Local Flavor

The Fountain Bistro is a new neighborhood cafe/restaurant/coffee house that opened recently...well I guess not that recently but I've procrastinated on writing this up so in my mind it's still recent.  Gabe and I have wandered over there a few times since their opening and have enjoyed its convenience.  I'd have to say that my favorite meal there has been breakfast.  That's not to say that the other menu options aren't good...they're just not 'drawing'.  Meaning - they aren't things that I crave.  Aside from the menu the atmosphere is pretty darn cool.  The bar area is quaint and intimate, the dinning area is semi-cafeteria style (i.e. tables close together) and the outdoor seating will be awesome when the nights are warm and balmy.  That's about it.  Below are a few shots of the breakfast we had.  Gabe had a ham and brie sandwich and I had a breakfast burrito - basically scrambled eggs inside a tortilla.

 

  

  

 

Family Ties

Mother's Day weekend I was guilt tripped (that's right Dad) into going down to Seattle and hanging with the family.  It actually turned into a really nice weekend - not that I expected otherwise.  For starters, I had to get in my longest ride/run brick before making the trek down south.  So, as per usual, I had mapped out a southern route (Friday Creek Rd., Grip Rd., Old Hwy. 99, Old Lake Samish, etc...) earlier in the week and was prepared to meet everyone at the Meridian Haggen (conveniently located right near my house) at 7:30 AM Saturday morning. 

The ride was gorgeous.  Hard, but gorgeous.  I'm now convinced that I prefer 1) to not head south east on Old Lake Samish because it's a long slow slog uphill, and 2) to do this entire loop in the other direction.  It felt like it was ALL uphill but then again it was the end of our 'building' weeks and therefore any ride might have felt like it was an uphill battle.  That said, the day couldn't have been more perfect as far as weather goes and of course the company is always excellent - although this time around it was just a foursome for the majority of the ride (Tjalling, Robin, Carol, and me). 

Tjalling and Robin peeled off at the top of the climb out of Samish and Carol and I continued on through Fairhaven and back out to the Haggen parking lot.  We passed several cyclists that day who were out for the Skagit Century ride.  It was fun to see so many active folks out and about, especially on such a beautiful day.  Unfortunately Carol was also bailing on me for the run so I had to do 4 miles off bike by myself.  It turned out to be an excellent run but it's always nice to have a bit of company.  I felt great though and the end results were awesome (so glad to have the Garmin to keep track of it all).  The 'plan' was 1 mile easy, 1 mile steady, 1 mile moderately hard, 1 mile easy.  The results - 8:28, 8:00, 7:14, 8:03.  So excited about that.  It's amazing how easy 8 min pace feels after running 7:14!

After the run it was a quick shower, chocolate milk, and packing.  Then, once the compression tights were on, it was time to make the drive down to Seattle.  The rest of the afternoon/evening was fairly flexible.  My folks and I hadn't made any solid plans which was nice because I was starting to feel sleepy as I drove down the I-5 corridor.  The house was empty when I arrived which meant that I devoured rows of Ritz crackers, a granola bar, cheese slices, string cheese....probably more but I can't remember and then promptly made myself comfortable on my parent's bed and switched on the TV.  Ahh - relaxing with cable. 

That evening the whole family (minus Demetra - who was at work; Gabe - who was studying up in the Ham) went out for Indian food - yes, more eating - and then my mom and I went to see Brenda in her performance at the ACT theater.  Fun night all in all but I was completely spent by the time I hit the bed around 11.

The next day was spent with a little shopping - both athletes (my mom and I) had to stop off at Road Runner Sports to load up on fuel and other goodies.  I lucked out and was able to try on a pair of Newtons, which (for all those that have to listen to me on a day to day basis), I'm currently obsessed with.  I'm curious to know if it really is worth the $175 that it retails for.  If it really makes that big of a difference.  Sure, I got to try them on, and sure, they felt really different and oddly good but the service and the knowledge at that store - sub par.  It's like your typical Sports Authority or any other mall athletic store.  I doubt they are any more knowledgeable about their products than some high schooler who just needs a job.  Why do I say these things - you ask?  Well, basically because the guys that helped me tried to fit me into a stability shoe saying that there was no difference between it and the neutral shoe.  WRONG!  And, tried to tell me that the guidance trainer was the SAME as the performance trainer.  WRONG!  So that's what I'm basing my critique off of.  I think it's warranted.

After our shopping excursion it was time for brunch.  We went to some fancy hotel downtown where they were serving a gourmet brunch.  I know the name is probably important but you'd have to ask my brother for those details.  All I can say was that the crab legs were AWESOME!!!  Best part of the meal by far.  I pretty much ate my weight in crab and then added on top of that stinky cheese and excellent bread.  Needless to say I was stuffed to the max.  The afternoon was spent supine and uncomfortable until I had to drive home.

Green Thumb

Our gardening endeavors usually result in 'we should build raised beds....(weeks pass)....we should build raised beds and plant tomatoes....(more weeks pass)...let's just plant these dying tomato plants and see what happens'.  And thus, year after year, we get the leftover plants, throw them into our clay-like ground, and hope that something edible appears.  I thought that this year was going to be a repeat but...

It's taken well over a month to get every component put in place - building the planter boxes, getting the dirt, putting the dirt into the planter boxes, buying the seeds, planting the seeds.  I know this sounds like a one-weekend ordeal but when it comes to weekends packed with triathlon training and Ski-to-Sea training there is limited time to do the essential cleaning of the house let alone the building of a garden.  But in the end, we have our two planter boxes - and 'yes', there are actually vegetables growing as we speak!

Here's the list of edible items planted:

• Sugar snap peas
• Radishes
• Carrots
• Spinach
• Romaine lettuce
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Brussels sprouts (and did you know that brussels had an 's' at the end...I didn't)
• Onions