Life Lately + Thinking Out Loud {June 18}

Happy Thursday! Today I’m linking up with Running with Spoons for Thinking Out Loud Thursday.

What have we been up to lately in surprisingly sunny Seattle?

Friday evening we explored North Creek park near our apartment. It goes through a bog/wetland and you walk on a boardwalk, which Charlie naturally thought was awesome and even attempted to jump into the water. We also saw a snake and I ran the rest of the way home…I thought there weren’t snakes this side of the Cascades. I guess little garter snakes are the exception. 

We saw Jurassic World on Saturday. To summarize it, it was amazing. The acting was well done, the effects were thrilling, and the story was engaging. I am one of those people who bawls her eyes out when animals get hurt, so of course I cried big black mascara tears when the genetically-modified Indominus Rex killed other dinosaurs, especially the brontosaurus and raptors. I already want to see it again…just bringing tissues this time. 

We drove to the Columbia wine valley after the movie. Originally, we intended to tour Chateau St. Michelle, which makes some of my favorite wines, but they were packed for a concert, as were half the other wineries. We ended up at Novelty Hill – Januik Winery, which had tons of outdoor seating and amazing wine. We had a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and just soaked up the sun and fresh air.

After Mass on Sunday, Ryan, Charlie, and I hiked to Poo Poo Point on Tiger Mountain in the Issaquah Alps. Apparently, everyone else decided to do this on Sunday afternoon, because it took us 15 minutes to get a parking spot. It was worth it. This was a fantastic hike: steep (1500ft/19% average gradient), short (3 miles round trip), and beautiful. At the top we were rewarded with a truly spectacular view of Mt. Rainier. 

Whenever we hike with Charlie or I run with him, we are very careful to monitor him for any signs of fatigue or overheating. He has a longer snout for a puggle (definitely a beagle nose!), the longest legs we’ve ever seen on a pug, and the endurance of a Kenyan. Ryan and I were huffing and puffing up the trail, and Charlie was just trotting along all happy. 

Poo Poo Point is near where people paraglide off of Tiger Mountain. It was so cool to watch them land as we hiked down the trail! Part of me thinks paragliding looks so fun, the other part of me is so terrified of heights that I know I would just panic as soon as I started.

I’m going to gush for a moment about Issaquah/Sammamish: I love that area already. The Alps, Lake Sammamish, the cute little restaurants (some of which are dog-friendly!), and the fact that it feels so removed from the crowded Seattle metro area all make me want to go there every weekend. You barely even know it’s just a few minutes from all the tech industry of Bellevue/Redmond. Seattle is awesome, but the Eastside is pretty great. I’m already super excited for the races I plan on running there next year. 

The whole Seattle rain thing is an exaggeration. Please. I lived for five years in a city where it was almost constantly thunderstorming, snowing, raining, thundersnowing (I’m not kidding), or super windy. We have had about half a day of light rain in the month we have lived here; meanwhile,  our former city Valparaiso is getting pounded by thunderstorms and is under a flash flood warning. St. Louis is also getting hit bad—my sister sent me this text Tuesday morning: 

Total tangent ahead (but isn’t this the point of this post?): I really want to start watching Game of Thrones, especially with all this season finale buzz. The only reasons I haven’t already is (a) I don’t know how to start watching it for free (I don’t see it on Amazon Prime or Netflix, although I’m wondering if it’s on this HBO Go thing we got with our internet here) and (b) I could not stomach Walking Dead, so I am unsure if I can stomach it. I can handle Supernatural all right, but those are monsters, not people. But Game of Thrones is all medieval stuff and dragons and such, and I love all things medieval. I mean, I spent two years of my life studying medieval history/religion/philosophy/literature. It’s practically obligatory for me to watch Game of Thrones. 

I registered yesterday for the RRCA Coaching Seminar in Portland in October! It’s the week after the marathon, which is perfect since I won’t have to worry about squeezing in long runs. I’m very excited because I’ve been wanting to get my certification to coach for like a year now, ever since I tried one week at a desk job. Plus, I’ll take two weekend in a row in Portland!  

 Questions of the Day:
What’s your favorite type of wine? —-> Cabernet Sauvignon, all the way. 
Would you try paragliding?
Anyone watch Game of Thrones?