Sunny Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend was glorious in Washington - sunny and warm. Pete and I had made plans to go camping north of Bellingham months ago, and I was afraid we'd end up huddled in our tents (or at Boundary Bay Brewery) trying to stay dry and warm. But no! We took a walk through Bellingham, visited the brewery, sampled some great food and ice cream, took a 9-mile hike, went kayaking and flew a kit. Whew!

Bellingham
Going off some awesome recommendations from my co-workers, we went to Boundary Bay Brewery and had their sampler. I think overall we like all the beers, with the Oatmeal Stout, Scotch Ale and Porter being my favorite. I really wanted a Boundary Bay biking jersey, but those dang things cost 80 bucks. Not in the budget this month!

Our waittress tipped us off to a nice trail that lead us along the sound to Fairhaven, where visited Eclipse Book Store. We finished off the day by eating dinner at Boomers - you can't beat a greasy burger, waffle fries and shake. (Side note - More places should offer waffe fries!) We also stopped at Mallard's ice cream one day - I had Nectarine Chocolate Chunk. Mmmmm.

Bellingham


Bellingham


It was a 2.5 mile walk to Fairhaven on a lovely trail that followed the water.


Fairhaven

Birch Bay State Park
This was our home base. The campground was nice enough, although we were surrounded by RVs and campers. But we could see the sound from our camp site and the bay was very pretty. I'm not sure I'd stay there again, though. I need to investigate tent-only campgrounds. I think these would be much more pleasant and relaxed.

We flew a kite on the beach one morning, and got to learn all about clam digging from a couple of the people who were out collecting clams.

Our camp site


Cooking an entire dinner over the fire - brats, carmelized onions and potatoes with veggies. Plus, s'mores for dessert - of course!


That's me flying a kite - you have to squint to find me and the kite.

Larrabee State Park
We hiked to Lost Lake, with a stop at Fragrance Lake along the way. This was an awesome day hike, and we ate lunch in the sun near a waterfall at Lost Lake. The trail was busy until we got past Fragrance Lake, and then we were on our own.

We also kayaked north from the Larrabee State Park boat ramp. Highlights include amazing rock formations along the coast, a little island nature preserve you can hike around, and getting to see a seal and a sea otter up close.

It looks like a white sand beach . . .


. . . but it's little pieces of shells!

Lemony Salad Dressing

Inspired by my dear friend Kristin, I've been having delicious salads for lunch these days with her easy salad dressing. The salads consist of many veggies (duh!) like spinach, beets, carrots and tomatoes. This week I added tempeh and a little cottage cheese on the side. And then I top it all off with the dressing. Yum!

Picture source

Kristin's Spring Salad Dressing

Olive Oil, about 3 Tablespoons

Fresh Lemon Juice, about 1 Tablespoon

Diced garlic, 1-2 cloves

Freshly ground pepper

Salt

Is this cute?

I have a few weddings coming up this summer and have been on the lookout for a dress. I just bought this one, called Hidden Grove, on sale at Anthropologie. It's by designer Anna Sui, is made out of a silk-cotton blend, and has pockets. I think I love it - but I'm not sure. Of course, it also depends on what it looks like when I try it on. (You can see it up close on the Web site.)

Next very important question: What color shoes should I wear with this? Brown? Bone? Green? Purple?

P.S. You can get free shipping on Anthropologie purchases all summer if you register your Anthro card at http://www.my.anthropologie.com/. Very dangerous.

Hump Day Humor

Have you seen the commencement address Ellen DeGeneres gave at Tulane? Well, you should watch it. If nothing else, it provides you with a little humor and inspiration on an otherwise uneventful Wednesday.



Don't you just love Ellen? Who else quotes the Pussycat Dolls in a commencement address?

And, if you want even more warm fuzziness to get you through the day, check out this picture of President Obama with a little boy: "The youngster wanted to see if the President's haircut felt like his own."

Bloomsday

Nothing will make you appreciate Spokane quite so much as the annual Bloomsday 12k race. With 50,000 participants this year, it's the largest timed road race in the world. Spokane's not that big, so you can imagine that all types of people turn out for this race in order to add up to 50,000 participants. I saw all sorts of 90s workout apparel, from scrunchies to neon leggings, as I joined the throng of people at the start line. Fat people. Thin people. Old. Young. Babies. Wheelchairs. They're all in the mix.

And, as you get started, you see the city turned out in support. Passing one of Spokane's largest Catholic churches, the priest stands outside to bless the runners and a choir sings. Further along in Brown's Addition - a mixed income neighborhood - some biker dudes, perhaps still high on drugs from the night before, are out on their porch blasting music and cheering us along. Kids hand out lemonade in their front lawn. People set up hoses to cool down runners. And, there are countless other supporters and characters along the way. I managed to snap pictures of a few of them on Sunday.

Getting ready to start!




It's a tradition in Spokane to wear old clothes down to the race, to stay warm, and then throw them in the trees once the race starts.


She's done all 33 Bloomsday races! Inspiring!


This is towards the beginning of the race. The sun came out!


The vulture. He's always on top of Doomsday Hill. Weird. But I love him.


The view from the top of Doomsday Hill.


Some characters along the way.


The coveted finisher's shirt!

One last thing - I picked up some cool gear at the Bloomsday trade show. Local running store Runner's Soul (love them!) had a sale on my fave shoes - Brooks Adrenaline - and gave out some super cool Brooks Bloomsday shirts. I don't have a picture, but I'll try to get one soon. The BEST thing, though, was the arm band I bought from Arm Pockets. (I can't find a Web site for them.) They're great - you can fit an iPod, phone, keys and a little snack. Or, for Bloomsday, I used it to carry my cell phone and camera. I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of this! Here's a picture of me and my mom with our Arm Pockets.

I'm getting ready to walk Bloomsday with my Mom and sister. 12k - here we come! I'll post pictures later.