Seattle Patriot

Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m done. HUGE HUGE HUGE “thank you!” to everyone who was incredibly supportive of my over the past 7 weeks (not to mention the past 3 years). It took about 3 full days for me to recover, but I guess that makes sense for a 3 day test, and by Monday of this week I was finally feeling myself again. Now that I’m back in action, I have 5 weeks before I start work, and I plan to use every second of them!

Thursday we had a great time catching up with Alex, who was in town with his lovely girlfriend, Elizabeth. We ate at a great place, to which we all agreed we would return soon…if it weren’t in Burien. Friday I finally got to spend some time with the family, and it was great to catch up on everything that’s been going on during my absence. Ben is deeply ensconsed in his new work at Aquent, and despite the fact that it sounds incredibly challenging, he is rising to the occassion as always. Emily went to present at a conference for college speakers, so she was gone for part of the weekend, but back on Sunday! I went to Jessica’s musical (she’s amazing!), and would recommend you all go, except it closed on Saturday.

Although I missed the whole softball season this summer (thanks a lot, WSBA), I got to see Dad play in the tournament on Sunday. Despite a heart-stopping collision, he must have batted about .750 and pitched 7 great innings. We’re all in agreement it was a far superior tournament than the Cunninghams/Cresseys had last summer, with a family trip to the emergency room.

Monday we had a great good-bye dinner for Alex at Piatti – the only thing missing was Alex… The weather has been beautiful, and I’m SO GLAD I can finally take advantage of it, so I’m getting outside every moment I can! Yesterday Ciara and I resumed working out together (and when we’re back on evenings, Jess can join us too since she’s finally done with rehearsals!) and I had almost forgotten how nice it is to workout OUTSIDE for a change, rather than sitting on a recumbant bike reading through notes. BLECH! Last night we made Happy Hour at McCormick & Shmick where we could each get a cider/beer and half pound hamburger for $5. FANTASTIC deal. I hear they have one across the street from my firm, so you know I’ll be enjoying that more soon. We headed out to Safeco to see the Mariners lose in a spectacular show of zero offense and near zero defense (was the final score 0-8?) – they’d already hit two home runs before Jess and I even made it to the seats! Still, a beautiful 75 degree evening and a great day for baseball. (And we poured out some Kettle Corn in your honor, Trace!)

There are still 5 full weeks to go, so stay tuned for more fun, and let me know if you have any bright ideas. In the works is berry picking, croquet, picnics, more karaoke, book club (Ciara!), Culinary Club coming up on the 12th, Volleyball (I go on Mondays if anyone wants to join me), and much much more! Looking forward to spending more time with everyone SOON!

We took our time getting ready to leave on our last day – as though no one was ready to admit our trip was almost over. We had a leisurely brunch out and came back to finish packing up and cleaning. Heading back, we took the scenic 101 highway up the coast, and stopped in Seaside, OR, for some afternoon fun. After walking the promenade for a while and exploring Main Street’s attractions, games, rides, and amazing array of candy we rented a Surrey for better transport (and some serious exercise as it turned out!) and rode all over town. It was an overly eventful ride, complete with almost crossing the highway, Y-turns in a vehicle that doesn’t back up, steep hills and questionable breaks, going through a drive-through mail stop, the old Saltworks from the Lewis & Clark expedition, and even a box of free stuff (you’ll see me looking through there and getting two great finds – 2 workout videos from the late ’80s!!).

When we finally had to get back on the road, we bouyed our spirits with sing-a-longs and Kit Carson’s for dinner. Let’s just hope that was enough fun and excitement to propel me through my whole bar review course!

Our second day started off with slightly overcast skies, but we didn’t let that get us down, and a tasty breakfast prepared by Jessica and Jeremy started things off on a high note. Our first stop that morning was to the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory, which in addition to selling delightful dairy products, also opens the doors of its factory to the outside world (think Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory minus the disappearing kids, exclusivity, and flying elevator). The employees were sparse due to the Holiday weekend, but we still got a good look. Several in our party sampled the ice creams as well – fantastic!

Apparently still not full, we continued on to next door – Blue Heron Wine & Cheese. We toured the farm first, and then headed inside to see what was on the menu. Having had our fill of dairy for the moment, we enjoyed a wine tasting (my picks are pictured). I preferred the dessert wines, and the local varieties offered at Blue Heron proved quite tasty.

After a bit more wandering and picture taking, we made a quick stop at home for some tasty sandwiches prepared by the Stewarts. Our energy renewed, we headed out toward Carmen’s favorite beach. We took the scenic route, which led us by an overlook populated with some interesting people. We decided to check it out and got to see a paraglider preparing his chute and taking off. Soon after that we arrived at the beach, played in the sand, tossed the frisbee
(or “disc” as some people vehemently prefer), and when we were sufficiently worn out, took the opportunity to climb the incredibly steep bluff at one end of the beach. Although probably not quite a 45% grade, the incline was close and very tiring. When we finally made it to the top, though, the views were amazing. The trip down took about 1/10th the time, and we got to enjoy a sunset dinner afterwards. Gorgeous.

We left Saturday afternoon, meeting up with Carmen downtown after she finished at work to caravan down to Portland. With our trusty two-way radios we were able to stick together, share miraculous music finds, and search out the world’s most difficult Dairy Queen to find on our way. We stopped in Portland to meet Carmen’s parents, return their car to them, find out about their exciting European travels (from which they had just returned), and have a delicious pizza dinner. We got back on the road, minus one car, and continued on to Tillamook. After a scenic sunset drive toward the coast, we arrived at Carmen’s family’s “cabin,” which turned out to be a cute little house with room to sleep, cook, eat, play games, and even had a wood burning stove that we put to good use. We took a brief trip into “town” where we purchased provisions for the meals we’d cook for each other, we returned for games and settled in for the night.