Em got me out of the house today (it's been really nice relaxing and having no agenda lately) to see some of Seattle. She took me down to Pike Place Market and as soon as we got there she told me to jump on this giant bronze piggy bank (apparently, she's named Rachel) so that she could take my picture. Must be a Seattle thing. You know what they say, "When in Rome...." I got some fresh Dungeness crab cocktail (which was delicious), Em got Meggie some flowers, and we walked around for a bit. It was cold and REALLY windy and I couldn't help but think about how miserable it would be up on Rainier at that moment. We glanced at the original Starbuck's Coffee shop (yawn) and walked down to Urban Hardwoods, an amazing gallery of tables and other creations made from local salvage lumber. (Pssst, Em could make that stuff too!)
In the evening we'd planned a reunion with another corner 4 volunteer from Saturday's race. Vertical World Climbing Gym was the venue. I didn't climb (as I'm still letting my knee rest) but thoroughly enjoyed being a belay slave. The city has its perks, the gym is amazing. However, the bumper to bumper traffic seen today on our way back from the market was a healthy reminder of why I've chosen Missoula as my home for the last 20 years. I suppose it's a trade off though. We all went to Cupcake Royale (another of the city's perks) afterward to replace the calories we'd burned while climbing (in my case, belaying...not sure I was running a calorie deficit yet).
I know what you mean. I was in western WA 8 years, and had a love hate relationship with it the whole time. Loved the people, loved the opportunities, loved the mt's (2+ hours away though for the best stuff), loved the green meadows.
ReplyDelete