Seattle II--Running and Walking

On Saturday morning, November 11, 2017, Alyssa ran a cross-country race with a team of girls from another middle school.  It was the Washington state championships.
                                        

Kyle dropped Alyssa off by 10 or 10:30 a.m., and then the rest of us arrived by 11 a.m. to watch her run.  Alyssa is long-legged and graceful.  She looked cold in the rain, but very determined as she plowed through the mud and drizzle in a pair of running shorts and light jersey.  

 We ran from vantage point to vantage point, dragging our umbrellas with us, to cheer her on.  “Alyssa, Alyssa, Alyssa!” we yelled. 

Alyssa’s skill and determination, and our yelling, won the day.  Alyssa placed in the top fifteen runners, and she moved on to the regional meet, also held in Seattle.

We took Alyssa home to shower and warm up, and then Alyssa, Bryce, Lisa, Dave and I drove to Ballard, a suburb of Seattle settled by the Swedes and other Scandinavians. We wandered through the Nordic Heritage Museum.  We walked through tableaux of the rural areas in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway whose residents left for America during the 1800s and early 1900s, and then the tableaux of early Ballard and Seattle, which welcomed them.

We ate lunch at Ivar's, a Seattle fast food institution.  We bought several orders of fish and chips, with some fries left over to throw to the seagulls.  

We also visited Seattle's Aquarium, with its collections of otters, seals, penguins, and jelly fish.  It was a research weekend, with marine researchers from Seattle universities and institutes describing the new things they are learning about the sea and its creatures.

There was a display about the orca whales that swim along the coast of Washington and the San Juan Islands.

We totally wore Bryce and Alyssa out!

On Sunday morning, Dave and I went walking with Lisa along Lake Sammamish, a long, beautiful glacial lake, parallel to Lake Washington and Lake Union.  The houses bordering the lake sell for $1 million or much more, even when built on narrow slivers of beachfront property.

The city of Sammamish has built a trail right behind the first row of beachfront houses, and we had wonderful views of the blue lake and green hills surrounding it as we walked along.  We passed bikers, hikers, and elderly couples moseying with their dogs.  It was a perfect highlight with which to end our trip to Seattle.  An hour of Church, and we dashed for the airport.