1. Pilot lights went out on my gas stove and oven three times in one day.
2. My car died.
3. 3 of 3 friends I was supposed to hike with on Sunday bailed on me (it's okay, team; I know homework and boyfriends and parties happen!)
Fortunately, all of this happened to coincide with the 48-hour time period that Alan snuck home for the weekend from Portland where he delivered a load on Saturday. So for the most part, crises were averted.
Rainy days in the Northwest.
After I awoke to sorry-I'm-bailing-on-you texts on Sunday morning, I rolled over and promptly went back to sleep, bummed out as all heck that my plans for the day (group hike out east + stopping in North Bend afterward for the Sound to Mountains Bike Festival, for which I'd gotten several comp tickets) were shot. While I certainly enjoy being out in the woods alone, it's just plain not safe; the fact that it's black bear hunting season in Washington now doesn't help. Anyway, Alan wasn't originally planning to come along for the day's festivities, but being the Personal Hero Boyfriend he is, he pulled me out of bed and said he'd go with me.
We got a later start, and the weather was plenty cool and rainy (really, Seattle, really? It's August. Why has it been 55 degrees and overcast for days? The weather's the same as it was in February), but we made good time on the Annette Lake trail - a nice amble through old-growth forest, past a few little creeks and waterfalls, and ultimately arriving at a small little mountain lake, cupped by three big peaks, which were pretty much completely encased in fog. The sun emerged for approximately 45 seconds when we first arrived at the lake, but was promptly beat back into submission by the clouds and the onset of a gentle rain.
Woohoo, summer in my rain jacket!
Miles: 8.5ish
Alan hiked in his Hawaiian shirt. (One of several in his possession.) We have an ongoing...conversation?...about his enthusiasm for Hawaiian shirts. He noticed that I'd left this particular one within easy access in our apartment, which I'll venture to say was a complete accident on my part. Inevitably, wherever we go together when Alan dons Hawaiian shirts, there will be some woman who will smile wide and call out to him all swoony-like, "Hey, nice shirt!" I've tried to explain that it's a different sort of compliment if (when, always) the woman is elderly, but no matter; I always get a big, smug grin from him in the wake of these exchanges.
I think it's a losing battle. Either way, the shirt certainly brought some color to an otherwise fairly uniform landscape of greenery and fog. When we came back down from our hike, we got malts and milkshakes and other yummy diner grub at Scott's Dairy Freeze in North Bend before meandering over to the Bike Festival. There, we met up with Cam, Avey, Jeff, Kate, LC, and other assorted friends, several of whom had ridden their bikes all the way from Seattle(ish) to North Bend...crazy impressive. (Someday I won't be such a scaredy cat when it comes to riding long distances on my bike.) There, we hung out in the grass, listened to live music, and picked blueberries. I fell in love with U-pick blueberry farms in Ohio, but I have to admit, the backdrop of this one was a little more awe-inspiring than any other blueberry farm I'd ever been to.
Overall, the day wound up being a great success.
That's Mount Si in the background!
Total Mileage so far: 22.5 (of 100!)
It's not too late to help out!
Oh my goodness, the views are stunning! Sounds like a wonderful day, Yitka. How lucky you are to live in such a beautiful place, where you can easily get to scenic areas like this. Also- don't give Alan too hard a time over the shirts- they are a classic look after all! :-)
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