Craigslist Deal of the Week

I picked up this nearly unused Yakima HoldUp off of Craigslist earlier today. I found the ad totally by chance(Yakima was misspelled) and emailed the guy about the price. I got him down $30 from his asking price to well below half of retail and was pleasantly surprised to find that rack in such great shape. I almost felt bad for him that I paid so little(so to speak). Now if I can track down that 2" Prius hitch before we leave town on Saturday. The price is right but it's an elusive little bastard and harder to find locally than I expected.

Mobile Chowdown III

Seattle vs. Portland!

The third installment of Mobile Chowdown took place today here in Seattle. All(some) of the gourmet roach coaches in town get together in one place and every hipster in town shows up looking for bacon. No bacon, sorry hipsters.

This time around some of the Portland vendors made the trip up, including Burgerville USA for some reason. Now I'm a native son of Stumptown and truly love Burgerville but seriously, what the fuck? Anyway Michele and each had something from Marination Mobile, Koi Fusion, and Annita's. Koi Fusion was by far the best I've had yet at this event(we've been to all three). It's a Korean/Mexican place out of Portland and was awesome.

I took a couple of pictures to show what the lines were like, this was only 11:00 or so before things really got rolling too. Definitely a good time for any self respecting foodie and I highly recommend it.


Oh yeah, and in other news, I got rid of Michele's tC yesterday and traded it in on a 2010 Prius. That'll teach Michele to drag me all the way down to Olympia for the day and give me nothing with which to occupy my time.

Seabrook

Those that know me well know that I rarely drink to excess. Rarely. Two beers, done. Glass and a half of good wine, done. That's not really the way things went down at Seabrook, and it all started with this:

An award winning, Washington made vodka. And that's all the time I'm going to spend writing about alcohol and it's effects.

About Seabrook, it's a planned beach community on the Washington coast meant to emulate what you'd find in the Northeast. Overly cutesy beach cottages all lined up, each with it's own pair of Firmstrong(WTF?) beach cruiser bikes. Rents are cheap but real estate ain't, doesn't matter anyway since the trip was a treat from Paul and Sean celebrating Paul quitting his job.

We walked to the beach and taunted a tsunami, played games, ate cracktastic food, did some hot tubbing, drank a little, and that's all I claim to remember.

On the way home, Michele and I convinced Paul and Sean to come with us up to the Quinault Lodge for lunch, where I managed to get a picture of Sean, which isn't easy.

Just a totem rain gauge.

On the way out from the lodge we saw these otters at play. I wonder if Paul and Sean saw them...

I Sure Love to Eat

It's not very often that I'm surprised by a meal. Normally I know exactly what I'm in for before I eat out. Michele spends a lot of time reading about restaurants and all but refuses to eat at places she has yet to read a review of.

So anyway, we went to Mr. Villa for lunch toady. It's a small Mexican place off of 80th and Lake City Way, not far from Hudson. Michele gave me a synopsis of the review yesterday and the reviewer really liked it. However, I really don't put a lot of faith in the reviews of Mexican food I've seen in this town. The much revered Godito's in Greenwood is bland city with giant portions, I still can't understand for the life of me why people go apeshit over that place. The much loved Greenlake Tacos Guaymas tastes like regurgitated blender food and people still flock there for some crazy reason. Our favorite Mexican food so far has been El Chupacaba up on Phinney, the foods okay, but it's the atmosphere that really makes the place worthwhile. As far as I'm concerned nothing here really holds a candle to what we were enjoying in the 'nix, until today.

Mr. Villa knocked me on my ass, I got a couple tacos and a tamale. The tamale was as good if not better then the truly homemade ones I was served at my New Mexico Christmas oh so many years ago. The asada taco was great but the chicken taco is what really blew me away, I caan honestly say I've never had a taco that quite compares. As a matter of fact I'm kind of wondering why I'm sitting here writing about it, it's not far away and I've certainly got room for at least one more...

Away for the weekend

Michele and I just made it down to Portland, we're going to spend the weekend fucking around at the Edgefield. It's been seven or eight years since we've been here and I've been looking forward to our return here for a while. 10 bars, a spa, movie theatre, and a par 3 golf course should be more than enough to keep us occupied.

Long Distance Pumping

So, long distance pumping(LDP) has become my exercise of choice lately. What is LDP you ask? I think this short little video will give you a pretty good idea:



It's no secret that road riding in Seattle drives me up the wall. If I'm going to ride pavement I want it to be mindless and flat, Seattle riding isn't either. I ride the tank cruiser to class everyday but that's where I draw the line. Also, I hate spending a bunch of time in the car to mountain bike. When we lived in the 'nix it was easy to sneak away for an hour and a half to go tear up the preserves but to ride here an hour and a half barely covers the drive time, and not even that in the afternoon when traffic gets heavier. So, if I want to get out for just an hour of quick exercise, LDP it is. Greenlake is only a half mile down the road and it's a perfect surface for just pumping away. There's this great rhythm to it and the right music makes the time just fly by.

The downside of LDP is that without good traction it's a no go, and urethane does not grip wet pavement. Thankfully, we've had a couple of perfect days this week and I'm looking forward to more on the horizon.

2009 - Year in Review

It's been an interesting year, that's for sure. Here's the quick rundown:

I had a job, and got laid off
I went to AZ and set some tile
Drove to Portland and built some stuff
Michele took a staycation(my least favorite new word of the year)
I built a bike and sold it
Started school
Bought a new bike
Built a longboard
And another
Another 33 more after that
Michele's mom finally made the trip to Seattle
We all went to Forks, AKA abstinence porn vampire town
Watched the 520 bridge open from just a few feet away
Attended a big family reunion with the Swedes in attendance
Lost to a cheater in the TdF slow race
Road tripped to Maryhill with Shannon
Took a kick ass vacation in Bend with John, Eithne, and Atticus
Skated a half marathon
Returned to the 'nix and sailed with Cap'n Joe
Thoroughly enjoyed a rare visit from DT herself
Best Thanksgiving ever part 2
Michele finds fellowship
Christmas with AfroCox

I think that pretty much sums it up. Here's to a new, possibly less abridged year.