I Would Walk 5.00 Miles...

The last three days here in beautiful Seattle have been a serious challenge for me, but one I was made fully aware of ahead of time by my gracious host. In short, I have been walking everywhere. Why is this a challenge, you may ask? Because in general for the last 15 years or so I have made a concerted effort to avoid physical exertion. To be honest the longest I've walked was about half a mile back and forth getting my daughters to school for a month or two several years ago, and lately it's been limited to the short distances between my car and the accounts I service for my job.

But it's been good for me. The first two days were punctuated with pain in my legs, but today was relatively easier. This pain contributed in part to my lax writing schedule here, the other part being that since one host went out of town while the other had to work, I was left to my own semi-guided devices and I'm a bit boring and not good at taking decent pictures of myself.

In any case, let's recap my adventures of the last few days...

Monday started off with breakfast at the house of a couple of eggs and leftover pancakes, then out the door to Google's Seattle campus. Because of the sensitive non-public things they're working on, my friend could not give me a tour, but he did give me directions for exploring the nearby Fremont neighborhood. It is wonderfully weird. Home to several craft brewers and a bridge troll with a dislike of VW's, there were many things to see. There's also Gasworks Park, one of the first examples of reclaiming a toxic site and turning it into something useful:

It's a steampunk's wet dream, really, and affords one of the best views of Lake Union and Seattle itself. Lots of people were there, mostly catching Pokemon. Admittedly I was one of them.

The morning got a little drizzly, so I made my way over to the Fremont Brewing Company to try a few local brews. Their witbier was excellent, as was their 13.2% Rusty Nail Imperial Stout. Very rich, almost like a liqueur. Definitely not a brew to slam, or have more than one of in a sitting.

I then wandered around some more, looking at the various artwork, statues, and unique bits of storefronts. For example:

Lenin...

A sign post marking the Center of the Universe...

And this mural on a highway exit...

I went back to The Googs to join my friend for lunch. The cafeteria was a place I could venture into, and it was amazing. All sorts of amazing options for every kind of diet. I had agreed to not take pictures as part of signing in for a guest pass, so I didn't get a snap of what I had (my friend later told my could have taken a picture of my lunch) but nevertheless it was delicious. Barbecue chicken, asparagus stir fry, steamed carrots, smashed cauliflower, and collard green slaw. I know, sounds strange, but it was unbelievably tasty.

After we finished eating I went back to exploring. This is where it gets boring, as I returned to 

Ballard and Cafe Mox both to get some more walking distance and check out it's attached gaming

store. After that I walked back to Google, walked some more with my host and another friend of his then made our way to Brower's Cafe for an incredible lamb burger and a sour beer. From there it was back to the house for conversation and sleepy time.

More in the next installment...