Another long day today—but, of fun activities! Still, ideally I'll have one major Birth Week Event in a given day. Originally I was going to have two yesterday, with Danielle coming with me to the Sky View Observatory at the Columbia Center in the afternoon and then Shauna coming with me to the Smith Tower Observatory Bar in the evening. But then the Smith Tower bumped our tickets to tonight because of a wedding they had booked last night. Alexia and I theorized that someone must have dropped the ball with the reservation system, allowing people to book tickets when they were not meant to be available, as what are the chances someone booked a last-minute wedding at the Smith Tower?

Anyway, at first Shauna said she was available tonight. But then, while Alexia was driving Shobhit and me back from Crystal Mountain Resort to her place in Issaquah, I got this text from Shauna: I am sorry I won’t be able to make it today. I have to help my brother again today. His health is declining and I have had to go help him almost every day for the past few weeks. He’s is 75 and experiencing some dementia and confusion. I’m hoping we can reschedule the trip to Smith Tower visit soon. I’m really sorry.

Well, shit. That's two years in a row Shauna has had to cancel. Last year she was too busy with work. I get it, though; I can't really judge her need to take care of an elderly brother with dementia.

Just like when Lynn said she might want to do the Columbia Center if we could reschedule for a later time, I wanted to keep the on-theme activities inside the confines of my Birth Week. Not only that, but I didn't know yet whether I could even reschedule these tickets anyway, although logically they would since they rebooked my tickets themselves anyway. In any case, Alexia said she'd come with me, and she's never even been to the Smith Tower. Perfect!

So: even with two different Birth Week destinations today, the entire day was with Alexia. And most of it was with Shobhit. The three of us went to Crystal Mountain Resort to ride the scenic gondola, and then in the evening Alexia came into Seattle about an hour after Shobhit and I got home, and she and I walked down to the Smith Tower.

But let's back up a bit. I got out of bed this morning around 6:30. I had my breakfast, I got ready, and Shobhit and I were out the door just after 9:00. We drove to Alexia's apartment in Issaquah, and left our car there so Alexia could drive the three of us to Crystal Mountain to ride the scenic gondola.

I had two days this week in which I went up a mountain—Tiger Mountain with Valerie on Tuesday; and Crystal Mountain with Alexia and Shobhit today. And guess what? We were the only two days all week with dreary weather. At least today it never rained, in contrast to the plenty of rain Valerie and I had hiked through. Still, it was plenty cloudy, and the whole point of the Mt. Rainier Gondola at Crystal Mountain Resort was what I understood to be a stunningly close view of Mt. Rainier. And the photo you see at the top of this post, taken from the car on the way there, was the best view of Mt. Rainier we got all day today. It was completely obscured by clouds the entire time we were at the summit at Crystal Mountain—and we went up twice! There was just this one brief moment when Mt. Rainier had a tiny spot of it peak through the passing clouds.

You can see from the second photo above, though, that some of the clouds cleared—and, at least, revealed the surrounding Cascade Mountains. The problem with Mt. Rainier is how it sort of hordes clouds even when they largely clear up elsewhere. I must say, though, that even with the disappointment of never getting a clear view of Mt. Rainier, we got to see a lot scenery that was quite beautiful.

It was probably around 9:40 when we left Alexia's place, where we went inside briefly. Shobhit used the bathroom, and Alexia gave me my birthday present: a bag of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, baked fresh this very morning! Shobhit and I both noticed the smell as soon as we walked in. "What smells so delicious?" I asked, and then she gave me this bag of cookies—too many of them. I ate at least three of them in the car, and I think I ate at least four this evening after getting back home. There must be another twenty left. So much for shrinking my bloating muffin top.

The cookies also came with a birthday card that really cracked me up.

We reached Crystal Mountain Resort at about a quarter after 11:00. It would have been well into the fifties back in Seattle; now it was quite cold, in the late thirties. We were all three of us smart to bring layers—all of us brought winter caps and gloves; Shobhit and I both brought scarves. I brought my pea coat, and once we arrived, I wore my red hoodie under that, and above a long sleeve T-shirt. I don't know what the temperature was up at the summit, but it was noticeably colder up there. The fairly heavy breeze didn't help, not even with my cap that had little flaps mostly covering my ears.

