Mom Comes to Visit

I was so excited to have my mom visit this weekend. I have been looking forward to this since leaving Nebraska in September.

Sadly, I did not get to be a very good hostess. I don't know Seattle very well yet, and I'm pretty busy and stressed with school. But that's the great thing about moms, they always seem to forgive those things. 

So while I was in class, my mom braved the buses, the ever-changing weather, and the downtown crowds. I was so impressed. She now definitely knows more about the city and how to get around than I do.

Fortunately we did get to do some things together. Ostensibly, the purpose of the visit was to assist in condo buying. So we did get to tour some of the condos currently in consideration. Although none were specifically chosen, we were able to rule some out. 

We also went to Pike Place Market. Here we are with the fish. We enjoyed watching them being thrown, but we did not partake. It takes a little more than this market to convince a die-hard Nebraskan to eat fish.

Fish are for viewing, not eating!

One of my favorite parts of the market are the amazing flowers.

Flowers, flowers, flowers!

Although there was a lot of tempting food, we stuck to just buying flowers.

Ignore the dirty dishes...

On Sunday after the market we took a harbor cruise. We had great timing, in that our cruise managed to happen in between two rain storms. It was still a little cold and windy, but we were able to enjoy a good bit of it outside before retreating into the boat.

No rain for us!

Mom and the City

In addition to our cruise and the market, we enjoyed some tasty eats, did some shopping, and got in some relaxing (such a treat for me!).

Last day

I already miss having her here. I am so grateful that she left behind a legacy in the form of semmel dough in the fridge. I am already looking forward to the next visit.

Bike Commuting

As I mentioned, I have been commuting to school every day by bike. It has been fabulous. I have been very lucky and haven't had to ride through any real rain. I think that will change, but for now I'm going to enjoy it. 

I live 3.8 miles from school. This is a really doable distance on a bike. I am surprised, however, by how hilly Seattle is. So. Hilly. Although I don't really encounter too many steep hills in my commute, there are several long grades that absolutely destroy my legs. I'm hoping it will get easier with time....

Before intervention.

I rode my bike a fair amount in DC, but only for fun or for exercise. So I never really carried a load. Now I carry my books, school stuff, and a change of clothes (3.8 miles + hills = just sweaty enough to want to change clothes).  So I decided I needed to add a bike rack.
.



 

During intervention.

Clearly the grad school budget for bike racks = do your own installation. That aside, I was actually really excited to install my own rack. As I've increased my riding I've really wanted to learn more about bike maintenance in general. Additionally, although I haven't even started classes yet, orientation has provided plenty of information and discussion (and fear) regarding the next six (or seven) years, including but not limited to the dreaded dissertation. Given that, I really, really enjoyed this time limited project with clear and tangible outcomes. I think they will be few and far between in the next years.

Success!

So with far more effort than was probably required, I successfully installed my bike rack. I think it's a little less than level, but will hopefully get the job done.


Next step: panniers!

Seattle Livin'

My Seattle apartment (for now).

My apartment is in a house that has been converted into three apartments. I have parking behind the house. Coming from DC, I consider this one of the biggest luxuries ever.

Living room:

Kitchen:

 

The bathroom has a couple of quirks but overall the place is super cute and great for my first few months here. It's about 4 miles from the university, and so far I've been able to bike every day to school, which is really nice.  

My subletter has been great, and even offered to let me borrow the guitar pictured in living room shots. As generous as that is, I have not taken her up on that offer. 

Tour de Beast

Running from September 4th to September 10th, the first (and hopefully last) Tour de Beast was composed of 4 stages and covered a total distance of 2,933 miles. Beginning on U Street NW in Washington, D.C., the tour stretched between two cities on opposite coasts, and ended in Seattle, WA. The tour earned it's name from my a fore mentioned nickname and the fact that driving 2,933 miles in 4 days is a beast.  The stages included two flat stages and two mountain stages.

Stage 1 (mountain stage...kinda):

This Stage began in Washington, D.C., and ended in the majestic Dayton suburb of Huber Heights, Ohio. Having moved to D.C. from Colorado, I had  always minimized the rolling hills found in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania as anything but mountains. My over-burdened, 4-cylinder car made a strong argument against that position, however. As such, my car earned zero points toward the polka dot jersey during this stage. This stage was long and otherwise un-noteworthy.

States crossed: D.C., Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia (I went through it twice!), Ohio

Stage 2:

Leaving Huber Heights and ending in lovely Nebraska, my car and I were never so happy to see our first cornfield. This stage ended with three days of relaxing (kinda) on the farm. This was a very welcome break.

States crossed: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska

Rest days:

During my time in Nebraska I filled up on the two things I can't get anywhere but here: the company of some of my favorite people and some of my favorite foods. My mom and I went biking a couple of times, something new we've done but was really enjoyable. I'm seriously impressed by Beatrice and it's new bike path. This was the only biking accomplished during the Tour de Beast.

Stage 3:

This Stage took off from Nebraska and ended in Burley, Idaho. It was supposed to end sooner, but I got lost in the wasteland between Utah and Idaho where no hotels exist, forcing me on.

