1 More Day

Tomorrow is day 1 of the Breast Cancer 3 Day. As of last night it appears that everyone on our team was able to raise the $2,200 and will be able to walk! The hotties are 43 members strong and so far have raised over $107,000. Last night I went to our team captain's house, Melissa and Dennis, to pick up my hottie wick dry shirt. They are pink. I don't really do pink. But for the next 3 days I'll be wearing pink necklaces, pink tattoos, pink stickers, and pink deely-bops. Be sure there will be pictures...........

Pink Pink Pink.

Oh, and don't forget, if you're in West Seattle or downtown on Sunday we'll be marching through. Come out and cheer us on!

Day Three - Sunday, September 9

Mile Marker 4.7
7:40 am - 10:15 am
Alki Beach
1702 Alki Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116
Map
(Walkers will be traveling for several miles along this beach path. You'll be able to cheer on walkers from any spot along this stretch of beach.)

For the most up-to-date supporter information, check out the Seattle Supporter Handbook.

Day Three starts with a short bus ride from camp to the beginning of the route and a scenic walk on Alki Beach right along Puget Sound. After lunch you will make your way across the ship canal under the West Seattle Bridge. You'll head north through the city on one of Seattle’s oldest streets, passing amazing landmarks such as Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market. The last few miles of your route take you through the heart of downtown as you make your way to Closing Ceremonies. We are very excited to announce that this year’s Closing Ceremonies will be at Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center. They are very excited to welcome back the Breast Cancer 3-Day for this year’s event.

Long Time No Blog

Chris and I were on vacation last week. No laptop, no internet, very little cell coverage, and no blogging. It was much needed. It is necessary to walk away from everything once in a while to convince yourself that it will keep on going without you.

A brief recap of our vacation week.

We started with a B'day bbq on Friday night with Matt and Karas. Chris made me my favorite, cheeseburgers. We enjoyed a beautiful night outside by the fire pit and played a lot of hearts. The next morning we packed up the car and headed to the Hottie Walkluck at Woodland Park. Chris got to meet all of the ladies I've been walking with for months and we had some team bonding time in preparation for the big walk. After the Walkluck was over we headed over the mountains to Lake Chelan.

My parents had picked up my niece Ella that day and met us at the cabin. We spent the next few days fishing, swimming, wine tasting, s'more making, water skiing, and watching Harry Potter movies. It was a great experience to see Ella enjoying all of the things I enjoyed so much growing up at the lake. She caught her first fish, made friends with the local kids, and even got to go tubbing behind Grandpa's boat. I think she smiled the entire time.

Chris and I took of one day and went to the other side of the lake to fish at Lake Antilon. We had taken our kayaks and managed to sneak out to the middle of the lake. We caught a bunch of Trout, Crappie and Blue Gill. After that we stopped at 4 wineries on the way back to the cabin for some wine tasting. Our favorite by far is still Tildio. She even remembered us this year.

On Wednesday we packed up and made our way back to Seattle where we played with the kitties, did a load of laundry, loaded up on groceries, grabbed our golf clubs and headed to Anderson Island. We spent the next few days fishing, fishing, fishing, golfing, fishing, golfing, and fishing.

On Friday night Angie, Brandon and their cat Oliver joined us at the cabin. We got up early on Saturday and went to watch the annual Anderson Island Labor Day Parade (about 15 minutes). Afterwards we went to the bake sale, the silent auction, a ton of garage sales, and the live auction (where I bought a nice wine basket). We even went to a garage sale where if you bought something they gave you a pint of beer from their keg. It was called the "Man Sale". Then we went fishing some more and Chris caught a nice Silver (probably 25") that we BBQ'd on Saturday night. I had a real nice Salmon on at one point and was lifting it up to show Chris when a GIGANTIC dog fish swam under my kayak scaring me like crazy and causing me to launch the fish into my kayak. It was Chaos for a while by I managed to release the fish after a bit of a struggle. We managed to catch quite a few nice fish but only kept the one.

