Seattle, San Francisco too...

August 2-August 8

My legs are sore, my frequent flier points have skyrocketed, and my body has no idea what time zone it is in.  This can only mean one thing- I have survived another August!  Now that the dust has settled and I have a few days off, I finally have some time to recall and begin writing about this whirlwind of a month!

It's 'Go' Time!

It started off with a weekend trip to San Francisco for the 'Giant Race' half-marathon.  After Aly got off of work on Friday, we packed a few things and flew out to the city to meet up with Chris, Katie, Kevin, and Kourtnee.  Having Aly with me on a flight to SFO could guarantee only one thing- it would be delayed, and once again we were not let down. After several hours of playing on the IPad and talking to random people, we were able to board the plane and make the hour and a half flight to one of my favorite cities.

The Stater Family

Chris, Katie, and the kids showed up the next day and we had a great time spending time together and walking around the city.  Not too much walking around though, because tomorrow was the big run.  And what a great run it was!  The 13.1 mile course started out at AT&T Park (aka Heaven on Earth), led us down Fisherman's Wharf, past Ghirardelli Square, and continued all the way to Golden Gate Park.  Just before we got to the Golden Gate Bridge, we made a U-turn (Dad- you probably would have recognized this), and headed back toward AT&T Park again.  Perhaps the highlight of it all was that the finish line was inside of the ballpark!  Here, we all met up, had some snacks, and snapped a few pictures.  The weather was great, the scenery was beautiful, and to top it off, Aly and I both set personal records!

Showing off the Medals

On hallowed ground

After showering and checking out of the hotel, the six of us met up again for lunch.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of time to relax because I had to go from there straight to the airport because I was off to Yelm, WA (about an hour south of Seattle) to work for a week.

Finding the Mariner fan was a little bit like playing Where's Waldo?

Having never previously been to Seattle, I figured this would be a great opportunity see a couple of the city's highlights.  Something I quickly became aware of was how green everything was.  Living in Vegas for the better part of a decade has definitely taught me to appreciate this.  Emerald City indeed.  On Tuesday night, I drove up to Safeco Field to catch a Mariners game.  I have to say, this is definitely one of the better ballparks in baseball.  Intimate seating, good food options, and outstanding views of the downtown skyline!  Oh, if the only the people of Seattle could see it. Seriously Seattleans... Seattlites... Seatles... uh, Citizens of Seattle, feel free to SUPPORT YOUR TEAM!  The stadium was completely taken over by Blue Jays fans!  Final score:  Blue Jays 7, Mariners 2.  Both Mariner fans went home disappointed.

The next evening, I drove to the north end of Seattle (side note: Seattle traffic is brutal!  Did not anticipate that.) to have dinner with a friend whom I haven't seen since she moved here from Vegas 3 years ago.  Tanya recommend this place called Bizarro, a funky little Italian restaurant founded by circus performers that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (you may have noticed from previous blog entries that this is one of my favorite shows.)  Obviously they heard I was coming, because we were given the:

I'm kind of a big deal around here ;)

 

If it's good enough for Guy Fieri, it's good enough for me!

The house specialty is linguini and clams, so I had to go for that.  Outstanding!  And by the way, if your cell phone starts ringing, don't even think about answering it here.  There are signs all over warning that if you are seen using your cell phone, there will be an extra charge to your bill.  Haha, love it!  You know, perhaps more businesses should adopt this approach.

There is so much more to see in Seattle, but I promised Aly I would save the rest of the touristy stuff (Pike's Place, original Starbucks, Space Needle, etc.) for another time when I could take her.  This also includes one destination that I had no idea I would be so infatuated with, and that is Mount Rainier.  I was absolutely blown away by how majestic it looked from a distance.  Seriously, I couldn't stop staring at it!  Except, you know, when other drivers yelled at me for not paying attention to the road, but what do they know?

Mt. Rainier- trust me, this picture does not do it justice!

Anyway, at 14,111 feet, it rises over 11,000 feet above everything else around it.  I was also told that people climb this peak when training to hike Mt. Everest.  That's pretty intense.  Hmm... perhaps hiking it is out of the question, but visiting the national park and just standing in awe of it is definitely on the to-do list.  Anyhow, this concluded my first week of August.  From there, it was time for a quick trip home, then off to Louisiana and California!  See you there!