But before I reached that wilderness, I passed under the Great Platte River Road Archway (with both hands on the wheel of course). A very common view from my road trip, a semi was also included.

I have entered the west!

States crossed: Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho

Stage 4:

Departing from Burley, this stage ended in Seattle! Woo-hoo! Tour de Beast accomplished. This stage did traverse some very nice wine country in southern Washington, which I hope to visit when I have more time.  The best thing to be said about this stage is that it's over, and there is no more serious driving to do for some time.

States crossed: Idaho, Oregon, Washington

I am so glad to be done!

Goodbye Crab Fest

My amazing friends threw me a going away crab fest. Maryland, the Chesapeake, and the entire area is known for Blue Crab, so it was the perfect food to commemorate my time here. Not only was this a goodbye party, it was actually very educational. For instance, despite having called them "blue crab" during my entire stint here, I didn't realize they actually started out as blue. Who knew? The crabs seen here, however, are red, meaning they're cooked and ready for eating!

Not only did I learn a little more about the blue crab, I had to get a lesson in how to eat them. It's really quite a process, including a lot of pounding, breaking, cleaning out, and finally, eating. They were amazingly tasty! So, so, good. If the goal of the party was to make me realize some of the great things I'm leaving behind, it was a success. 

 More crab enjoyment...

The roomies came out to help me celebrate as well. Yeah roomies!

My friends also made me some pretty fab cupcakes that said "Bon Voyage Beast". Yes, I am known as "beast" out here. This nickname was one of many side effects of participating in rowing. It's just one more connection I have with Frazier...

Second (third? fourth?) lesson of the night: baton twirling. Meghan twirled competitively for something like 10 years. She is amazing. And she has the trophies to prove it. I know because I knocked some of them over in the middle of the night before the triathlon when I got up to go to the bathroom. Woke the entire house up. But that's another story...

Any celebration must be commemorated with a good twirl. Meghan tried to teach me something, but I'm afraid that me + a spinning, slightly heavy baton = not a good idea. I didn't get very far.

 Ta-da! I did learn how to look like I did something, however.

I am now thoroughly sad to be leaving DC and all these amazing people :(. I have exactly one week left in this city.

Triathlon

This Sunday I completed by first triathlon. It was amazing. Three other friends also competed with me. Here we are in line waiting to pick up our packets and get our amazing pink swim caps.

Here I am getting ready for the swim, the first leg of the race. If you can't tell which one I am, even better. The swim was very, very difficult for me. 400 meters doesn't sound very hard but I never advanced must past "tadpole" during swim lessons.

After the swim was the bike - 11.8 miles. But before you can even get on the bike you have to take off your swim cap and goggles and throw on a shirt and some shoes. It doesn't sounds like too big of a deal, but is made infinitely harder when you are already exhausted and are contemplating about 15 miles left to race.

The first few steps after getting off the bike feel pretty wobbly. My legs were kind of singing that I had already put them through a lot. Thank goodness I was still holding onto my bike for those steps. Then I was off for another 3.1 miles.

Here I am at the finish, crossing the line with my friend M! The pic is blurry because we're moving so fast. Yay!

Urban Baby

So I know I've already been scooped on this story (see blog "Loaf of Love"), but I have to share anyway - it's just too good. Last weekend I had the honor of a visit from Jonathan, Chelsea, and Baby E.

I was so excited to recreate my first ever trip to D.C. with my cousin Jonathan. First stop was the white house. Due to the extreme notice and shadiness required to get tickets, we only got to see it from the outside. Family photo op!

Baby E took a little while to warm up to it, but eventually got very excited.

 

It was a bright and sunny day, so we had to rectify Chelsea's lack of sunglasses. A high class street vendor helped solve the problem. The new shades had an ambiguous logo - mostly resembling a D&G/O. We immediately recognized it as the famous Dolce & Obama label.   

You can't be on the mall without at least one visit at a Smithsonian. I might have influenced this particular viewing a little...

We ate some tasty mexican food, the spot chosen primarily for it's location on the way to the metro. You can't see the mall without a lot of walking, which we did. Not sure what we didn't think Baby E should be hearing...

Of course you can't get around D.C. without taking the metro. Look how easily Baby E took to it. She's a natural at navigating urban life.

Chelsea has a great appreciation for Abe the Babe, so we made this memorial a stop on our mall tour. It had been a long time since I had seen the memorials/mall at night. It really ups the "awe" factor. If you can get over the gnats and swamp smell, I highly recommend it.

Sunday morning: Baby E has already perfected a look we've all been giving Jonathan for years. This look says, "not impressed, Jon, not impressed".

We also took a walk to Dupont Circle, and grabbed some coffee along the way. Dupont Circle is the perfect place to get a feel for local life, and it certainly did not disappoint. Crazy was out in full force this morning. (Crazy not pictured.)

Baby E took in the fountain. 

I had to throw this last one in because she's so darn cute.

I loved having them visit, and can't wait to take them up the Space Needle for our next adventure.