Gas Prices Mesmerize Me

I woke up this afternoon with a hankering for fast food. This is rare for me. Normally I just crave tootsie rolls and ice cream. That's why my nickname at work is "Snacky". On my drive to greasy goodness I noticed that gas was $2.81. That's impressive these days. 15 minutes later when I turned into my neighborhood, gas was $2.79 at the very same station. I am currently tortured with deciding whether I should fill up now or ride it out a few more days to see if prices fall again. Last time I did this, the price of gas increased by something like 8 cents from the time I went to sleep one morning until I left for work that afternoon.

By the way, my fast food was unimpressive. I knew I should have gone to Chick-fil-A! It never disappoints.

Monday Morning Run

I went running with my friend Mary this morning. She's an adult! Not that I'm not an adult, per se. I mean, I'm almost 31 so as much as I hate to admit it, I've been in the "adult" category for at least 5 years. It's just that Mary has three children, one of whom is married. I never know how to refer to people in this category. I hate to call them "old" (my mother taught me better). I mean, Mary is "older" than me, but she is by no means "old".

Anyway, we had a really great run. It was slow but consistent. We were able to talk about her children and their drama as well as the melodrama I like to call "my life".

I'm a quarter of the way to my goal of the Memphis Half Marathon in December. I don't remember it being this difficult to train when I ran the Marine Corps Marathon 5 years ago. I think I must have some mental barriers. Julie would tell me I need to get on Facebook and "shun the non-believers".

Harry Potter

I received the 7th Harry Potter book in the mail yesterday. I have not started reading. I'm not one of those crazed HP fans who camped out at Barnes and Noble waiting for midnight so they could buy their copy. I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon a few months ago and paid half price for it. I'll probably start reading it tonight and finish it in a few weeks then re-sell it on Amazon.

I got into a conversation with a girl I work with. She frightens me a bit. She started talking about how much she loves the books and how excited she was about the 7th book and getting it at midnight. She was predicting who would die and who would get married... and who the "chosen one" is. Honestly, I could care less. Rowling is a rather amazing author but...... I don't understand the intensity of the hype; how GROWN men and women can be so mesmerized by a fictional character/story. Just imagine if all these people redirected their passion toward God or world hunger or Darfur or politics.... or something REAL!

I'm jumping off my soapbox now... more ranting at a later time.

Visor Strikes Again

I went back to the gym on Wednesday morning. Visor lady was there again. Her routine hadn't changed. However, she wasn't wearing her visor. Would this throw off her entire game? She was wearing a baseball-esque cap but it was sitting on top of her head like she was getting ready to ride a tractor. What's worse? It was cocked to the side like she was ready to break into a rap at any moment.

A Morning at the Gym

I went to the gym this morning. I stayed up all night so I decided to finish out my night with a run. I got there before 5:30 and people were lined up at the door waiting to get in. These people are intense. Oh, and something I failed to mention, most of them are over the age of 65. There's a man who walks the indoor track with his walker. He's adorable. I just want to pinch his cheeks but he probably wouldn't like that. Being around them keeps me positive that I may still be active when I'm there age. I mean, my dad still climbs on the roof of his house to clean the gutters and he's 66!

Well, let me tell you about the lady on the treadmill next to mine. I have no idea what she was doing. First, she was wearing weight lifting gloves. Why, I have no idea. They really aren't needed in the cardio room. Second, she was wearing a sun visor. And she wasn't even the only one wearing a visor this morning. I understand hats because they hide bed head but a visor does nothing for you when you are indoors. OK, so I digress. Anyway, she gets on the treadmill and starts running full force while holding on with all her might. She runs for about 15 seconds and then she stops. She did some strange moves.. not quite sure if they were stretches... she kept pushing on the side of her head. She got back on the treadmill and ran for another 15 seconds and then off again. What is she up to? She did this probably 10-15 times. All I could think about was how I really didn't want to do CPR at the gym today. She finally moved on to the recumbent bike so I felt better that she was sitting down.

Thirst No More

There is something about the rain that makes me happy. It started raining yesterday afternoon when I was getting ready to go to work and it was still raining when I started home this morning. I think the stiffling heat makes people nervous and depressed. None the less, my garden is happy and so am I. I see God in the rain... especially during drought. Not that I think he is withholding something from us, but I see a much needed refreshment that only God can bring. I can relax and clear my mind when it rains. I don't feel like there is so much to do. I can just read mindless books and watch cheesy movies when it rains. I am thankful that G0d gives me these kind of days. They are beautiful and cherished.

See Below

Sorry the post about my trip to Seattle is a little out of place. I started it a few days ago and have just now had time to finish it. I will be adding more pictures to the story later. I'm at work now and don't access to them.