Finally on Monday we headed back home early to beat the traffic. We got in the ferry line at 9:45am to catch the 11am ferry and boy were we glad we did. We left two ferry lines of traffic behind on that boat. The joys of holiday travel!

Now it is back to the grind. Work work work and more work. Only 2 more days until the Breast Cancer 3day!

The 3day Route!

They finally released the route for the 3day starting on Sept. 7th. It will be as follows:

This year our event will commence at the beautiful campus of Bellevue Community College. From the college you will head west through Bellevue onto the I-90 trail. Crossing over several of Lake Washington’s waterways, you will make your way across Mercer Island onto the I-90 Bridge. Once you cross the bridge into Seattle, you will head south along Lake Washington on the Lake Washington Loop trail. You will enjoy several beautiful pit stops at some of Seattle’s most scenic parks on the shores of Lake Washington. You will make your way through Renton, Tukwila and SeaTac and end the day in the city of Burien at our overnight campsite.

Day Two starts bright and early heading south from Burien, passing through SeaTac and into the lovely city of Des Moines. Enjoy scenic views of Puget Sound at our beautiful lunch stop right on the water. You'll head north from lunch into the quaint city of Normandy Park, passing through some wonderful neighborhoods with plenty of shade. From Normandy Park you will continue heading north, back into Burien for another fun night at camp!

Day Three starts with a short bus ride from camp to the beginning of the route and a scenic walk on Alki Beach right along Puget Sound. You will be happy to see very few hills on this day and with mileage at just 15 miles, you'll have plenty of time to enjoy all of the sites. We have several fun pit stops planned for you today as well! After lunch you will make your way across the ship canal under the West Seattle Bridge. You'll head north through the city on one of Seattle’s oldest streets, passing amazing landmarks such as Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market. The last few miles of your route take you through the heart of downtown as you make your way to Closing Ceremonies. We are very excited to announce that this year’s Closing Ceremonies will be at Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center. They are very excited to welcome back the Breast Cancer 3-Day for this year’s event.

If you would like to come and cheer us on, here are the cheering locations:

Day One - Friday, September 7

Mile Marker 9.5
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Stan Sayres Park
3808 Lake Washington Blvd S
Seattle, WA 98118
Map

Mile Marker 19.7
12:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Family Fun Center
7300 Fun Center Way
Tukwila, WA 98188
Map

Day Two - Saturday, September 8

Mile Marker 8.3
8:30 am - 1:15 pm
Highline Community College
2400 S. 240 St.
Des Moines, WA 98198
(Parking lot off of S 240th - click here for map )

Mile Marker 13.3
10:35 am - 4:00pm
Key Bank
22033 Marine View Dr S
Des Moines, WA 98198
Map

Day Three - Sunday, September 9

Mile Marker 4.7
7:40 am - 10:15 am
Alki Beach
1702 Alki Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116
Map
(Walkers will be traveling for several miles along this beach path. You'll be able to cheer on walkers from any spot along this stretch of beach.)

For the most up-to-date supporter information, check out the Seattle Supporter Handbook webpage.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I woke up this morning to a birthday gift from the kitties. Cat puke on the rug. I left it for Chris to clean up when he wakes up since well it is my birthday. I also found a Mariner's jersey hanging on my closet door from Chris House because, as we all know, they are in a pennant race. Oh, and my parents called and sang me happy birthday. Now I feel a little sick to my stomach, but it is the thought that counts. Other than that it is work as usual.

W00t!

Black Mouth Salmon

During our Kayaking adventure on Saturday we took off across the passage to Devil's Head instead of fishing our normal spot at the mouth of Amsterdam Bay. No fish to be had at Devil's Head so we headed back to Amsterdam Bay (about 1 hour round trip of kayaking) and Chris proceeded to catch the following black mouth salmon. Measuring in at 24 inches. BBQ Salmon for dinner! I had a similar one on my line about 3 minutes after he caught this one. It spun me in circles in my kayak for about 2 minutes and then snapped my line. The one that got away....

