Seattle's Bucket List Progress.

On July 28th, 2012 I came up with a Seattle Bucket List of things I wanted to see and do before I moved from Seattle. I was initally only going to live in Seattle for nine months, but I ended up loving it so much that I am now a permanent resident of the lovely Emerald City. This will be the last blog posting that features this "original" bucket list with my progress, and I will be posting in the future a bucket list of things I want to do and see for the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California, and British Columbia).
Black= I have not completed   Red= I have completed
Total items on list= 78             Total items completed: 44/78

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Kerry Park

Museum of Flight

Pike Place Market

Safeco Field

Washington State Ferries

Green Lake Park

Hiram M. Chittenden Locke

Seattle Public Library

Columbia Center Sky View

Giant Wheel

University of Washington (Suzzalo Library)

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations Visitor Center

Volunteer Park Conservatory

Theo Chocolate

Woodland Park Zoo

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

Seattle Art Museum (SAM)

CenturyLink Field

Kubota Garden

Washington Park Arboretum

Alki Beach

Space Needle

Burke-Gilman Trail

Gas Works Park

Golden Gardens Park

Waterfall Garden Park

Smith Tower

Japanese Tea Garden

Fremont Troll

Lake Washington

EMP Museum

Fry Art Museum

Olympic Sculpture Park

Victoria Clipper

Lake Union

Seattle Aquarium

Seattle Center Monorail

The Center of Wooden Boats

Blake Island State Park

Original Starbucks

Pacific Science Center

Taproot Theater

Seattle Asian Art Museum

5^th Avenue Theater

The Gum Wall

Myrtle Edwards Park

Seward Park

Chinatown International District

Tillicum Village

Sand Point Magnuson Park

Key Arena

Occidental Park

Edmonds Underwater Park

Mount Rainier

Museum of Glass

Argosy Cruises

Belvedere Viewpoint

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Underground Tour

Jimmy Hendrix Statue

Snoqualmie Waterfall

NW African American Museum

St. Ignatius Chapel

Fishermans Terminal

Lenin, statue of Vladimir

Otter Falls

Fauntleroy Park

Golden Gardens Park

Kinnear Park

Lopez Island Vineyards

Madison Park Beach

Parsons Gardens

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium

Ride the Ducks

San Juan Safaris

Seattle by Foot

Tacoma Art Museum

1297 miles

I cannot believe that the year 2013 is almost over, and I graduated over a year ago!

I do a lot of walking in Seattle and hiking in the Pacific Northwest, and it is that lifestyle that I absolutely love about being a Seattle resident over living in the Midwest. One of my friends was motivated to "keep moving in 2013" and she set fitness goals for herself for this year; therefore, I joined the website www.dailymile.com that she was using to help her achieve her goals. It's a social-network website that you can keep track of all the exercises that you do throughout the year. Also, it allows you to choose the type of workouts that you complete. You can add friends to your profile and then at the end of the week, you receive an email about how many miles you and your friends completed. It's a great way to keep motivated, and for me it was a way to see that I really do get a lot of exercise in even if I was unable to make it to the gym.

Not only does this website keep track of your miles but it tells you how far you have traveled around the world, how much money in gas you saved by exercising that distance, and my favorite stat is that it tells you how many donuts you could eat with the calories you burn (from February-December I could have ate 158.07 donuts).

Everyone looks for something to keep themselves motivated in "just keep moving" and being less sedentary. For me, this was a great website and I will continue to use it next year, and of course I will try and beat my 1297 miles that I did this year (my 2013 goal was to complete 1000 miles)!

16,985 Pages

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to read more books and pages than last year....and I have already achieved that with still one month left in the year. So far in 2013, I have read 50 books and 16,985 pages (these stats do not include books that I have reread this year). In 2012, I read only 41 books and 13,111 pages; I am actually still impressed with my 2012 reading stats because I was still in graduate school. You may be thinking, "Shaida, did you calculate the pages in each book read by hand?" And to that I respond, NO! One of the benefits of having a goodreads.com account is that it keeps track of those stats for you, so there's no need to break out the calculator. Additionally, once you join goodreads it will keep track of all your activity; therefore, my data goes back to year 2011 where I read 53 books and 16,265 pages. I tend to read more fiction than nonfiction novels but overall I think my books selection is diverse. Let me know if you have any recommendations, even though I have 1333 books that I want to-read already according to my goodreads account!

