Bruno 28 here from Scotland Oct. 19-21---TE dinner!

We'll go with whatever y'all come up with for dinner. Just let us know.

So, is there gonna be a bike ride sometime that weekend or what? We really want to get out and see some stuff by bike while there. It will also determine if we try to come up there on Friday night or Saturday morning.

Kit and I also need to get a room up there so we need some advice on a general area/side of Seattle to narrow it down to. We don't want to drive all over the place and take a bigger chance of getting lost. I'm very directionally challenged. :o

Knot - we want to visit Recycled Cycles while there. We really liked that place. Need help finding it though. :rolleyes:

I too am directionally challenged, so you have my total sympathy.

One possibility for a hotel is the Silver Cloud Inn in the University District. It's right near the Burke Gilman trail (which, going south, will get you to Knot's favorite LBS, Recycled Cycles, and going north to the brewery and Marymoor Park, the ride that Kit has been on).
http://www.scinns.com/09home.htm

Will be sightseeing with Bruno so not riding, but some of the rest of you guys may want to respond to X re a ride.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Knot reveals her secret shame: when under severe stress or around Scots (isn't it the same thing?) she lapses back into the rural Fife accent of her childhood.

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It taks' a lang spoon tae sup wi' a Fifer

I look forward to it. :D


I have the stinking 'flu.:mad:

On the bright side I'll be better by the time I come to visit.

Dh and I usually go away for a weekend every term. We are thinking about heaving to Seattle that weekend because we've never been (together), and it means I'd be able to meet a few TE'ers on Saturday night. (how you do feel about having a man (along with Sknot) at our dinner? Let me know if that's a bad idea. I think Mimi's dh would come if mine was there.) Fall can be a really busy time at school for us so we usually go somewhere only an hour or two away - I might not commit to coming until we are really close to the date and can judge how much work we have at the time. (On a positive note, we have a Pro-D on the Frdiay and could do our work day from 7-12 and get away early.) If we DO come, we'll most likely bring our bikes whether we ride with TE'ers or on our own. We'd come in late friday night, ride and/or tour Seattle on Saturday, dinner on Saturday night, home on Sunday.

What's the Burke Gilman Trail - is it paved? (In other words, do we bring road bikes or MT bikes?) Are there any good paved trails in the area? Anything along the ocean?

PS Both my Grandfathers were born in Scotland but I can only say "Tis a brae bricht moonlicht nicht."

Bruno - I e-mailed you *yesterday* to make Garlic soup and even gave you the secret recipe. I also advised that perhaps more alcohol in the bedtime toddy would be helpful.
Did you do either of these things???

Hot toddies are the best bedtime cure for what ails you! (well, umm, some things are better, but this is a family forum) Shot of whisky, big blob of honey, mixed into a mug of piping hot water. Sleepy Knot.

KG - another member of the XY population would probably be just peachy for SKnot. He'll probably bring his computer along and entertain himself. Mr. Salsa will be there, too, won't he?

The Burke Gilman trail is paved. We have lots of paved miles in the city. The BG runs along Lake Washington, then joins the Samammish River Trail (which runs along the Samammish River). Heading toward the ocean from the BG takes a little finessse with a map as the trail ends and you need to do some road riding until you get to the beach.

Anybody planning to come to Seattle with bikes: order a (FREE) city of Seattle biking map. www.seattle.gov Seattle Department of Transportation does a great job with these maps.

I've had a thought - what about Italian food? Everybody likes Italian food (don't they???). It's cheap and cheerful (at least it is over here due to our large Italian population) and I bet mimi knows some good places.


Whaddya think?

And thanks for the hot toddy recommendations....of course, being Scottish (have I mentioned that) I'd never imagined that whisky had medicinal properties :cool: :cool: :cool:

Ooooooh... TE dinner. I'm in. Maybe we'll even get a sitter so that Mr. Kiltiger can come along and keep Mr. KG and Sknot company.