Tales of the Timid Homeowner

With a little fatherly advice and help from my digital camera and the internet (slow as it may be), I lit my pilot light for the first time tonight. I was very fearful of taking on this task (or any task involving gas and fire) but dad talked me through it and hopefully I'll have hot water in a few minutes.

Thanks dad!

A Week in Summary

I returned from my trip to Seattle on Saturday but was far too tired to write anything about my experience. My intention was to write each day about that day in particular but found myself without internet access (and no TV to boot) for the week. Amazingly enough, I didn't think much about it. But now, I fill you in on the details.

Sunday, June 24

Kristen and I arrived in Seattle around 2pm. The flight out was long and I, amazingly enough, slept most of the way there (keep this in mind for later use). We were met by our friend, Emily, who is a travel nurse at one of the local hospitals in Seattle. We dropped off our things at Em's apartment and then headed out to find something to eat. We settled for a chain restaurant.... we were much too tired to put much effort into deciding what we would eat. Emily left for work around 6:40 so Kristen and I spent the remainder of the evening planning our Monday trip to Mount Rainier.

Monday, June 25

Kristen and I headed out to Mount Rainier around 8AM. The weather was gloomy but certainly no signs of impending rain storms on the horizon. Armed with fleece jackets, raincoats, Luna bars, gatorade, water, and peanut butter sandwiches, we hit I-5 South. Our goal was "Paradise". Well, at least that was the name of the trail. All the guides we had read about MR had described Paradise as "the most popular visitor destination in Mount Rainier National Park with its spectacular subalpine meadows, miles of hiking, and jaw-dropping views of the mountain, glaciers, and the Tatoosh Range and, on a clear day, Washington’s southern Cascade peaks." Sounds good, right? Most of the literature said the meadows were "alive with blooming flowers, etc, etc in the summer months. Well, in Alabama, it's summer time in full force. I expected nothing less at 5500 feet. I was wrong. As we entered the park entrance, the ground was reasonably dry and the skies were grey (when were the skies NOT grey in Seattle?). The closer we got to Paradise, the more I realized that Kristen and I were WAY out of our element. This was no Oak Mountain State Park. With increasing altitude, we noticed more and more snow on the trees along with dropping temperatures. When we pulled into the Visitor's Center at Paradise, the ground was covered with a good 6 inches of snow. Actually, it was continuting to snow when we got out of the car. See below. Suffice it to say, I WAS COLD!

Kristen and I got a map of the trail and headed for our destination, Paradise Point, elevation 6800 ft. Now let me remind you, this is a paved trail and it's the last week of June. See photograph.

We saw a few scarce traces of "paved trail" but I never saw anything I would consider a meadow. Our only view of the plant life on Mt. Rainier consisted of the hundreds of thousands of fir trees that lines the side of the mountain.

Notice that while we were hiking UP the mountain, the trees were leaning in the opposite direction.... never a good sign.

We ended up behind another hiking group. They were decked out in the proper mountain hiking/climbing gear. We had no gear AT ALL. No waterproof shoes, no waterproof pants, no hiking poles, NOTHING! At least if we got stuck in an avalanche and had to build a snow cave we could subsist off of the Jolly Ranchers I brought along.

My shoes and pants got wet rather quickly. However, the higher we climbed, the more layers we had to shed. We were getting rather warm. We made it to about 6400 ft when we realized we would not be able to make it to Paradise Point. We encountered a rather sizeable hill... at about a 75 degree angle. The people in front of us with all the "proper gear" were having a good bit of trouble getting up the hill. Going up wasn't so much our concern but rather how in the world were we going to get DOWN the hill? We took a deep breath, took in the gorgeous surroundings (see below) including the Nisqually Glacier, and started heading back to our starting point.

I fell twice on my way down but it was worth it. I felt like I had conquered the world. How cool is it that I climbed Mount Rainier? If I ever get the chance to do it again, I will come properly equipped and maybe, just maybe, I'll make it all the way to Camp Muir (approx 10000 ft).

And just in case you were wondering (because I was), this is the American Heritage Dictionary's definition of a glacier: n. A huge mass of ice slowly flowing over a land mass, formed from compacted snow in an area where snow accumulation exceeds melting and sublimation.

Want to know the biggest lesson I learned today, wear sunscreen....even in the snow. See below!

** Notice the "oh-so stylish" slant across my forehead. It was Em and Kristen's job all week to make sure the slant was unnoticeable. They did a fine job of keeping me from looking too stupid.