Here are some of the books I tackled in 2013:

• The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
• A Commonplace Book of Pie by Kate Lebo
• Killing Jesus by Bill O'Reilly
• The Dinner by Herman Koch
• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
• The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
• Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
• Faster I Walk, the Smaller I Am (Norwegian Literature Series) by Kjersti A. Skomsvold
• After Midnight by Irmgard Keun
• The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
• Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence by Ross Mathews
• Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir by Ellen Forney
• Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep by David K. Randall
• Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore A Novel by Robin Sloan
• A Thousand Mornings Poems by Mary Oliver
• Proof of Heaven A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife by Eben Alexander
• The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
• Gulp: Adventures of the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
• Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
• Frost Burn by Patricia Briggs
• The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri 
• The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
• Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
• The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts
• Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• How to Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by Matthew Inman
• These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen
• Inside by Alix Ohlin
• This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
• Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly
• The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales by Hans Christian
• Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
• The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
• A Game of Thrones by George R. Martin
• A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron
• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
• Life of Pie by Yann Martel

Beach 2 & Funky Funky Trees

A name can say a lot about a person and a place. In the Olympic National Forest there are beaches that are called Beach 1-4; yes, that is seriously their name. I feel like they were named in honored of Dr. Seuss because that is the only explanation why they have such "literal" names. On the way down to the beach you will pass the COOLEST trees. The trees have these round growths (they look like tree tumors) protruding all over them. My friend indicated that the forest would the most amazing set for a movie or haunted trail.

Into the dark dark forest.......

The tide rolling in

I have never seen trees like this; looks like they belong in the Shire in LOTR

I really wanted to poke one of these to see what came out......

Big Cedar

On the way to the Hoh Rainforest there is a Big Cedar Tree that has multiple signs on the road and so we were inclined to stop and see what all the hubbub was about, and it was definitely worth the stop. It's a little past Beach 2 heading towards the Hoh Rainforest.

I felt even more vertically-challenged than usual standing inside the Big Cedar Tree.

Backside of the tree

Backside of the tree

Coolest mushrooms EVER.

Side of the tree

Hoh Rainforest

The Olympic National Forest is located in the Olympic Peninsula of the state of Washington. One can reach the Peninsula by ferry or by driving; we opted to drive. On the way to the Hoh Rainforest, we drove through the infamous (because of the Twilight book series) city of Forks. This small town has definitely capitalized on the Twilight franchise where it appeared 90% of the businesses were named "Twilight" in one way or another. I took a picture of the city sign and that was all we did in the city of Forks, so there were zero glittery vampire sightings.

Once we arrived at the Hoh Rainforest Visitor Center we went on a hike on the Spruce Trail. A new term I learned was "nursing trees." This was the second rainforest that I have visited; the first one was in British Columbia on Vancouver Island. This rainforest was lush and vibrant green. We saw some interesting mushrooms throughout the forest.

Entering the Hoh Rainforest

Moss covered the branches of most trees. There was a sign that indicated that so much moss grows on the trees that sometimes the moss weighs so much that it makes branches break.

I love that you can see the droplets on this mushroom.

Nursing trees: a tree that protects or fosters the growth of other young trees

Entering Twilight Country

Hurricane Ridge

I would like to think that all my hikes and the places that I visit in Washington are amazing and memorable; however, I just experienced the MOST stunning place I have been, ever; including overseas! The place, Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Forest. Why the accolades? Because it had the most sensational views! At an elevation of 5,242 feet, Hurricane Ridge allows a view of the Olympic Mountains that even when you are standing in front of it, you are probably thinking is this view being photoshopped right before your eyes! Hurricane Ridge is named for the intense winds, and they definitely made an appearance during my visit, but nothing could deter me from being  overcome with the majestic beauty of the mountains that surrounded me.