Okay....we're gonna have to hire somewhere :eek: :eek:

Who knew I was so popular?......what do you mean y'all just want an excuse to meet up with each other:confused: :confused:

Y'all??? You must be one of those southern Scots. heehee. :D Welcome sister. Have a mint julip. (sorry, I'm a wee bit drunk and whole lot happy. :o)

Knot - I will check out the map, thanks. :)

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Originally Posted by Xrayted

Have a mint julip.

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Never have I been so disappointed in a drink as I was in a mint julip :(

The one I had tasted like a slushy - course it might just have been the cheap touristy bar I was drinking in in New Orleans.....

there are tons of good italian restaurants in Seattle. Up by the U district, there is Marcello's (I know all the ones down by me... and I don't think folks are going to want to go that far south) I'll get back to you. There's a nice selection of good food Italian restaurants in every corner of seattle.. (good idea!)

Yes Bruno, they are an acquired taste. The best ones are had at the Kentucky Derby from what I hear. There is a place in Savannah, Georgia (can't remember the name right now) that makes one that is simply divine. *drooling*

So after much noodling about with Bruno and a little with Mimi, here’s what we’d like to do: Have our Bruno visit-TE dinner on Saturday October 20 with all of you at our house. Here’s why:

1. We won’t have to get into a sweat about getting set numbers and reservations. So that means come one, come all. Sknot, Raleighdon, KG’s spouse, etc. Yup, Chris will of course also be there.

2. Y’all will get to see the scene of the contractor/remodel crime. Even the basement dungeon from which I posted to you guys last winter while in the Slough of Air-Compressor Despair.

3. We have rocks and minerals all over the house from rock hunting trips we’ve done (and a rock shop in the garage—rock saw, sander, polisher, rocks we found but haven’t cut yet). We have a weaving studio with two threaded looms to look at and play with (and embarrassingly vast quantities of yarn). We have, of course, bikes, for those who need a fix. Stuff to look at, stuff to play with. We’re pretty casual and laidback. It's an easy house to be at and we'd really like to have you come by.

4. Our house is close to I-5 and really easy to find.

5. Just think of the pictures we'll be able to post on TE the next day.

So...will this work for you guys? We propose that we provide all kinds of really good take-out from Whole Foods; maybe some good Chinese food from the Black Pearl...and that you just bring whatever you like to drink.

More details (time, PMs with directions) as we get closer...

so should we each sign up to bring something?

Sounds great Salsa. Do we have to do dishes? I hate doing dishes. I can volunteer Kit up for that duty... :p

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO dish washing. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sign-up.

I want to make this easy. So I thought Chris and I would just buy a whole lotta good food. If people want to bring things, they can, but they don't have to. If people want to toss $5 in a plate to help with food costs, they can, but they don't have to. We are happy to host this dinner for Ms. Bruno and you guys.

Um...we're REALLY casual. We believe in good sturdy paper plates. No worries. Just fun.

Well if guys are now involved, maybe I can convince Andy to come down with me to split costs, plus he knows the area. Hmmmmmm......;)

Now must heal up my foot!

so, are we going to have a visit from the canadian contingent or what? :cool:

CWR - try to talk him into it. pleeeeeeeeeeeeease? :D

I did talk to him, and with figuring out hotel, flight (even on miles), rental car, and food for a long weekend.... brings me WAY over budget. :(

My foot might not be healed yet, and I won't be able to walk around much. That's no fun either. :(

I don't think we'll be able to make it. :( :(

Well, things are looking pretty good from where I stand at the mo that I (and possibly DH) could be there. Better than 50% chance right now. Heeeee Heeeee.

Wahine, too cool! Keep thinking that way. What the heck, a weekend in Seattle...good fun.

CWR, I'm sorry to hear that. I would have bejeweled a walking boot for you (I finally threw that thing out not long ago).

Sgtiger..call the sitter.

TREK??? WELL????

SGTiger always has a back-up sitter for things like this.

It just means she goes without a date (or, without me at least).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boy in a kilt

SGTiger always has a back-up sitter for things like this.

It just means she goes without a date (or, without me at least).

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No, no--you're supposed to come too...

PS That sounds just like what my mom used to love to say: "We don't need a dishwasher. We have two at home". (that would have been me and my sister, of course)

Alrighty - I don't have any conflicts so I'm in!

sounds great!

she's got a babysitter who pays the bills...

with neighbors and whatnot, finding someone to herd the young'uns shouldn't be too hard.