Tuesday, June 26
Kristen and I spent the morning perusing through Pike's Place Market. Never did see any fish thrown. There were lots of tourists standing around waiting to see flying fish but I didn't have the patience and I hate looking like a tourist. We took a harbour tour on a boat that was temporarily stuck in the pier due to "technical difficulties". That's not something you want to hear when you are on a boat. I'm OK with it when my favorite TV show is delayed but not when I'm on a rather heavy floating vessel. They tried to reassure us with the "a 30-year veteran of our engineering department is currently working on the problem" announcement but honestly, it didn't make me feel any better. However, I found that the "life jacket closet" was right behind us and if we started to sink, Kristen and I would be the first to don bright orange. It's like they say on the airplanes, put on your own oxygen mask first so you can help others. They should expect nothing less when it comes to a sinking ship. Well, we made it through the tour unscathed and with a few useful facts about Seattle and the Puget Sound. Afterward, we then decided to walk to the Space Needle.

It's such a random landmark. We didn't take the ride up but we did get some cool pics from the ground.

Later, we met up with Em and Rosemary for a Mariner's game (vs. the Red Sox-- my second favorite team) at Safeco field. The hot dogs and beer were exceptional.


Wednesday, June 27
We took the ferry to Bainbridge island then over to Olympic National Park. There might not be a more beautiful place. This park really put all others I've been to to shame. I guess that doesn't say much considering I've only been to state parks. We hiked Hurrican Ridge (south of Port Angeles) and the Appleton Pass to the hot (aka. smelly) springs.


We saw what might be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life. The slugs in Washington are MAMMOTH.


After a tiring day of hiking, we stayed at the Log Cabin Resort (resort is a strong word here) on Lake Crescent. The cabin we stayed in was not the "most" rustic of all the cabins there. Suffice it to say, it was rustic..spiders and all. However, it was a place we will remember for a lifetime and always have a story to tell.

Something else about this resort. Everything was organic. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all about fresh ingredients and organic growing but this was out of control. Unfortunately for me, some of my favorite foods include ingredients I can't pronounce. I'll just stick to my Special K and leave the Peanut Butter Panda Puffs for the kiddies.

Thursday, June 28
Today we drove our way around Lake Crescent and then headed to the southern side of the Olympic Peninsula. We tried Rialto Beach... in the rain. It was moderately miserable but the ocean view and the shore was amazing. I stole a few rocks from the beach (don't tell the federales) and then ran back to the comfort and warmth of Em's car. Of course the rain started to dissipate as soon as I shut the car door. Our next destination was the Hoh Rainforest. This is only rainforest in North America.

Very cool but it made me kinda sad that the paths were paved. Why can't we just leave nature alone sometimes? I wonder how much damage visitor cause each year. Regardless, we started our hike. Halfway through we hit the Hoh River. The water was pretty low. This was typical in Washington. The snow-capped mountains have yet to melt (see post from Monday). We finished our hike and headed back for the main road and made our way to Third Beach. If this location doesn't sound familiar, watch the final scene of the movie Goonies. Remember when "one-eyed Willie's" ship comes sailing out between these huge rocks.

Well, that was filmed at Third Beach. I'm used to the Gulf Coast. Sandy white beaches and emerald green waters. Not on the Pacific Coast. I can't explain the water.. it seemed rather clear but the color was unlike anything I have ever experienced. The beach, less rocky than Rialto, was essentially covered in driftwood and kelp. We found a few shells and some Japanese fishing buoys. The hippies must love this place because several of them had set up camp. We sloshed the 1.7 miles back to the car. We were quiet most of the way; tired from our trip and a little bit hungry as well. We spent the rest of the afternoon driving back to Seattle. As should be expected, I slept most of the way. I have something I like to call "automobile narcolepsy". I cannot be the passenger in any vehicle for more than about 30 minutes before I fall asleep.

Friday, June 29
We spent the remainder of our stay in Seattle just seeing the sights and wandering through Pike's Place Market. We also journeyed to REI. I love that store but had already decided I could not spend any money there. Later in the afternoon, I drove to Auburn,WA where I met up with my grad-school friend Jen and her husband Adam. Jen is 8 months pregnant and it was great to see her looking so glowing. She's a trip. It made me miss the old days of the SOPH. When I got back to Em's apartment, we ate some cake (YUM) and watched Goonies.

Saturday, June 30
We flew back to Birmingham. Kristen actually slept more than I did. However, I did fall asleep on the leg to Dallas before the plane even took off. I'm so pathetic.

I'm now glad to be back home and sleeping in my own bed. My garden survived the scant watering it received before Julie left for Uganda. I love to travel but I hate living out of a suitcase. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a homebody. Now, on to planning another trip for next summer.........