4th of July in Seattle

I made it to Seattle. I am absolutely in love. My host and roomie took me to a bistro on the lake upon my arrival and I ate fresh, wild salmon. {nom, nom nom} The waitress squeezed my hand and told me “Welcome to Seattle.” She was delightful. 

We stayed up late talking and then I {surprisingly} slept late. She took me into town and dropped me off with her bike at the bike shop. It was amazing! It was just like a car shop…but for bikes! These people seriously know what’s going on out here. It was beautiful. Some cute guy named Nick with beautiful hair twirled the pedals around, pumped air in the tires, and demonstrated how to change gears for me. ::cue hilarious laughter:: I have no shame in admitting that I am not an active or avid bike rider. But for this month…I think that may change. 

I hung out at an amazing coffee shop, drank local chai, and got to catch up with my sweet V on the phone. I perused the local co-op and then finally worked up the gumption to trek out on the bike. {She has a name, the bike, she just hasn’t told it to me yet.} I had a few moments where I stumbled into things trying to mount but I allowed myself to laugh out loud at my struggles–you know, just in case someone might be watching and think I take myself too seriously. 

Despite that Nick told me it was probably safer to stick to the roads than the sidewalks…I enjoyed the sidewalks. I ventured down a hill to Greenlake and circled this glorious body of water not once, but twice I tell you. It was legen…wait for it…dary. {My lady parts are already bruised. I shall pay for days, but like all good things the fun shan’t be discontinued. Do you eventually callous? If that’s what happens to staunch cyclists I may object.}

I eventually made my way back to the co-op where I purchased too much food to fit into my bag and ended up packing a small backpack full of food and my ginormous yoga bag. The 1.7 miles back home, uphill was treacherous. I walked part of the way. I did. I swear that mountain was grabbing at my bike tires trying to create more tension. Alas, I eventually made it to the place I will call home for the next 6 weeks and enjoyed a slow yoga practice while chatting with my roomie. 

We ordered out Thai, caught up on Black Box, and watched fireworks on television. They were beautiful. And though I am sure the experience of seeing them live would have been spectacular…I completely and un-regretfully enjoyed our evening on the couch. {So did my jetlag brain.}

Now it’s late even here and my bed is calling…shocking that I can hear such a call over the war zone-like melodies sounding off outside the window. 

Happy 4th of July. I hope you celebrated with someone who increased your happy!

XO

photo dump….