Sleepless in Seattle

I've just spent five days in Seattle, Washington, and had a great time visiting and completed a race in my 18th state with the Rock n Roll Seattle Half Marathon on Saturday.
I should have known how great a trip it would be when I saw this outside the plane window on the descent. Absolutely breathtaking, Mount Rainier.

Mount Rainier

I got to Seattle Thursday afternoon and met up with my running buddy Peggy. We stayed with her friends who own a lovely home in West Seattle, overlooking Puget Sound.

Sunset over Puget Sound

The photo above was taken from the deck of Shellie and Paul's house. Not hard to see why they love it there.
Friday morning we took the ferry over to Seattle for the expo. That morning was a little overcast, giving me a sense of what Seattle natives might be used to throughout the year.

Gray downtown morning

We walked over to the expo and picked up our numbers, shirts and other goodies. Always fun to wander around and see what races are coming up.

Expo selfie

Peggy and I had a little fun at the expo. Believe it or not I brought my new selfie stick to Seattle, but never used it!

Sightseeing at Pikes Market

Lots to see

The cruise ships were in Friday, so Pike Place Market was packed. I never did see anyone throwing a fish. I'd hoped I could have seen that, but it's OK. I saw a lot of neat vendors and artisans there. We had lunch at Wild Ginger, a Thai place nearby.
We were up early for the race Saturday, since it started at 7 a.m. Here's where the sleepless part kicks in. I didn't sleep well at all Friday night. I woke up at 2 a.m. and stayed that way until we got up at 4:30!

Space Needle start

Ready to run

Space Needle starting gun

Getting started

The race started right near the Space Needle, which was super cool. For the first time this year, the race began with fireworks off the Space Needle. You can almost see the fireworks in my photo above. I thought the fireworks would come off the very top, so I wasn't positioned quite right to get the full photo.
The route took us through Chinatown. you can almost see the dragon on the pole just ahead of Peggy.

Running through Chinatown

Chinatown's gate

Peggy is a faster runner than I, so eventually she got ahead of me and I brought up the rear. There are lots of fun things along the route, including this giant rocker.

Freebird!

Along Lake Washington

 I think one of the prettiest parts of the course was the long curve along Lake Washington. What was also nice about this part, other than the beautiful view, was it was dedicated to several of the charity organizations attached to the race, including one devoted to fallen military personnel. Many volunteers stood along this part of the course holding American flags. I wish I'd gotten a photo. It was beautiful and very moving.

Heading back toward downtown

 Another interesting part of the course is we went about a mile in a highway tunnel. It was kind of spooky. The DJ in there was playing some new age music and there were this lights swirling all around. But, because there wasn't really anything to see, it was my chance to kind of zone out and just run.

Getting closer to downtown

Along the route, and passing the Seattle Great Wheel

We ran along an elevated highway, so we could see the waterfront and ports to our left, and that included seeing the Seattle Great Wheel. I managed a selfie with it, even without my selfie stick!
At long last, I got to the finish. Not in my best time ever, but I was happy!

Finishers!

Finishers!

At the end

 For me, this finisher's medal represents state No. 18. Since we were right back where we started, we decided to take in the view from the Space Needle.

Atop the Space Needle

Enjoying the view

 And then we decided on a little lunch at Zeeks Pizza. And you know I had to have a glass of wine!

How every half marathon should end

We weren't quite finished with sightseeing and now that we were sated, we enjoyed the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum.

Beautiful art

No touching!

Garden of Glass

The Needle close by

It was such a fun day, but I will say I was wiped out by the evening. I was not sleepless Saturday night!
Sunday morning, Peggy had to return to the real world, while I got an extra day, and had brunch with my friend Carol. Carol lives in Seattle and usually runs the race, but plantar fasciitis has made her take a break. We did manage to meet up for brunch, though.

Carol and me at brunch

I must say, we both had the dungeness crab cake eggs benedict and they were incredible! Props to Portage Bay Cafe.
We wandered the Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park. Carol got my photo next to Alexander Calder's Eagle, with the Space Needle in the background!

Love being a tourist!

I stayed Sunday night at a hotel near the airport and walked up to a little Salvadoran/Mexican restaurant for dinner, passing by what I thought was a park. Well, it is a park, but it is Angel Lake Park, so I stopped by on my way back to the hotel. The water was very brisk, but that didn't stop lots of kids from swimming in it!

One last sunset on the water

It was a magical trip. I so enjoyed Seattle and the friends I met, or reconnected with, here.