Michael & Liz are Bloggable

Somehow Seattle sounds even cooler with the word Washington on the end. I don't know why.

We finally got back from our really long trip on Monday and boy did we have fun. We drove to Cincinnati, flew to Seattle for a week, flew back to Cincinnati, stayed there over the July 4th weekend, and then drove back. We spent the entire weekend with our friends John and Allie (our nomadic friends, basically from NC) and had a fantastic time.


Seattle during the Summer is really awesome. The climate is my cup of tea. It may be cloudy most of the time and it may have rained a misty rain for a few minutes every day while we were there, but the temperature was between 50 and 70 the entire time. That to me is perfect weather.

I was blown away by the beauty

We arrived in Seattle on a Wednesday morning. We spent that day over on Bainbridge Island just walking around and hanging out. It would have been nice had not everything been under construction. Thursday and Friday of the trip we did as much site seeing as possible. Went to Pikes Place Market, Seattle Center (which includes the Space Needle, Science Museum, and EMP building), the marathon race expo, and went on our Argosy Locks Tour of Lake Union, the Puget Sound, and Elliot Bay.


To be honest, if we were to do it again, I would not go to the Science Museum or the EMP building. They were OK and all, but if I lived in Seattle, I'd probably not go there at all. I don't think tourists should go to a place where the locals don't go. If I lived in Seattle, I'd absolutely go to the Space Needle every now and then when I'm in the city, go on the ferries or harbor tours every now and then, or go to a Mariners game. I have little to no interest in the Raleigh Art Museum or Science Whatever, so I don't think it should be a tourist attraction for unsuspecting visitors. Also they are more geared toward keeping kids entertained and that doesn't apply to us.

"Sleepless in Seattle house! Sleepless in Seattle house!"

On Saturday was our races, the Rock and Roll Marathon and Half Marathon. Liz rocked the half. She was aiming to beat 2:20. Her previous best was around 2:47 and she ended up finishing in 2:16. She was very dedicated to her training and it was wonderful to see her hard work pay off. She ran the whole thing and even finished at a faster pace than she started. I wish I could have been there when she crossed the line. I on the other hand didn't exactly rock the full marathon. I ran 16 miles in the pace I was hoping for (about 2:15 or so) but it all went down from there. My pace dropped to about 10 minutes a mile and then I had to start the walking/running routine at mile 19 bringing my pace to about 12 or 13 minutes per mile. I just barely limped across the line in a time of 4:01. It's not awful, and is technically my 2nd best marathon out of the 5 I've done, but I was hoping for better. I will do better.


The rest of the day Saturday was spent napping and eating. We went to the Pyramid Brewery and met Corey (friend from college) and some other friends who were in the area. Sunday we went to the Aquarium and Pikes Place Market again, and the Zoo. I'll go ahead and lump the aquarium and the zoo into the same category as the Science Museum. Not worth it. The aquarium was surprisingly average for being near the ocean. Then that night we went to a Mariners game. Major League Baseball games are always a blast and Safeco Field did not disappoint. We really enjoyed our seats, even though they were the cheapest in the park. Also the Mariners won in extra innings, so that helped too. I'm sportin' my new Seattle Sounders jacket. I finally have an MLS team to barely pay attention to.


Monday we went on a 10 hour tour of Mt. Rainier National Park. The tour took us the entire way around the park, up to Paradise Inn and the highest point you can drive, and then back around the mountain to Seattle again. The mountain is very impressive and the amount of snow up there this time of year was surprising. There was a good 20 feet of snow on the ground in some places. Our tour guide said that in a month, all the snow would be gone at that elevation. Between the mountain, the glaciers, the trees and the trails, there really was no end to the beauty of this park. I think one day I want to hike/run the Wonderland Trail. It's 93 miles around the mountain. Who's up for it?


The best part of our tour, and it's surprising now that I'm saying this after looking at the pictures again, was our tour guide Brian. 10 hours of listening to one person talk is A LOT. But this guy was funny, engaging, and just a pleasant person to learn from. He even played trivia games on the bus on the (what is supposed to be) boring drive back to Seattle. Start to finish, he was a joy. If you are ever in Seattle and are interested in the tour company we used, it was "Tours Northwest" and here is the link, as if you don't know how to use Google.


Mark Seattle down as one of those places we'd be willing to move if the situation ever arrived. I would have a hard time getting over my fear of earthquakes or volcanoes, but I think I'd be willing to brave the elements for more time in Awesomeness, Washington.


If you'd like to see more pictures of our trip, check them out here.


I have to include one more picture. There was a massive snow slide that someone carved out... so we took advantage. The snow took advantage and made my butt wet the rest of the day. It was well worth it.