A fact of Washington hiking is that you could trek your way up a mountain, with your fingers and toes crossed that your viewpoint will not be completely covered in clouds and fog, and you not be able to see 10 feet in front of you. At times clouds and fog can add additional beauty to your view; this was the case for the view from Hurricane Ridge. Every single mountain peak could be seen but in-between the valleys of the mountains there were clouds rolling in and out. This cloud effect looked as a river of clouds rushing through the mountains and it was MESMERIZING!!

I hope if you visit Hurricane Ridge, you are as lucky as I was to see the impressive Olympic Mountain Ridge! After your hike I highly recommend stopping in Port Angeles at the local restaurant, Little D's Woodfire Grill; it was beyond charming and the food was mouthwatering!

All mountain peaks visible...Mt. Olympus is the "spotlight" peak; but there were no Zeus sightings :)

Cloud "rivers" in the valleys of the mountains

Can you see the clouds rolling in?!?!

 I took 100 pictures of this view!

Hello Sun

Love the wispiness of the clouds around the mountains.

Hello mama and baby deer

AMAZING smoked salmon linguine at Little D's Woodfire Grill with flatbread

We were the only non-locals in the place, and the restaurant is  not part of the main Port Angeles downtown.

The plates and cups were all original pottery and they sold their pieces as well.

Ballard Excursion

One of the great things about Seattle is that it is divided into neighborhoods. Each of these neighborhoods has it's only personality and character. I live in the Queen Anne neighborhood; however, I do spend a lot of time in Belltown, Capitol Hill, Pioneer Square, and Madison Valley neighborhoods. I spend most of my time in these neighborhoods because it is easy to walk or take public transit there from Queen Anne. One neighborhood that has immense character is Ballard; it's a little over 3 miles from Queen Anne so I always end up driving there. If you are a tourist visiting Seattle, you will probably not end up going to Ballard because it is kind of inaccessible from downtown hotels with public transportation; it's doable, but just a little difficult and time-consuming.

I have been accumulating a list of places and things to do in Ballard for a while now; therefore, a friend and I embarked on a journey to start checking things off my Ballard Bucket List. 

The first place we stopped at is a donut shop that I frequent often but my friend hasn't been before. It's a Cambodian donut shop called Westernco's Donut House (http://www.yelp.com/biz/westerncos-donut-house-seattle). They are known for their French Donuts (especially the maple ones). I got a glazed French donut because the maple one was out. The donuts are cheap ($1.20) when compared to the Seattle franchise Top Pot Doughnuts. Westernco is mostly open 24 hours six days a week (closed on Sundays), but sometimes they keep irregular hours.

The next place was Anchor Down; it has a tiny sign with a globe outside and is easy to miss (it's next door to Po Dogs). Have you ever wondered where all the globes went to...well, all globes seemed to have retired to the interior of Anchor Down. I read an article that this place had Stumptown's popular coffee on nitro, like you would a beer. http://www.seattlemet.com/eat-and-drink/nosh-pit/articles/coffee-on-nitro-anchors-down-stumptown-september-2013 The article stated "When we pour the cold brew, it comes out like a Guinness." The tap injection of nitrous oxide gives beer a smoother, creamier feel (typical carbonation adds fizz and bubbles) and apparently it does the same for coffee. Being a coffee addict, I was beyond excited to try a glass of this caffeine goodness, but they were completely out! I was crushed; I had only consumed four cups of coffee that day because I was going to enjoy my fifth cup on nitro.

However, our journey continued to our next place, Kangaroo & Kiwi http://kangarooandkiwi.com/. My friend ordered a Hot and Toddy; I didn't order anything because I was still recovering from not getting my nitro coffee.

Next was Mr. Gyro http://www.mrgyroseattle.com/; my friend and I split a gyro. The gyro was AMAZING, and it made me almost forget that I didn't get nitro coffee..... almost. Mr. Gyro's walk-up window is open til 2:30am and it reminded me of my favorite gyro restaurants in Omaha, NE called Amsterdam in the Dundee neighborhood, and it was opened until 2am on the weekends and was also a dive restaurant.

