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

Trader Joes Awakening

While I lived in Omaha, NE I fell in love with Whole Foods. I wouldn’t do all my grocery shopping from there because I don’t think I could get use to organic toilet paper. However, there were several specialty items that I loved to grab there, and I probably went there 2-3 times a month. There are two Whole Foods within walking distance (about 1.5 miles) of my Seattle apartment, but I hardly shop there now; in the 18 months that I have lived in Seattle, I have been to Whole Foods only twice during that duration. My favorite “specialty” grocery store is Ballard Market. Both Whole Foods and Ballard Market can be pricy, and I had friends in Omaha and now friends in Seattle that rave(d) about Trader Joes. I have not ever been in a Trader Joes store….but that all changed this month.

As many people know, pumpkin's stock skyrockets in the month of October and Trader Joes capitalized on the many Americans devotion to The Pumpkin, including this American! You won’t see me sipping a pumpkin latte in Starbucks, because coffee should be not flavored and served black in my opinion, but foodwise-I love all things pumpkin. Trader Joes sends out a monthly flyer and this flyer consisted of 90% pumpkin items for sale in their stores.

The Trader Joes in Queen Anne (neighborhood in Seattle by the Space Needle), is a tiny, old building, and has about 10 parking spots. Doesn’t sound very impressive, but as the saying goes “it’s what inside that counts.” First off, they have special little signs that indicate a “flyer item”, one has to love an item that screams for attention with a “look-at-me” signage.  Also, they have copies of their monthly flyer in the store if you forgot yours at home (which I did). As I do with all new stores, I went down every aisle to figure out what I have foods I have missed out of in my life. I got a good haul of groceries for about $50, including some of the pumpkin featured items. After an amazing first experience at Trader Joes, I can see at the minimum a monthly trip to “browse” the aisles and new items; I mean there is no harm in just looking. All hail the pumpkin!

The pumpkin items I bought:

Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Mix

Nonfat Greek Pumpkin Yogurt

Pumpkin Pancake & Waffle Mix

Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Pumpkin Butter

Pumpkin Cereal Bars

Gulp!

I tend to read a lot more fiction than nonfiction books; however, a nonfiction author that I always read her new books is Mary Roach. The most recent book of hers, Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, was not an exception. Mary Roach is known for asking questions that everyone is thinking and wanting to know but do not know how to get the answers. I always discover new facts and interests when reading her books. Below are some of the most captivating facts in Gulp.

Questions answered in this book: Could thorough chewing lower the national debt? If salvia is full of bacteria, why do animals lick their wounds? Why don’t suicide bombers smuggle bombs in their rectums? Why don’t stomachs digest themselves? Why is crunchy food so appealing? Can constipation kill you? Did it kill Elvis?

• Humans are better equipped for sight than for smell.
• An oenologist is a wine scientist.
• Thanks to 18 Canadians, a canned-cat-food flavor lexicon and a set of tasting protocols have been established through their dedication to good tasting cat food. Part of the protocol is that one has to move the cat food sample around the mouth and chew for 10 to 15 seconds, and a portion of the sample has to be swallowed.
• Cats are mostly monoguesic, meaning they stick to one food; therefore, changing their food is not advised.
• There are clients who have marketed food for cats (whom are true carnivores) that is 100% vegetarian.
• Cats cannot taste sweetness; so that's more cupcakes for you.
• Rodents are slaves to sweetness. There are strains of mice that will, over the course of a day, consume their own body weight in diet soda….have fun cleaning their cages!
• Humans have taste receptor cells in the gut, the voice box, the upper esophagus, but only the tongue’s receptors report to the brain.
• The word 'trichobezoars' means human hair ball.
• The Fletcher system was once admired and implemented. It’s when one masticates all solid food until it is completely liquefied. So basically once you finished “chewing” your breakfast, it would almost be time for lunch.
• Vinegar, cola, citrus juices, wine, all are in the acid range of the pH scale: from around 2 to 3. Anything under a pH of 4 will dissolve calcium phosphate, a key component in our tooth enamel.
• Infant drool could be used to prevent food stains.
• Laundry detergent is essentially a digestive tract in a box.
• In this book you will find out exactly why infants drools continuously.
• Rodent salvia contains nerve growth factor and skin growth factor.
• Chinese men spit so much because they think it’s disgusting to use handkerchiefs or Kleenexes to collect phlegm in their hands.
• The study of oral processing is not just about the teeth. It’s about the entire “oral device”: teeth, tongue, lips, cheeks, saliva, all working together toward a singular goal: bolus formation.
• Chewing and spitting (or CHSP) is participated by about 8% of bulimic patients.
• Hotdogs, grapes and round candies take the top three slots in a list of killer foods.
• A professor in California tried to have hot dogs declared as a public health issue.
• The main reason people have such a strong appeal to eating crunchy foods is that crispness and crunch signal freshness; therefore, to a certain extent we eat with our ears.
• Transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxation, or TLESR, is just a fancy way of saying someone burped.
• The consumption record for many foods exceeds eight and even ten pounds; however, no one has been able to eat more than four pounds of fruit cake.
• 'Dyspeptics' are people whose stomachs hurt after a meal.
• The slang for the rectum is “prison wallet.”
• Spelling correctly is very important: per anum means “by way of the anus,” whereas, per annum means “yearly.” Therefore, an extra 'n' makes a HUGE difference!
• 'Grumous' means clotted or lumpy.
• 'Glabrous' means smooth and hairless.
• 'Periblepsis' is the wild look of delirium.
• 'Maculate' means spotted.
• Cows don’t belch.
• The most expensive coffee beans in the world sells for about $200 a pound are those that have been passed through the digestive tract of the civet (a catlike animal native to Indonesia).