Seattle

We arrived in Seattle on a Wednesday morning, and Roger was generous enough to come pick us up at the airport. He took us back to their house via Martin Luther King so we could see all of the light rail construction. The street was a big mess, but it was still really cool to see because of how long it's taken to get the thing built. I was excited to see Roger and Gina's new house, and I was impressed by how close it was to the lake. One other thing about their house that was cool to Anne and me was that it's in a part of the city (near Seward Park) we almost never went when we lived there. We went to Seward Park once, and Anne worked on Beacon Hill for a while, but other than that we only went south of downtown a handful of times while we lived there. We took full advantage of this opportunity to explore a new part of the city by walking to the Columbia City neighborhood for lunch. I didn't even know this part of Seattle existed until Roger drove us through it on the way home from the airport. We went the Columbia City Alehouse for lunch and then walked around for a bit. One of the things that I notice about Seattle since I've moved away is how white the city is, but seeing all the people out and about while we were walking around in Columbia City made me feel like I was in Oakland.

One of the highlights of staying with Roger and Gina was that their house was temporarily converted into the "Kurtz Ko-op" while Tad, Chloe, and Chloe's sister Tina were staying with them while remodeling their house. It was great to hang out with all of them -- plus Roo and Cinnamon -- and I was impressed with how the house didn't feel crowded with all of us there. I really enjoyed hanging out and basking in the glow of their gargantuan projection TV. The first night we watched "So You Think You Can Dance," which was very entertaining.

The first full day, we borrowed Roger's car (which we had full use of the whole time we were there -- thanks again, man!) and met Anne's dad in Ravenna for lunch. This was another part of the city we didn't venture to while we lived up there. We met at a combination bookstore/cafe (the name escapes me) where we had a tasty lunch and a nice visit. On the way up there, we got to take the express lanes, which for some reason is always a great thrill for me. I guess it's the thought that at certain times of day, traffic is hurtling at 70 mph (ok, 60 mph, this is Seattle after all) in the opposite direction. After lunch we went to REI and somehow managed to escape with only buying some strike-anywhere matches. From there, we went to the old 'hood and checked out the Val Anne (our former home) as well as a some of our favorite haunts, including Uptown Espresso and the big metal sphere water fountain at the Seattle Center. We went to the EMP next, which was pretty cool. I especially liked the room on the top floor where you could play all of the various instruments. I even did a little easy-skankin' and learned how to pound out a reggae beat on one of the drum kits. I also liked the Northwest music exhibit, although it was a little odd seeing something you had lived through in your (nearly) adult life presented as history. I think I'd even read one of the copies of The Rocket they had on display when it came out. We were both pleased to see a Sky Cries Mary CD in the "Other Than Grunge" section. I guess we're getting predictable, because Gina totally called that we would go to Thai Heaven for dinner. It was delicious, as usual. I always worry when we go there that nostalgia will inflate my expectations, but the Evil Jungle Prince delivered as usual.

The next day, we took a journey down to Tacoma to see how much UPS has changed since we graduated. Anyone who's been back there in the past ten years can verify that it's changed a lot, with all sorts of new construction. The new section of Thompson hall was really cool, if not quite finished. It even had a whale skeleton hanging in the lobby. Who knows where they had that thing stored. We tried to track down some of our old professors, though all but a couple weren't in when we went by their offices. (For those of you fellow Loggers, the two we did manage to catch were Robin Foster and Michael Curley). That evening, once everyone had staggered home from work, we headed down to the lake for some swimming. Roger and Gina are very lucky to have the lake so close to their house (although they may not be thinking so this weekend because of Seafair), especially when it's as hot as it was while we were there. That night we went our for Mexican food then made an abortive attempt to go sing karaoke. Unfortunately, the karaoke bar where the Seattle gang plies their trade had lost their DJ to another club. Although we were sad that our friends had lost their karaoke spot, Anne and I aren't very capable singers, so were secretly a little relieved.

One of the disadvantages of visiting your friends when you're on vacation is that they aren't also on vacation, and so they still have to work. Luckily, the next day was Saturday, so we got to hang out with everyone all day. We started the day by making French toast for everyone. The rest of the day, we mostly hid from the heat in the basement, with the exception of a quick trip to the post office where we mailed our street clothes that we wouldn't be needing on the trail to Anne's mom in Brewster. Later that afternoon, we had a couple additional adventures. First, Tad took us to their house, which was really interesting to see in its current state, with many of the interior walls missing. They had just finished framing, so we could see the outlines of their vision. I'm very excited to see it once it's done. (Not a fraction as excited as I'm sure Tad and Chloe are.) After we got back from our tour, Roger, Gina, Tad, Anne, and I walked over to Seward Park and swam back across the cove to the park near their house. It was fun being out in the open water like that, although we had to dodge a few boats. It was amusing to see the confusion of some of the boaters when we swam by, although not as amusing when they'd fire up their jet skis, which belched plumes of bluish smoke that hovered malevolently on the surface of the water. Jet skis aside, it was a fun way to get some exercise and to cool off too. That night we had some delicious lamburgers. While Grillmaster Roger was preparing the burgers, we reorganized our packs to get them ready for our upcoming backpacking trip. Because we'd heard that there might be snow on the pass, we had a lot of extra gear. I remember wincing the first time I picked up my fully-stuffed pack, wondering if Roger and Gina might need an extra jacket or a rain fly. After dinner, we made some very tasty, home-made ice cream. If we had somewhere to put an ice cream maker in our apartment, I don't think I'd ever buy ice cream again. We went to bed a little late, a little loagy from the ice cream and burgers and thinking about the early start we were going to get the next day.