I like to jump on the road as soon as I can wrap work up and eat lunch somewhere I've never been. This year it was Nutty's Junkyard Grill. I didn't read up much about it and wouldn't have gone on such a hot day if I knew it was an open air establishment. Friday's weather definitely called for air conditioning. It was hinted that I should write about them, so I'll definitely go back some time when I feel like doing something up North and it's nicer out. At least I got to see an awesome penny floor in their bathroom.
Moviepass is pissing me off. While it was my choice to see the new Mission: Impossible movie in 3D on Thursday because the time worked for me and 3D is never offered, they're really screwing around with what's available. On Thursday, I ended up doing that because they decided not to offer any of the first showings of the day for all theaters in Marysville, Everett, and Lynnwood. On Friday, I needed to kill time before checking in to the condo so I wanted to see The Spy Who Dumped Me in Bellingham. I unfortunately didn't turn off Highway 9 as soon as I should have and the next way over made me arrive at 3:09 for a 3:00 show. No longer in the app since it was past the start time, which we all know is 20 minutes before the movie really starts. So I paid full price for that one as well as The Meg the next day, because only a couple of movies at a 16-screen theater were in the app. Slender Man on two screens and I think Eighth Grade several hours later than I wanted.
If I hadn't paid for a year in advance I'd cancel my membership now. Since it's prepaid, I guess I'll see what happens.
After The Spy Who Dumped Me (which is great!) I drove straight out to Snowater. When the receptionist at the front office mentioned the heat, I finally realized that I did it to myself again. I'm always traveling in August to places with no air conditioning! It was hot in the condo but not unbearably so. Thankfully I found a box fan in the bedroom closet and with that on a chair pointed at me in bed, I slept fine later on.
Once I got settled in and knew what I needed (something for dinner and creamer for my morning coffee) I drove back out to one of the markets up the road. It was tempting to go out to eat, but I knew I'd be spending a lot of time in the car and a lot of money the rest of the weekend, so I just picked up a frozen sandwich, a bag of salad, a bottle of wine, and some mini peanut butter cups. Bagged salads can be split up as long as you don't toss the whole thing all at once.
The complex has two pools, and the one at the clubhouse is adults only from 8pm-10pm, so I headed over a little after 8:00. That rule is on the website but isn't posted anywhere at the building, so it ended up being me and a family of 3. I wasn't about to tell them they couldn't be there, and it worked out anyway because another rule that's not on the website but is on the wall is that nobody is supposed to swim or use the jacuzzi alone. If it weren't for them being there, I'd be SOL.
It was nice to be in a pool deep enough to tread water for the first time since I joined the Y, but it was also very late, so I didn't stay too long. I wanted a real swim the next morning, so I got up and headed to the Bellingham YMCA. I don't feel like retyping, so here's what I said about that in an email.
The trip to the Y was a silly adventure. The dude who processed my "away membership" forgot to give me the little thing that you scan to get into the men's locker room and forgot to tell me about it at all. But there were some changing rooms by the pool and I figured I'd just swim and head out until I started noticing people appearing from a back stairwell. So after I was done I went up there but could only find a women's room, a boys' locker room, and a girls' locker room, plus a carpeted hallway. So I asked the lifeguard what was up and he told me there's a big locker room with sauna and steam upstairs and to stop by the front desk for the key to that.
The Bellingham Y is in an old hotel and they ended up having to build a maze to get everything to fit. It was nice to be in a deep pool for the first time in a couple of months, though.
After that, I went to the casino to kill time playing slots and then had lunch at an amazing restaurant I spotted on the drive to the casino. Vietnamese pizza!
Bellingham is gorgeous but I was in the car most of the time. Here's the view from a park where I stopped for a few minutes waiting for the restaurant to open.
After browsing through a large antique mall across the street, I went back to Glacier, got another sandwich to go with the other half of the salad, and spent the evening watching DVDs from the rental's library. The TV was an old, small TV/DVD combo with no remote control, so I watched things I've already seen like American Beauty and parts of Reality Bites and Singles.
Seeing Singles again was a little heavy. I was obsessed with Seattle from the first time I saw it, moved there as soon as I could, and went through a lot in my 15 years there. Now I pretty much don't care if I ever go back, so it's weird to see one of the many artifacts that started me on the journey. Nostalgia's a bitch.
True to form, I woke up Sunday at 4:05 with no alarm. I decided if there was a vending machine for park passes I'd get a day pass and do some of the small, easy trail up the road. There was, so I did!
I did 2.3 miles total and my feet felt really great afterward. I've been pretty consistent with the PT but I think the main contributor to the overall good state was the terrain. There were hills, and I don't do much uphill or downhill lately. That great feeling continued through yesterday, which is when my last PT appointment was. I walked out with a couple of new exercises to progress to, as well as the last color of resistance band to complete my collection. Blue, the highest level.
My physical therapist said my calves had never felt so good, but that was because the last part of my little vacation was a body scrub and massage at the Korean spa. I cut it quite close, calling them to make an appointment from Arlington and learning I had pretty much exactly the same amount of time to get there as what it would take to get there. I normally wouldn't have taken the freeway the whole way, but there was no time to spare. They want you there half an hour beforehand so you can soak first, and I only had 20 minutes of soak time so I spent it in the hottest of the tubs.
My right foot's a little stiff after this morning's walk at the marina, but that's not the reason I wish I didn't go. The wildfire smoke is terrible today and I'm not feeling so great now. At least I got some eerie pictures.