After our little snack at Mr. Gyro we were off for some desserts at Hot Cakes Molten Chocolate Cakery http://www.getyourhotcakes.com/. I read in an article that they served ButterBeer, which is a beverage that the characters in the book series Harry Potter drink often. They serve ButterBeer with alcohol and without. My friend and I split a ButterBeer and a Creme Brulee. I have had years of imaging what ButterBeer would taste like, and the tasting here is not want I expected. The Creme Brulee was delicious but it came with this grape concord jelly which I viewed as totally unnecessary; therefore, it was removed immediately from the dessert.  You may be wondering, "if you were at a bakery called Molten Chocolate Cakery, why didn't you order a Molten Cake?" Great question; and the reason is that I am the .0001% of the population that does not like (in other words, I hate) chocolate....you can now pick your jaw off the floor now.

Okay you were probably thinking that dessert was the last stop on our adventure and you would be WRONG...what about "second dinner". My friend had a groupon for Moshi Moshi Sushi that they wanted to use http://moremoshi.com/. I am not a fan of sushi, but I am always able find something else on the menu to eat or a "cooked" sushi roll. I tried their Beef Tatika which was a small appetizer, but was perfect for all the other food that we had tried throughout the night, and it had so much flavor.

Now you must be thinking that we had a "second dessert" after our "second dinner" and you would half-right. Once I dropped my friend off, I went home and ate my donut that I was suppose to be saving for breakfast and finished my recuperating from not having my nitro coffee...and I think I am still recovering.

Overall, I had a lot of fun in Ballard, and here are some pictures from the night:

At Hot Cakes "Butterbeer: Butterscotch, fresh apple cider, ginger & sparkling wine (kids, get yours without the sparkle).

At Hot Cakes: Creme Brulee

At Hot Cakes: ButterBeer and Creme Brulee

WesternCo Donuts: Glazed French donut

Exterior of Anchor Down

Fall beauty around the Ballard neighborhood

At Hot Cakes: Warm Butterbeer

Climbing Mount Si

Currently, my favorite hiking book to refer to enjoy the outdoors is 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles Seattle. I have currently accomplished 1/6 of the hikes in the book; for those readers who are allergic to solving fractions, I have completed 10 hikes from the book. And yes, my goal is to be able to say one day that I have done all 60 hikes.

The most recent mountain that I have climbed from base to summit was Mount Si. In the book this mountain is described as, “Easy to reach, physically challenging, and capped by a commanding view, the mountain known simply as Si is like a city park crossed with a serious Cascade Mountain peak.” However, one thing left out of the book is that this trailhead has one of the most foul-smelling restrooms, the women’s restroom door doesn’t close or lock, and there’s no window (so it’s pitch dark inside); therefore, going at a gas station right before getting on SE Mount Si road is highly recommended for your nose and gag reflex.

This was the tallest mountain that I have climbed so far; however, it wasn’t the longest hike that I have gone on; one time I did a 18.5-mile day hike (refer to 18.5 mile hike blog post in May 2013).  On a clear day, at the summit you can see Mount Rainier; I wasn’t able to see it when I climbed.  Once at the summit, it was about 40 degrees and I definitely got cold. I enjoyed my lunch at the summit and enjoyed the ever-changing view because the clouds rolled in and out, which constantly changed the mountains that could be seen.

Below are pictures from my hike. The leaves on the trees were just beginning to change when I hiked the mountain. Also, I was thankful that the mountain was still snowless!

View from the summit

View from the summit

View from the summit

This is not what the trail looked like for the majority of the hike, but I thought the faux staircase was beautiful surrounded by ferns and other greenery 

I am all smiles because I am hiking down the mountain. It was starting to get cold so the sweater and hood became a necessity 

View from summit

I was intrigued by the fungi/moss that was growing on some of the trees

This is a picture of Mount Si taken from the road, right before turning on Mount Si road