seattle day 7

I've never been one to wait too long to act once my mind is made up, so once I decided to leave Texas it didn't take long to make it happen. The thought had been in the back of my mind for a few months, and in the matter of an instant, I knew it was time to leave. What has been funny, and somewhat surreal, is how natural all of this has felt. I've left before for this and that and never had a second thought knowing I would be home again at some point in the future, but as they say home is where the heart is and right now mine is here in Washington.


My first few days here were, of course, filled with rain. My first run last Friday was through the almost daily drizzle and mist. The day before in Texas I was running around in shorts and a t-shirt, and my run was shirtless in 80 degree temps. Much different then my wet and soggy 58 degree run here, but it wasn't really that bad. I even got kind of hot in my rain jacket, but didn't get completely soaked...just really damp. Its so funny the change and the realization that I'm in a whole new part of the world. Flying here in the plane watching the landscape change from brown and somewhat desolate to green and mountainous was interesting. I could see the patches of forest cut down for logging, was amazed by the half blown out Mt. St. Helens, and the shear size of a snow capped Mt. Shasta was breathtaking. As we decended into Seattle there stood a completely massive Mt. Rainier dwarfing the ranges around it and surrounded by a sea of white cloud tops that hung low over the coast. I can see it any time its fairly clear and it blows my mind every time. Once I get my other camera fixed I'll get some pics up.



Luckily, the last few days here have been really nice. The sun has been out and this place looks so completely different. Its still pretty, but the visibility is much greater and you can get a much better sense of where you are. I guess I arrived here at the right time of year. All of the trees are changing color so there are shades of orange and pink mixed in with all of the evergreens and it looks so pretty. I didn't do it justice with any of the photos I took with my phone, but you can kind of see it. The one thing I didn't think about was the landscape of this area. Sitting on this eastern edge of the Ring of Fire, the geology of this area creates a dramatic setting. My first ride today was an eye-opener (see the pic below). There is nothing but up or down here, and not big rolling hills like Texas, but steep and much larger hills. My 22 mile ride took a lot longer then normal, but I figure I'm gonna have some big legs and be one hell of a climber by the time next season starts. Its fun though and certainly much different then what I'm used to. The roads are nice and the scenery is nothing to complain about.

As for the city, I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It reminds me qutie a bit of the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex, its freggin huge! I really had no idea it was going to be this big. Most of it seems just like any other large city, lots of chain restauraunts and retail stores, huge freeways and traffic, and everything else that goes along with all of that. There are parts of it that are unique and interesting, and I'm sure I'll find more things that I like as I get to know the area we live in better. I'm not much of a big city guy. Even Austin was starting to outgrow me, and it seemed to have all but lost its small town vibe. I still love it though and certainly miss it already. But this place has its perks, great roads to ride on, lots of running trails and parks, and I don't think I'll be getting tired of scenery any time soon.

(Pike Place Market)

The weather is going to take some getting used to. Its been hard not to sleep a lot. The few sunny days were nice because I knew it was time to get up when the sun came out. Other then those couple of days, its been constantly cloudy. You can never tell where the sun is, or what time it might be. It always looks the same no matter what time of day. Consequently, I've not been feeling like my usual self. I can see why everyone drinks so much coffee out here, its a necessity. I've been resisting as I'm not much of a coffee drinker...at all. I couldn't tell you the last time I drank any, but I think the next time may be coming soon. The mornings are cold and dark and you gotta have something to help you get going.

Just to give you an idea, the pic above is a diver who just got out of the Puget Sound. Its probably about 1pm, it had been raining on and off all day, but thats as bright out as it gets when its cloudy. Crazy, I've gone from one extreme to the other. But hey, change is good. I'm excited to experience this place and see what comes out of it. Well, the sunny days are over for the time being so I'm going to get my run in before it starts to rain once more. Maybe I'll have some coffee first.

Cheers,

ff