seattle, but then.....

I've mentioned before that Seattle is fun, and in my experience it continues to be so. Ben and I spent Wednesday walking around town looking for certain bike pieces and trip supplies that I'm still trying to replace: 1 bottle cage, 1 front-rack, 1 handlebar bag, 2 waterproof front-panniers, 1 sleeping pad, and 1 pair long underpants. We found nothing useful at reasonable prices, but that evening we found a comedy club with 5 comics lined up for a $5.00 cover. It wasn't exactly a bargain, but it was worth what we paid. There were some genuinely funny lines, but even these were weakened by their references bowl cuts, clown cars, and homophobia - cheap fodder for easy laughs. Using Craigslist we found a ride to Olympia on Thursday afternoon, and before the sun was setting we had unexpectedly bumped into a friend from Seward, AK, and were eating dinner with Katie and Eamon.

We spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning with Katie and Eamon, together when possible, and separately while one or the other was at work. Friday was spent mostly wandering and drinking coffee, and eventually culminated with thick, delicious milkshakes that, even combining our efforts, proved too much milkshake to be finished. I'd never been beaten by a milkshake before, it has never even been close, but I don't regret losing. It was humbling to leave the half-full metal mixing cup there on the table, and I believe that humility is a good thing. Saturday we had the opportunity to join the Olympia Gleaners Coalition for a trip to a local organic farm. The Gleaners are a volunteer run organization that visits farms after growers have picked what they'll take to the market to sell, and picks whatever usable produce is left. Volunteers are welcome to take what they like, and the rest is given to the local foodbank. In exchange for this opportunity, the volunteers generally help with farm work or provide manual labor for a few hours. We helped spread mulched tree-bark over a small field of blueberry bushes in exchange for the opportunity to pick vegetables, fruits, and edible flowers. Knowing that we were leaving the next morning Ben and I didn't take much produce, but what we did take, mostly cherry tomatoes and some flowers that tasted like mustard, were delicious.

Katie and Eamon, by the way, seem to be an excellent match. If you see them before I do send them my thanks, and a hug. You may not know if I've seen them first, so just go ahead with the hug and thanks.

It's Sunday night now and we're in Portland staying with Ben's sister Krista and her husband Jeremy. They've been good to us so far. Jeremy was kind enough to share his graphic novels with me and for a while I was happily engrossed in the goings on in Gotham and Metropolis.

Have you ever had an impossible time trying to find a particular book? I'm going through that now. If I find what I'm looking for I'll let you know.