Seattle to Portland Pt. 1 (July 28th - Aug 1st, 2021)

My sweet sweet brother doesn't really know how to travel and relax. My sweet sweet sis-in-common-law loves to travel and loses her mind trying to travel with Nick. 

So one night in spring 2021, we were having ramen together and talking about how it would be great to take a quick trip somewhere. 

COVID vaccines were out, planes were back in the air, and we were all feeling like the walls were closing in on us. 

So after brainstorming where to go, mostly weighing the sweatiness of summer Dan, we landed on the north west. 

We arrived in Seattle on July 28th to quite possibly the best weather we could've asked for. No real humidity, a nice breeze flowing through the buildings, and plenty of shade to hide from the sun. 

My mom had some extreme FOMO and asked for pictures while we were still on the trip. Being the annoying little turds that we are, we decided to share terrible photos with her while on vacation because she is notorious for capturing you at your most unattractive in photos. Here is Zeeks Pizza for lunch on the 29th. 

This is my art. You'll notice Nick took the time to rub his eyes, Mariah focusing on her phone, and half of my finger covering large portions of the frame. 

We went to the Seattle Center and Museum of Pop Culture for activities. 

Like holy crap, if I became a tech billionaire, I would try to buy the Pop Culture Museum. This place is filled with guitars and clothes from some of my favorite bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. It had movie props from Ghostbusters, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, X-Files, Alien... just everything. 

There was a horror movie and sci-fi section. There was a fantasy section. Went spent like 4 hours there and I still felt like there was stuff to see. 

Here's me with the Jason (Edit: Posted the wrong picture with the wrong caption), movie worn, costume. 

After we left the Pop Museum we probably bit off more than we should've. We walked back to the area where the Pier was to get a drink at the Locust Cider Market Place. 

Nick and Mariah, in one of the smartest moves, went back to the hotel to get a nap and hang in the air conditioning for a bit. 

Sal and I, making a terrible decision, wandered down to Old Stove Brewing to burn time until we met up with some college friends that had moved to Seattle. 

We walked to the other side of town to meet Pete at Optimism Brewing Company and then moved to Elysian Brewing to meet his wife. 

I think we weren't sure if things would be awkward. It had been a solid 15 years since the last time I saw him. But we picked up right where we left off, able to riff off of each other's jokes and not do that annoying, "Remember in college when..." thing to his wife. 

They then came to dinner with us, Nick, and Mariah for some incredible Ramen at Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya. 

According to Fitbit, we covered 9.6 miles on foot that day.

The next day we did some real tourist stuff. 

Stopped by the gum wall. Took some pictures at the pier. Walked through the market. And then took a tour of the Seattle Underground. 

Essentially, there was Seattle 1. It was a nightmare without any sewage and people were constantly getting sick because the sewage just hung out in the streets and water supply. 

Instead of digging down and installing sewers, they just built a city on top of the city. So you can tour this underground area which still has a ton of buildings in tact. 

Here's Sal and I by a toilet. Because why not. 

We hit a couple breweries on the way back toward the hotel, but learning a lesson from the day before, went back to the hotel and took a nap. 

That night we met up with some friends we know through good friends in St. Louis, via Texas. Confusing I know, but basically a lot of our friends moved to the Seattle area. 

We had sushi. Lot's of it at the Umi Sake House. Again, not sure of what the vibe would be since we don't see these friends often, we ended up hitting it off and getting invited back to their badass apartment where we had too many cocktails and seltzers. 

You can see the view to the right. Below us (and I didn't get a picture of it) is a building Seattle residents lovingly call "Jeff Bezos' Balls" because it's a very phallic looking building. 

At the end of the night, really feeling ourselves, the day, the trip, we ended the hangout by everyone hugging lovingly and awkwardly. 

The final full day was a bit lighter. We had covered over 20 miles on foot the first three days, so we wanted something a little laid back. 

We got a rental car and drove to my Uncle Jon's house. It had been at least a decade since the last time I saw him and I was the only family member that hadn't taken a trip out to his house yet. 

It's a gorgeous place. Tons of plant life, vegetables. Various places to hang out and catch up. Just a really pleasant afternoon. 

Then we did the one thing Nick asked us to do. We went and saw a drift race. 

I have since become a fan of certain motorsports, but this is what opened my eyes to what racing could be when it's not just right turns for 3 hours. 

Drifting is insane. There's a lead driver who is supposed to stay on this line on the track as close as possible and complete things are fast as possible. Then there's a follower who's job is to drift as close to the lead as possible. And when I say as close as possible, these guys are going insanely fast and just missing each other by inches around the turns. 

We got home and went to bed semi-early. The next day we had a road trip to Portland.