's house is in the north end of Boston. When you walk through his 'hood you will feel like you are in Italy. Seriously!

1. The classic architecture of Boston/east coast is phenomenal. I loved every building!

1. I hailed my first taxi! Took me, honestly 5 seconds and It hink I"m ready for NY!
2. If you do CrossFit, plan ahead and call the box to find out 1) how to get there 2) if they have room 3) do it on a day you are not flying home. Give yourself time! I wish I did.
3. I went to a FANCY French restaurant. I have no pics for this but I was in a UW sweatshirt, jeans, and had an Under Armour bad as my purse. Very under dressed.

My first day in Boston was awesome! We did some tourist stuff, got drenched, laughed our butts off and savored every moment we could. Nothing was taken for granted.

The whole time I kept Japan in the back of my mind. I contemplated how much trouble I will probably get myself into, the people I'm going to meet the history I'm going to learn, and the stories I'll get to share!

Nice work Boston! You won this trip though between the downpour and subway confusion. Thank you!

*If you are at all interested, there are a lot more pictures on my Facebook and I might try to set up a slideshow later. Within the next couple days I will fill you in on my last day in Boston!

Live Free or Die!!!

I'm writing to you right now from Portsmouth, NH! Yeah, I'm on an east coast excursion and it is awesome. I cam to visit a super good friend of mine Ashley and her hubby Andrew. Ashley and I met when we were about 12 and grew up together playing select softball. We have stayed in contact ever since! Then she fell in love and moved with her husband (who is in the Coast Guard) 3,000 miles away!! All good, I'm finally visiting the east coast!

My trip started last Wednesday, November 7th. I flew into Boston then drove out to Kittery, ME. Kittery is located across from Portsmouth, NH and the state is partially separated by the Piscataqua River. Yeah, weird ass name right? People think Washington has some pretty crazy names! This place rivals what we have.

Thursday was my first full day in Maine and I didn't do much. Ashley and Andrew both worked. On Friday, Ashley and I hit up most of New Hampshire. We rolled around on the White Mountain Highway which loops around the "rockies" of New Hampshire. We saw Mt. Washington, the highest peak on the east coast, visited a very prestigious hotel and saw a few other random sites along the way. Took LOTS of pictures. I will have those posted when I get back home. Some are on my phone and some are the computer.

Here are some things I have learned so far about the east coast:


1) Live Free or Die is the New Hampshire state motto. They back this up too. The drivers are insane and you do not have to wear a seat belt if you are over the age of 18. Apparently you do not get to "live free" and you do not have the option of "dying" in pursuit of that until you are an adult. ;)

2) There are no "mountains" here. Just very big hills. (Sorry Mt. Washington).

3) They have TONS of Moose out here. Every few miles there are signs about watching out for Moose. We saw one!!!! We were literally 10 feet from a very young, yet very large Moose. We named him Marley.

4) You know what a round-a-bout is? They call them circles...real creative New England.

5) EVERY free-way has a toll. I no longer will complain about 520. Ashley hits the toll twice a day!

6) There are tons of covered bridges out here and Ashley and I tried taking pictures of every one we could find. We found 4! Why they are so cool, I don't know. All I know is that Washington state doesn't really do the covered bridges thing so it was awesome to see so many!

So far that is it. I'm on my way to Boston right now. I plan on hitting up a CrossFit affiliate while I'm there. This morning actually. Well, sometime today. I'm not to sure with my schedule. Anyways, my sister VERY RANDOMLY has a trip the same exact time as me! That is who I am meeting up with. She is staying in Boston and we plan on hittin the town today. I couldn't be more excited. We will do a little bit more tomorrow too before we head out. I want to see Fenway, the original Cheers bar (yeah there is two), and do the 2 mile Freedom Walk and get my history on. I know there is so much more, but we are going to fly by the seat of our pants on this one! Woo hoo!!!

Before I go, I want to leave you with a few pictures Ashley and I took while on our White Mountain Highway loop!

My next post will be a slideshow of all I saw and did out here! Can't wait for this day to really get goin!