Freshly caught!


Token Hobie Logo photo to send to them.


Chris's foot size 10.5 vs Salmon size 24 inches.


Eat me....


Token Courtney self portrait.


Chris on the long kayak to Devil's Head.


Devil's Head is the point in the distance. Took about 25 minutes to peddle there.

Training Update

So far I've logged over 600 miles and over 2,300,000 steps in my training. Less than 3 weeks until the Breast Cancer 3Day!

When Deer Attack!

On Saturday Chris was sure I was going to be the next person highlighted on the show "When Animals Attack". We took off on Friday for the Anderson Island cabin and on Saturday morning we headed out to do some fishing. About an hour into it we decided to head across the passage to Devil's Head to fish the kelp bed where we've always had luck before. I was freaking out a little bit - being in the open water and all the huge boats around us - but the scariest thing that happened was we startled a harbor seal and it splashed around us a bit. When we got to the other side we found the kelp bed and started fishing. It was really eerie to be so close to the water and look down and see the slimy kelp waving about. We weren't having much luck so I headed towards shore to try and fish a bit there. I managed to get my line tangled in a fallen down tree and was fighting to get it unhooked when all of a sudden Chris yelled "Courtney, behind you". I turned just in time to see a one antlered crazed looking deer running down the hillside, into the water, and swim towards me. Chris was yelling at me to peddle away but I was still all tangled in the tree so I started yelling and screaming (seemed like the right thing to do!!). I think I scared it with my screaming and it turned around, swam back to shore, and ran back up the hillside with the same crazed look on its face. That has to be one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had.

Freeway Fright 2007

No I'm not kidding, that is really what they were calling it. For those of you not in the Seattle area, Freeway Fright 2007 is the closing of multiple lanes on NB I5 for construction. Those of us who live in West Seattle were prepared for the worst. But thanks to scaring the bejezus out of everyone Freeway Fright 2007 has been pretty manageable so far. I've been riding the 6:20am bus into work and mostly riding the Elliott Bay Water Taxi home and other than increased numbers in the ridership of both vehicles the commute has been pretty light. I think there is a lesson to be learned here - get out of your car and take mass transit! Here is a note I posted on the West Seattle Blog today:
Something to take into consideration is not only the commute to downtown in the morning but the time you can save on your commute home in the afternoon by riding the reliable water taxi. I have found that while my bus in the morning gets me from my stop to downtown without hiccups it is the return trip that causes me the most grief. I can’t remember a time I’ve ridden the bus home after work and it has been on time - especially when there is an M’s game. I can remember so many times where a 21 express scheduled to stop at the stop I’m standing at 3 times during an hour doesn’t even show up until well into the next hour. For that reason alone I have been taking the water taxi about 3 times a week all summer long. I love the walk up the hill from the dock to my office (near Pacific Place). Great to get the blood pumping before settling into the work day. And one more note - the Argosy Crew is doing a great job of keeping the boats on time and keeping the commuters happy. I think we sometimes forget that this “carmagedon” is out of the norm for them as well.

Cross it off!

Last night we met PrettyBird and her friend for dinner at the Pike Pub & Brewery. She surprised me with an early birthday present. A 3lb bag of Haribo Gummies. Oh my gosh I can't wait to open it up this weekend. Thanks PrettyBird!!

On another note, if you remember I haven't had the best experiences at the Pike Pub & Brewery but we decided to give it another shot. This time Chris and I shared the BBQ Chicken Nachos and boy were they yummy. Some of the best nachos I've had. I guess it just depends on what you order there.......

Day Game!

Chris and I were given some tickets for a M's game today. First pitch is at 1:35pm. I am taking the afternoon off. I can't wait to sit in the sun (it is sunny and 80 here in Seattle today!) with a cold beer in my hand and enjoy some baseball. Because, as you know - especially if you talk to Chris, we are in a PENNAT RACE!

Go M's!