Guess who's back ... back again ...

To my throng of faithful readers (hi Mom), sorry about last week. It kind of got away from me. Food poisoning is no way to begin a long stint on the road. Fortunately, that suffering was short-lived. But guess what I finally found on the outskirts of Tacoma:














Perhaps it's best I didn't find this outfit during my desperate search for Chinese food last weekend. I don't know that bargain Chinese would have been the way to go during my tummy's dark hour.

A few random things I missed during my hiatus...

Curtis Martin retired and although the news was a surprise to no one, it still made me a bit sad. The linked article provides a great look at why Martin was such a tremendous J-E-T.

Apparently, Crazy Nephew #2 knew this was coming. A week before the announcement, he wore his #28 jersey to his birthday celebration.




















While in Tacoma, I was pretty good about hitting the hotel's gym before going to work each day. One morning, a fellow exerciser wandered in shortly after I'd begun a program on the treadmill. He was planning to use the stationary bicycle. How did I know this? Because he was wearing an official, Lance-Armstrong-esque bicycling outfit. Black padded shorts, red-and-black striped spandex shirt, the whole deal. To ride a stationary bicycle.

I offered a polite hello and went back to my business. But inside, I was having a hard time keeping it together. I was experiencing fits of giggling at this ridiculous get-up. For the next 30 minutes, I contemplated whether I could take his picture without him noticing. I hated to admit defeat but knew it would be impossible.

I should be in Oregon right now. My original plan called for me to head to Portland to visit friends after my business in Tacoma concluded. But my friend's grandmother died, thus necessitating she (and her less-than-one-month-old daughter) travel to Oklahoma. So I needed to come up with Plan B.

So Sunday, I planned to visit Mount Rainier. However, that got sidetracked thanks to a bevy of cocktails Saturday night (hmm, perhaps it would be more accurate to call the hour at which the shenanigans ended Sunday morning. Well into Sunday morning.) So instead, I spent the majority of the day in the throes of an admirable,well-earned hangover. I did finally rouse myself from bed to make a quick trip to Pike Place Market to buy some pasta here. And that was about it for Sunday.

But I did make it to Mount Rainier and I'll discuss that tomorrow. It's kind of hard to believe that yesterday I was 2,836 miles away, wandering around a mountain with an elevation of more than 14,000 feet, and today I rode my bike 15 miles at an elevation of 0.00 feet.