FNN Explores the Pacific Northwest: "Tia Leads the Way!"

From front to back: Tia the Rottweiller, Maurice Williams, Courtney Shackleford, Steve Klein and Karlton Chapman. Day 7: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 Read more entries from the Pacific Northwest Blog!

Today we embarked on our extremely long drive from Astoria to Seattle. Along the way we stopped at Ms. Kaufman's cousin Steve’s house to meet him and his wife. Steve owns 40 acres of land and each inch we explored was truly amazing. We started at his house which was very unique and beautiful. It wasn't like other homes. It’s a dome home. Yes, a house shaped like a dome. It was breathtaking. We went inside for some pizza and sodas. We also met Tia, Steve's dog, once we entered the house. After eating and chatting a little, Tia lead us on a walk where we had the chance to explore Steve's beautiful property. We saw the garden, the creek, the trail leading through the forest, the ponies and the selection of trees. After journeying back to the house to wait for our cab, we were off to Seattle, where we checked into our hotel, did some shopping and celebrated Courtney’s birthday at The Cheesecake Factory.

-- Shaquanda Noble

Yum, the sweet smell of cottonwood in the morning! After a nice car ride from Astoria to Yelm, Washington, we arrived at Ms. Kaufman's cousin Steve's house, where we was greeted by Steve and Tia, his lovely, sweet, protective guard dog puppy. This was the first time for all of us to see a house built out of Styrofoam and spray-on concrete in a dome shape, which makes the house feel spacious and is environmentally friendly. From the house we were lead on a tour by Tia the dog down a 2-mile trail throughout Steve's property. From wild flowers to beaver dams, he has quite a forest in his own backyard -- and also delicious pizza! I really hope we can come back and visit Steve again some day. He has a really nice home and a cool dog. From Yelm we took an uber-long car ride to Seattle, which made me think we were back in Portland. So far everything is fun here along with the friendly hospitality of the locals and the high-tech looking cities. Can't wait to go up into the Space Needle. ttyl!

-- Darin Davis

Today is someone’s birthday... I wonder who? Oh yeah, today is my birthday. I had hoped to enjoy it. And I did. This morning, we left Astoria to go to Yelm, Washington, to meet Ms. Kaufman’s cousin Steve and find out about his environmental home. I love his house. It is shaped like a dome and made out of hard Styrofoam. And he uses solar energy to power his home. When we arrived at Steve’s, we had pizza and played with his Rottwieler puppy, Tia. After lunch we walked around his property. It was gorgeous. We then traveled to Seattle by cab. I knew we were there I saw the famous space needle sticking up out from above the tall buildings. That night, we decided to go to The Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner and it was good. They even sung happy birthday to me and brought me my favorite cake…chocolate. After dinner we were all so stuffed with food and cake that we came back to the hotel and went right to sleep. Happy Birthday to Me!

-- Courtney Shackleford

Today, Rated-T visited our advisor’s cousin’s house. His name was Steve Klein. Steve’s home was really amazing and in the middle of nowhere with really bad cell phone reception. However, this minor disadvantage left room for the major advantages and there were plenty of them. We took an interesting walk through about 5-10 acres of land that Mr. Steve owned. We were lead by his faithful companion, Tia a Rottweiler, who was very affectionate. She lead us through a beautiful, spectacular, amazing, and -- most importantly, what I believe to be the point of this trip -- different scenery. As we strolled through the forest area around his home, we learned of its history. We heard about meaningful traditions that he, his wife Yael and neighbors practiced. We learned new information such as fairy rings, which, to say the least, questioned my judgment on a many of subjects. The experience itself was inspiring and I only wish that we could’ve stayed a bit longer.

-- Maurice Williams