Tickets to ride the scenic gondola, for adults, come to roughly $53, and that's only if you purchase them online in advance. I'm still trying to decide if I think it was worth it. That's just so much, and I'm not sure I understand why the price has to be that high. But, I did pay it, and so did Alexia. Shobhit only mentally registered after the fact, and when I reminded him how much it cost, he said he would not have opted to join us. I had a great day and we did go up twice, so there's that. Alexia and I did talk about coming back later in the summer when the weather is more reliable for actually seeing Mt. Rainier, so I suppose I'm apt to pay that price at least once more.

It'll be far more crowded then, I'm sure. The numbers up there were moderate-to-small, I'd say. Alexia had mentioned you usually have to make reservations to get a table at the Summit House restaurant, but we got seated right away and there was a few empty tables all through our lunch there, though the restaurant was still otherwise fairly busy. I shudder to think what it's like during spectacular weather.

I should note, also, that Crystal Mountain is quite plainly a ski resort. I commented that I wondered if we were the only ones there not actually doing any snow sports. Alexia said she saw at least one other group of people who appeared to be just riding the scenic gondola. I noted, once we got on a gondola, that the cars have slots on the outside for people to put their skis or snowboards—people there to ski or board down the mountainside were also using the scenic gondolas as a lift, even though there were also several standard ski lifts.

I can't imagine the amount of money people spend on going skiing. Shobhit commented on this, and Alexia launched into a bit of a monologue about how people can save money by buying used equipment, etc, and then they don't have to keep paying for those things again when they return. But, come on. I just checked Crystal Mountain's Daily Lift Tickets, and advance tickets for adults are $69. "Young Adult" tickets are $69. Let's say you're a family of four, with two teenagers. That's $264 for lift tickets alone, and does not account for meals or anything else they might pay or. Shobhit sprung for Alexia as well as ourselves for lunch at the Summit House, and that alone exceeded $80 once he added the tip. (They deserved a good tip, though. Shobhit asked for a specific type of tequila in the margarita we ordered, and the server didn't think she'd have that tequila handy. But, then she did find it, and the margarita was excellent.) In any case, I would argue you'd have to be considered upper-middle-class, at least, in order to make skiing a possibility. When I was growing up, hovering around the poverty line, something like skiing was a pipe dream, something only rich people did.

It's all relative, of course. If you're middle-class and surrounded by filthy rich people, you feel like you're poor. Even if you can afford to go skiing.

My younger self would be pretty thrilled to learn I would ever even be able to afford fifty bucks just to ride a gondola up a mountainside. Region is relative too, of course: the beautiful Silver Mountain scenic gondola in Kellogg, Idaho—which I rode three different times over the years—currently costs $23 for adults.There's also a far different cost of living in the Idaho panhandle than in Western Washington, of course.

I seem to be saying "of course" a lot. Fuck, I just said it again!

On the rather long walk from where we parked to the base, we noticed the amusingly titled "Snorting Elk," and agreed we would go check that out when we got back down after riding the gondola. Shobhit did ask about taking multiple rides, and we were told that with the low numbers today, it would probably be okay. At first, I was thinking we wouldn't bother. We had the lunch at the Summit House, and rode the gondola back down, and then made our way over to the Snorting Elk, where Alexia and I both had a hot chocolate, which was delicious. (I definitely had too many sweets today.)

The tiny peek of Mt. Rainier we had seen through the clouds was during the first ride up the mountain. When we got out of the Snorting Elk, we noticed the sky seeming to brighten up. We discussed it briefly, then decided to go back up once more. If we got to see the mountain, it would be totally worth it; if not, then we still had fun.

Nobody was checking the usage of the cards we used to swipe through gates to get to the gondolas. We used used the same cards again, and the gates swung open. What surprised me this time was a young straight couple who just hopped into the gondola with us. We'd had the first gondola to ourselves. Presumably groups share them regularly when the resort is busy, but an empty car was coming right up behind us that they could have used. It was fine, though; I just wasn't expecting it. I just of thought: Oh. Okay.

