Ah, the Fremont Market…

Saturday was started with Brunch at B&O in Capitol Hill. Even though we had free tickets, I couldn’t get in the mood for Bumbershoot. We decided instead to check out the new Seattle Aquarium.

Capitol Hill Street Art…

Neon Jellyfish….

More neon Jellyfish. The exhibit was a massive circular tank that was embedded in the floor and rotated through several colors…

Can’t remember their names… Odd little fish with horns..

One of the exhibit ceilings…

The main underwater viewing area…

Walked the pier for a bit afterwards, but the crowds were suffocating. Drove back to Snoqualmie and had dinner at Mike’s Cascade Grill. A place I usually avoid as I associate it with work business meetings. I was adventurous and had the Snoqualmie Steamed Clams, and Sarah had the Fried Calamari. We both had a cup of Crab and Corn Chowder. All dishes were great, especially the chowder.

Well, the bike and hike was canceled, as Jason’s dog was sick and Jason couldn’t camp overnight. We were able to do the 5 mile bike in, then turn right around and bike 5 miles out.

However, Jason’s memory of the trail was completely and utterly wrong. This trail was all uphill, all rocks, and even some ledge climbing and fording streams - with our bikes on our backs.

After we actually survived, I decided it was a great adventure. During the times I was planing over beds of rocks, or dodging grapefruit size boulders, I wasn’t too sure.

I took only one dive at low speed on an uphill. Jason fell so many times I lost count. His only damage was his pride and an old GPS unit he had in his backpack. To his credit, he was riding a bike with egg-beater pedals and thin cyclocross tires. His new 800 dollar bike he just had to test out. I was on my trusty 50 dollar Trek 820. Only one on-trail repair, a screw fell out of my luggage rack.

Onto the photos:

These first three are the first bridge we came upon. Lovely small rocky waterfall and clear pool below.

We actually thought we hit the end of the trail here. We were confused though as the GPS said we traveled only 4 miles, not five. As we climbed some very large boulders to the left, we saw a small stream, then a very narrow trail continuing on. We had to climb carrying our bikes to reach it.

Trails end, at least for us. Shortly after this the path becomes hikeable only. The picture doesn’t do the waterfall justice. It’s a massive rock face climbing to the sky with water pouring powerfully down it. Below is a large crystal clear pool that leads off again as a stream.

After a rest and some food and drink, we turned around and did it again. Returning was downhill and much better going except for a few very rocky patches. We ended up completing the 10 miles in about 4 hours.

A local free newspaper has a column called “Uptight Seattleite“.. It’s supposed to be a parody of the overly conscious people here in the Northwest. However, I don’t find it funny, I find it SPOT ON… Guess I’m one of those Uptight Seattleites..

Dear Uptight Seattleite,

What’s with that creepy way people on Seattle streets look at but don’t really see one another? Where I hail from (hint: It’s the real “most liberal city in America”), people make eye contact, say hello, and smile. It doesn’t matter if they’re strangers or neighbors.

In Seattle, it seems like people passing in the street give the appearance of making eye contact, but never really look at one another long enough to establish anything resembling acknowledgement or communication. They glance furtively, then avert their eyes to avoid interaction, or mime a vacant smile while staring blankly ahead. WTFU with that? It’s pathetic and offensive as hell.

Not A Zombie

Dear Not,

Gosh, with your attitude, I’m really surprised you don’t have more positive interactions! No, but seriously, I’m a bit puzzled by your question. Seattle is a very friendly city, unless by “friendly” you mean the kind of superficial friendliness common in one of the West Coast states to the south of us (hint: It’s not Oregon). Like, “Hi, what’s your name? My name’s Chad! Let’s be best friends forever! Let’s swap wives!”

That’s not us, “bro.” The Northwest is characterized by its soulful reticence. Those people who avert their eyes on the street are not disrespecting you. They are granting you space. Space under our tranquil gray skies to be yourself, to be at peace, to just be. The suppressed half-smile is the emblem of the personal air space that has been granted to you, no matter how unappreciative you may be. “You’ve got your own thing going,” says the half-smile of the Northwest, “and so do I. Proceed as you will through life’s journey. Let’s not violate the subtlety of our understanding by crassly speaking out loud.”

Another:

Dear Uptight Seattleite,

I was leaving the Essential Bakery in Madison Valley a while back with two young children in tow when a man followed me out the door to point out, accusingly, that we were expected to bus our own tables inside. I had not done so but was taken aback by his pursuit. While I admit I transgressed, is it reasonable to police the busing behaviors of others?

