i'm going to washington.

Today is one of those days I spend fist pumping and my mom (hi mom!) spends shaking her head in disbelief. A level-headed planner in real life, I apparently throw all my checks and balances out the window when booking vacations. It's just one of the little nuances about myself I've grown to love and my parents have (hopefully) grown to live with. In my opinion, vacations should be used as a way to relax, unwind and enjoy life. Vacation planning shouldn't be any different since that's the starting point of the whole adventure. The second vacation planning becomes stressful, so does your vacation. My advice? Keep conversations enthusiastic, itineraries flexible and react spur of the moment. This is the one time out of the year you can get away with not having a to-do list so take advantage.

That said, Jim and I bit the bullet and bought our flights and event passes to the Sasquatch Music Festival in George, Washington. Totally random. Totally off-plan. Totally exciting.

Sasquatch Music Festival

The conversation started when the Bonnaroo lineup was finally posted. We'd been talking about going there forever - almost to the point of exhaustion. But after about a week of not buying our tickets, Jim hopped on the computer in search for more options. I don't know what it was but the trip just didn't feel right anymore.

While on the hunt for vacation options, we knew two things: 1) we wanted to go to a multi-day music fest and 2) our families had the beach time vacations we always crave covered.

Which brings us back to the Sasquatch Music Festival. A 4-day, ridiculously scenic event that's chock full of bands we've heard of and bands we haven't (in a good way). Mix that with a brief stint in Seattle and a nature-filled retreat to Yellowstone National Park and you've got yourself one solid vacation. That's right. We go big or go home over here, people.

Here's our itinerary so far.

via about.com

via flickr

via wikipedia

via destination360

To be honest, we added the bonus of a two-night stay in Seattle solely because it was cheaper than flying into Spokane, Washington. We'll probably keep this part of the vacation on the super cheap because it's really just a time to breathe (and shower) before part two of the trip begins. Being in Seattle is a little bittersweet for me because 1) I'm really excited to visit the city but 2) I wish it was part of the Vancouver/Seattle/Portland trip me and my BFF Jen have been planning for centuries. The silver lining? Neither of us plan to stop being friends anytime soon and my financial status continues to move toward "not in debt anymore". This will make planning a lot less annoying and hopefully things can come together for us next summer (or this winter) depending on weather conditions. Who knows, maybe we'll mix it up and make a couple of stops along Oregon's coast to keep things interesting.

Anyway, I'm really pumped about this little adventure because I've never been on a vacation like this. Ever. We upgraded and got the premier camping package which includes free shower facilities, private bathrooms and a shuttle to and from the Amphitheatre and our camp grounds. This calms some of the angst I had around smelling like B.O. the entire time we're there and the amount of exercise I was actually signing up for. Lord knows I'm not wearing tennis shoes (ankle tan lines are gross) and you can only walk so far and so long in flip flops.

Here's to booking vacations on a single whim and driving your parents absolutely bonkers while you're at it. If you're in the position to do something like this, I say go for it. Now to figure out a place for Ruby while we're away...


P.S. Home decor post coming soon - I swear!