By the way, a ton of the young men at Crystal Mountain had beards. It seemed very noticeable to me. Maybe they just like to keep their face warm. I'm really not into beards. Good thing they have no reason to care.

Having them to chat with proved kind of useful, anyway. The young woman knew the names of all the nearby peaks. Not that I remember a single one of them. Wait, she knew one spot was apparently called "Brain Damage."

Once we reached the summit the second time, we waited a few minutes to see if we would get any clearance to see Mt. Rainier. No such luck, but a lot of the surrounding mountains did come into view, far more clearly during our first trip up. That alone made it worth the second ride up; I got a lot of great pictures. It was a very photogenic day all around, I must say.

There is a herd of elk near Issaquah that Alexia had suggested we go see if we could find and see, should there be time. We very nearly did this, but the plan changed once it was decided she would join me at the Smith Tower instead of Shauna. We were leaving Crystal Mountain shortly after 2:00, and we got to Alexia's in Issaquah at about 3:40. I used her bathroom real quick, and then Shobhit asked me to drive us the rest of the way home, as his contact lenses were bothering his eyes. He did a lot of side-seat driving, constantly exasperated with my refusal to drive as aggressively as he does, which was crazy making. We stopped for a few groceries at Amazon Fresh.

Alexia was home roughly an hour before she then got back into her own car to follow us to Seattle—she left her apartment at about 4:40. I had parked our car on the street so I could open the garage for her to park in our space and she would not have to pay for parking—her neighborhood parking pass is now expired.

Then, the two of us walked down to the Smith Tower. We walked down Madison to Broadway, took Broadway to James, then James down to the Smith Tower, We took the same route back afterward, not realizing how steep the hills on James are, so we got pretty tired on that first leg back.

The plan had been to have cocktails and probably dinner with Shauna. But, Shobhit was now making dinner at home, and Alexia wasn't much interested in sitting at the Smith Tower Observatory Bar. I had the tickets that just get us up to the 35th-floor observatory level, and we simply went straight out onto the outside observatory. This would be the first time I did it that way since the Observatory Bar opened, in 2016—this being my fourth visit since then. I do think the Smith Tower is now far more fun an experience sitting in the bar, but, I did just go there with Gabby and Amy for my work anniversary just last year. So this was fine.

I actually went twice in 2019. Five years later, returned in 2024, only to return again less than a year later. I can probably take another several-year break now.

Alexia, by the way, was deeply impressed—especially by the interior of this beautiful old building, constructed in 1914. We walked into the lobby hallway, where the elevators are, and she practically gasped. "Matthew, it's so beautiful!"

The space where you used to go in to check in, with souvenirs and such, is apparently being renovated into something new (I took a photo through a window)—something to take interest in whenever I do return again. This made for a very simplified checkin process. The front doors were locked, but a young lady was sitting right behind them, and opened to ask if we were going to the observatory. She let us in, and then down the hallway along the elevators was a woman at a podium who looked up my name for the ticket reservations.

The elevators are still operated by an actual human. He seemed to be a bit neurodivergent, and when he offered a "fun fact" about any president and said we could pick any number from 1 to 47, I said 35 and he spent the entire elevator ride back down telling us about the 35th president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was all quite clearly memorized, and a lot more than just one "fun fact." It passed the few seconds going down the elevator, though.

By the way, the weather wasn't too bad. It was still cloudy, and we felt just a couple tiny raindrops while out on the outdoor observatory that wraps around the 35th floor. It still made for some beautiful views.

Alexia and I walked back to my building together, and I let her back out of the garage. I've basically been either processing and uploading photos or writing this blog post since, while Shobhit has been participating in the first rehearsal for a stage reading he'll be performing of a play in a couple of months. I just realized I never did take the car back into the garage after Alexia left, though, so I guess I better put my pants back on and go do that.

[posted 9:43pm]