Busted

Dear Busted,

Please help me understand. I assume there was some kind of emergency. Maybe one of your children, or both, were bleeding from their necks? In such a situation, yes, of course, it might well be understandable that you wouldn’t do a full clearing of your table (though you could have perhaps at least thrown away your trash).

Or was there some other reason that you mentioned the presence of your children? I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you didn’t expect that the cafe, or society as a whole, would accord you some sort of special treatment because you made the choice to reproduce.

Let’s back up a moment and imagine this situation from the man’s perspective. He’s quietly going about his business—drinking his coffee, reading his paper, and watching you carefully from an adjoining table. Sure, he thinks, that woman may have children, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s insensitive about the larger footprint she therefore makes on the Earth. I’m sure she will, if anything, be even more diligent about her responsibilities. She certainly wouldn’t expect minimum-wage workers to clean up after her. Or so he thinks.

And then he sees you get up and leave your napkins, cups, and maybe a diaper or two all over the table. As if the words “please bus your own table” were not carefully printed in sun-faded marker and affixed with cellophane tape above the cream station. He could have simply shaken his head sadly and gone back to his soy latte. But no, he chose to take advantage of the teaching moment that was presented to him. Just as he took the higher path, I encourage you, too, to enlarge your view of the matter. It’s not every day that we are afforded such an opportunity to reflect productively upon our actions.

Friday at work Jason brought up the idea of a combination biking and hiking adventure. He said it would be an “easy” 6 mile bike and 6 mile hike to some particular wonderful lake. We’d camp over one night, then hike back to our bikes (that we left chained to trees) and bike the rest of the way out to the parking lot and our cars.

While this sounded to me like something a tri-athlete would do, not doughy tech industry guys, Jason assured me it would be easy and fun. I mostly agreed to it since Jason is just about as doughy and inactive as me. I imagine the point he would start crying and curl up into a fetal ball begging for his mommy to be roughly fifteen minutes after me.

So, first step was to buy a cheap but decent mountain bike for the adventure. One that we wouldn’t be too crushed about if it walked off during the night we camped over at the lake. I was the first to strike gold with a very nice Trek 820 from a 10 minute old craigslist posting. Googling shows the overall opinion of the bike to be a nice entry-level “real” bike. Definitely better that any K-Mart or Target bike. What really sold it for me was the brand new tires, brand new pedals, and a rear luggage rack. All for only 50 bucks..

Here’s Sarah taking it for a spin today. This ones mine though. She can get her own…

I’ve spent the last three days in dry dock covered in sanding dust followed by toxic exotic paints. I’m sore, tired, and variously splotched. I guess I now really do need a vacation.

Me and my sailing buddy Tai raced to Shilshole Marina after work Wednesday to add a new battery to the boat and take down the jib in preparation for it being put into drydock this weekend.  My weekend will start at a painful 8am Saturday morning and we will paint the boat as many hours as it takes to get it done by Sunday night.

The shot above is from what we decided to do first once we arrived there.  There was just too much fine wind and sun not to take her out for a bit.  And of course I need the practice for when the pirates attack and I’m the last man alive.

This weekend was the big festival weekend. Too bad it was pretty rainy (at least closer to where we live east of Seattle). We passed on the Fremont Solstice Festival this year. More due to the parking and driving hassles than anything else. Luckily my friend in Seattle caught a few pics of the big parade. The goal of which is trying to get the most nude people possible in public and sticking it to the mans decency laws. Damn Hippies..

We decided to go a little quieter and try out the Fall City Festival that was down the road from us. Pretty disappointing. A generic smalltown street fair with useless merchant stalls and boring food stalls. We only stayed about 30 minutes. Most of the time was spent petting half a dozen Chihuahuas after happily discovering we have a loose-knit group of caring volunteers that run a rescue in the area. We now have a place to point responsible people to that are looking for a Chihuahua. A win for people trying to avoid puppy mill doggies.

Anyway, we ended up at a tried and trusted cafe for lunch that turned into a very late breakfast as we both decided on pancakes. A rare event for us. Our going out mood pretty much fizzled after that and we went back home to laze about and enjoy doing nothing.

Above is as accurate as possible representation I could find of the month of July for me. I have somehow talked a co-worker into a three week sailing adventure on his hand built wooden sailboat the Woodrose, a 25 foot classic Lyle Hess cutter. We will be heading up the Pacific Coast between Vancouver Island and mainland Canada, playing it by ear and taking in the sights and sounds of the Sun and Sea..

Thursday night the 14th our power went out. No heat, no lights. Our power just returned, a little over 5 days later. This is me with three pairs of socks on, two tshirts, two pairs of pants, a fleece jacket, stocking cap, and three doggies shivering next to me under three layers of blankets..