Winter Traveling

Long time no see!

This winter I drove to Indiana with my fellow Hoosier Katie. It's a long drive, and fairly boring after leaving the mountains in Maryland. We spent around 8 long hours driving through dreary weather.
Click on pics to enlarge and see them in all their glory!

Quite a long interstate, 70.

Frost line in MD mountains

Frozen waterfall in MD

States traveled through, plus MD of course :)

Indiana! I got to see my Mom's new house for the first time, which thankfully has a spare bedroom. No more sleeping on a couch ;)

I got to visit Bloomington for a reunion with IU friends, and even got to see a basketball game in Assembly Hall!

Go Hoosiers!

Most of my time was spent catching up sleep, internet-ing, Netflix-ing, and seeing my family for holidays. It's so strange coming home ~twice a year and seeing how much my nieces and nephews have grown!!

This year I managed to secure some funding from STScI to attend the AAS (American Astronomical Society) meeting in Seattle. So, I went to leg 2 of my winter traveling- the Pacific Northwest!

Nice sunset on my flight from Dallas to Seattle.

Seattle was the location of my first AAS back in 2011, so it was fun to go back and visit! Seattle is a fun city with lots of great food and attractions, but dang it, my hair does not appreciate the humidity...

Most of my days were spent conference-ing, which mostly consists of getting up early, attending talks and poster sessions, shmoozing with other astronomers, running into so-and-so from a few years ago (astronomy is a small field, we all know each other...), and generally chatting astronomy and non-astronomy with friends new and old. Of course I did have to do some real work ;) ... I presented a poster about some data reduction methods I tested. I even got to meet the creator of the HST instrument I work on :)

I also got to try some awesome food and drinks at some of Seattle's restaurants and bars. Working for a government contractor has its perks- we get a GSA per diem, which is something like $70/day for food!! Some of my favorites were:

• Bathtub Gin, a very hard to find and easy to miss speakeasy-style bar with a great atmosphere and excellent cocktails
• Pike Brewing Company bar & restaurant, I had an amazing grilled cheese, and they have several yummy in-house brewed beers
• Taphouse Grille, they have 100+ beers on tap from all over
• Elysium Brewing
• Von's 1000 spirits, faaaaabulous scratch-made pasta, and amazing selection of liquor which they use to make delicious cocktails
• La Creperie Voila, a food stand outside the convention center. Looks meh but has perfectly-made sweet and savory crepes prepared by personable employees

Roberto flew from LA to meet me in Seattle 3 days into the conference. There is a tradition that on the 2nd to last day of the conference a large party is held at a local bar. These parties are always sooo much fun! Imagine hundreds of dork astronomers trying to dance... it was no less of a spectacle than usual this year! It's always the highlight of the conference to attend these parties. Bars usually host us pretty well (how often do you get 500+ space nerds in your bar?) by creating space-themed drinks or showing NASA TV/astronomy movies. This year they displayed astronomy paper proceedings and posters on projectors, ha! 

After the conference ended (Thursday), Roberto and I met up with our friend Jeff, who was also attending the conference. Jeff lives across the Puget Sound in Bremerton. So, we headed down to the pier and caught a ferry. 

Roberto, Jeff, and me waiting for the ferry to arrive

It was a rare beautiful and sunny day in Seattle! Perfect weather for enjoying the sight as we trekked across the Sound.

View from the ferry

On the ferry's deck, watching the ferry headed to Bainbridge. Mountains!!

Seattle skyline from the ferry

Mt. Rainier

Sunset as we arrive in Bremerton

Once we landed in Bremerton, it was a short walk to Jeff and his husband Nick's house. They have a nice house with an extra bedroom they let us take. Jeff is a hardcore-brewer who even had a kegarator (keg with refrigerator) in his living room for us to pour freshly brewed beers! Nick occupies the other aspect of gardening, cooking, and canning, so we got to have some of his food products as well. Jeff and Roberto went to grad school together, and two of their other grad school buddies came over (who also attended the conference). We spent a fun night playing cards and sipping Jeff's beers.

The next day we slept in and explored Bremerton. The USS Turner Joy, a Navy destroyer ship from the 50's that was built in Bremerton is retired there and open for tour. We spent the afternoon exploring the very expansive ship. It is self-guided tour that allows you to access most parts of ship.

USS Turner Joy

Keep Cool; DO'NT GIVE UP THE SHIP.

After that, we walked along the docks enjoying the sunset. It got chilly soon, so we headed home. 

Sunset on the docks

We all went out to dinner to the Silver City Restaurant. They had amazing in-house beers (noticing a pattern?) and I had some amazing Tillamook mac 'n cheese. 

Saturday we got up early and took the ferry back to Seattle. We walked around the infamous Pike Place Market (even saw some flying fish!). We bought some fresh salmon and veggies to grill later. 

All the seafoodz

We headed up to the Space Needle after that to catch a Duck Tour. Well. Our guide was absolutely RIDICULOUS, but it was a fun and convenient way to get a whirlwind tour of Seattle. It was fun to ride the duck into Lake Union. Also, we all got duck calls that I annoyed Roberto, Jeff, and Nick with all day (and the next day).

A foggy/rainy day in Seattle?!?! I'm SHOCKED!

Gas Works, as seen from the duck boat on Lake Union

After that, we took a bus to Pioneer Square to go on the Seattle Underground Tour. This was probably my favorite part of the day. The history of Seattle is fascinating, and the whole "city under a city" thing is mind-blowing. There is wikipedia page for it here. We had a great tour guide to boot.

Underground Tour

The original wooden sewer pipes used in Seattle circa 1854

Afterwards, thoroughly tired, we went back to the ferry station to get back to Bremerton. The ferry is about an hour long, so by the time we got back, we were all too tired to cook or go out. We ordered pizza and watched the NFL playoff games ;)

Sunday, our last day there, was spent relaxing at home, and I got to watch the Colts kick Peyton's butt. For dinner we grilled up the salmon and veggies we bought in Seattle. Then Roberto and I packed up our suitcases and trudged back to the ferry to return to Seattle to catch our flight home to Baltimore. 

Seattle skyline at night from the ferry

Ferris Wheel makes cool reflections, ooooh

We took a red-eye, with a layover in Boston. This was my first red-eye in the US (overnight trans-atlantic flights shouldn't count!). Never. Again. It was awful, I couldn't sleep, was uncomfortable, and grumpy. Boo. Finally I stepped back in my apartment after 3 weeks away to a crazy Moka who my neighbor/co-worker had been cat-sitting.

Phew, what a trip! It was great to go home and then visit Seattle again- it's a great city that is also very vegetarian-friendly considering its reputation for seafood ;) But it's always nice to return to your own bed, own shower, and own kitty :)