Sounds great; I'm in town that weekend, so I'd like to join in, ok?
...byodrinks and some $ to contribute, right?

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Originally Posted by MM_QFC!

Sounds great; I'm in town that weekend, so I'd like to join in, ok?
...byodrinks and some $ to contribute, right?

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Hey, great! And you're right. But we're not very worried about the $ part. Nothing wrong with hosting some fellow cyclists for some take-out dinner, we figure.

Next week, I'll post asking for a general head count, and PM you all with directions/time.

Bruno and Chris and I are all really pleased you all are coming.

Let me know how late people will be there. I could be there by 8:30pm or so but don't want to be inconveniently late.

Teigyr, plan to come then. I hadn't actually picked a specific time yet, but believe me, we will be in the middle of the evening then, so come. And you won't be all that far from home---a 10-15 minute drive across 125th, no more.

Wahine - are you going to be able to make it up? Inquiring minds want to know. :p

I just got my schedule for our Pro-D Day on October 19th and the workshop I really want to attend is in the afternoon so I won't be able to get away at noon to drive to Seattle. I guess that weekend won't be in the cards for us...:(

DH and I definitely want to do a long weekend in Seattle sometime so maybe we can do it again in the spring?

sure, why not?!

I'm just getting sooooo excited counting down the hours until I meet all you great women!

I leave for Calgary on Thursday and head from there down to Seattle for the weekend 20-23rd.

Salsa is great for agreeing to have us all at her house. Big cheer for Salsa!!!

Is there anything Scottish that anyone has a burning desire for? (and no, Knot, that doesn't include Glenfiddich - I was thinking more cultural). I ordered some cds from Amazon so we could have some Scottish music to listen to (including bagpipes for mimi) but there's a postal strike here so that might not happen.

Did I mention I'm getting Really excited :D :D :D

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Originally Posted by Xrayted

Wahine - are you going to be able to make it up? Inquiring minds want to know. :p

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More likely than not at this point. How's that for commitment? I'll have to drive through Portland, you kids interested in car pooling?

Seriously Bruno, I don't know how hard it would be to get but I'd love enough fabric to make a long skirt (I don't sew, so I can't tell you how much would work, I can try to find out but it's kinda late) in the Cameron hunting tartan. I'd have to guess that this would be nearly impossible at this point. Maybe we can discuss it when you're here and you can help me find a supplier that would be able to send it to me. Eventually, after the strike that is.

I'm getting excited too!

Yay Wahine!

Can we get a sort of vague head count now? I'll put a list below and if I have anything wrong either way, just let me know. Then I can send out a big PM with directions. Re time, I'm thinking, like, 6:30-7:00 to 10:00-11ish. Will that work for everyone?

Here's who I think "everyone" is:

Bruno (hahahaha. Just checking to see if everyone's paying attention)
X
Kit
Mimi
Raleighdon
Knot
SKnot
Sgtiger
Kiltiger boy
Eden--not sure if with spouse or not...
Teigyr
MM_QFC
Wahine

Knot, any chance we could get Quillfred to come? I miss her.

Anyone else, yea or nea?

We'll have fun!

Glenfiddich? Glenlivet is by far the superior single malt. Everytime a bottle of Glenlivet gets opened, an angel gets it wings.

I've got a little bag pipe music. Just a handful of songs, but it includes the all-important Scotland the Brave and Amazing Grace.

As a side bar, where else but the US could the unofficial Scottish National Anthem be co-opted to sell a soap called Irish Spring? Irish pipes don't even have drones.

Some lessons in pronunciation might be good. Celtic history and mythology is a minor (read: cheap) hobby of mine. However I've given up trying to sort out some of the names. I can almost handle Irish and Scottish as long as I don't have to say them out loud. Manx and Welsh come out sounding like I have a condition.

At least I already know what to wear. Then again, when your screen name is Boy in a Kilt, it does create certain expectations. I'm sure if I don't show up in one, Knot will berate me something awful.

so long as (sir) Raleighdon doesn't have to wear a kilt.