10th Anniversary Trip to Seattle

Craig and I had an amazing trip to Seattle this past weekend to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.

This was our first trip together (alone) since Cullen was born 3.5 years ago! It was fun being able to do things that we can’t do with Cullen: both working out together, going on a longer and more intense hike than Cullen would be able to do, staying out late, getting ready in 20 minutes, etc. We certainly missed him and were glad to see him again, but this time together was also much-needed.

We flew out Thursday night after Craig got off work and got to Seattle around 11:30 p.m. We picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel, which was about 15 minutes away. I had spend a lot of time looking for a place to stay in downtown Seattle, but it was way more than I wanted to spend. Anything good was $200-$300/night. I ended up getting a hotel in Renton (which we now know is not the greatest area), but we snagged a good deal on a room at the Hyatt right on Lake Washington, next to the Boeing Headquarters, and it was perfect!

Friday morning we slept in and then grabbed some acai bowls at Fit Bar Superfood Cafe, which was a cafe inside a gym! It was really good, and they had local kombucha and Picky Oats Performance Oatmeal, which I thought was cool.

We then headed out for a hike to Rattlesnake Ridge, which was a hike recommendation I received from multiple people.

The entire hiking trail was a nice wide, well-maintained trail that included switchbacks, so it was never very steep. (A lot of hiking in Alaska can be very steep, and frankly I don’t really care for that.) I also love the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest.

I had heard this hike can be very busy with people, so we were worried it was going to be too crowded. We went on a Friday afternoon with overcast weather. There definitely were a lot of people out hiking, but it never felt like too much. On our way up, there were groups of people passing us every few minutes coming back down the mountain, but only a couple groups passed us from behind.

The hike was 2 miles to the top and took us about an hour to get to the top. The outlook was gorgeous as you could see several different views all around you. There were quite a few people on the top, so we took a few pictures, and then headed back down. The cliff drop-off was very severe, so you would want to be very cautious if you brought little ones.

After our hike, we got pho for a late lunch, headed back to the hotel, did a quick workout at the gym, and got ready to go out for dinner. Craig found a steakhouse in Renton that had good reviews called Melrose Grill. I ordered the Alaskan halibut with a lobster cream sauce, and it was phenomenal.

Saturday morning, I got up and went for a run around the lake. There was a trail around the lake that was perfect for running, and I would have run much further if my glute hadn’t been bothering me. I got in to see my chiropractor/ART guy one time before we left, but he was out the rest of the week, so I didn’t get a second session with him, and I could feel it! Plus all the sitting we did on the trip did not help it, so it was super tight and cranky. I tried foam rolling and stretching it, but the foam roller at the gym was too soft that I couldn’t even get into the muscle tissue to work out the tightness.

I ran 7 miles, which I was happy about at a nice easy 8:30 pace. I felt like I was running in Alaska with the overcast skies and cool air.

We then got ready and met up with some of Craig’s friends from college for lunch and a chance to catch up with them. Afterwards, Craig wanted to go to THE Costco in Kirkland, WA, so we headed to the store and walked around for a bit. Spoiler alert: it looked just like any other Costco.

We then found the Brooks Outlet store in the area, went there, browsed around, and then headed back to our hotel for a walk around the lake. That evening we had some down-time before meeting up with our friends again, so Craig and his friend could go to the new Star Wars movie Solo.

We stayed out entirely too late with our friends (2:00 a.m.) chatting and catching up on life–knowing we didn’t have to go to bed at a certain time since we wouldn’t have any child waking us up in the morning.

Sunday morning we headed to downtown Seattle for brunch with a friend from the summer camp we all worked at together in Minnesota. We ate at Seattle Biscuit Company, which was really, really good!

Afterwards we went to the Brooks Trailhead store to check that out.

Finally, our last stop was at the Oiselle Flagship Store where I bought this shirt (in white) and these shorts (in onna print). In the picture below I am wearing this tank and these shorts. If I had all the money in the world, I would have bought both outfits, but as we all know, money doesn’t grown on trees.

Craig and I had a blast on our trip, and we were able to spend some much-needed time together as most of the week one of us is working. He works 8-5 Monday through Friday, I work every Saturday and Sunday, and then I also do several training groups at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. throughout the week, so most days we are saying ‘hi’ and ‘goodbye’ to each other and that’s about it. We spent the entire 3.5 hours on the plane ride down to Seattle just talking, and it felt like we were catching up on every little thing from the past three months since our trip to Hawaii this winter. It was definitely a rejuvenating trip; the only thing we regret is that we didn’t stay longer.