The Green Girl's Seattle Waterfront Run

The Green Girl went went up to Seattle this weekend for her maternal great aunt's 88th birthday celebration.

In Japanese culture, the 88th birthday is known as 'beiju'. Beiju is a special celebration because when combined, the Japanese characters for 88 米寿 resemble the character for rice 米.

I flew in Thursday after work. The sun was setting over Mount Rainier as the plane began to make its descent into the city.

Early Friday morning, I went for a run with my second cousin, Stan, on the Seattle Waterfront.

The morning was cool and crisp. The thick fog prevented Mr. Green Garmin from getting any signal.

We headed down to Pike Place Market where the vendors were setting up for the day. I marveled at the whiteness of the fresh ice at the fish markets.

We ran along the Port of Seattle and gazed out at the ocean haze.

We headed west to the Olympic Sculpture Park at the Seattle Art Museum. The Olympic Sculpture Park is nine-acre industrial site that was converted into an outdoor open space for art. The park admission is free to the public.

I stopped to pose for a picture in front of a fountain. Stan later explained that the fountain, an art piece titled Father and Son by Louise Bourgeois, stirred significant controversy due to the nudity of the forms. Each figure's view of the other is obscured by the water to represent the estrangement between the father and son.

There were numerous cobwebs along the length of the railing along the waterfront. Each spider web was dotted with beads of dew.

Visibility was limited by the fog but the beauty of the Puget Sound still managed to envelope me.

Stan had to head into work so we parted ways downtown and I proceeded back to the hotel to wake up my sister.

A couple of blocks from my destination, I passed a mural quietly begging for affordable housing.

After breakfast, I could hardly wait for the REI Seattle Store to open. REI is my favorite store and I was anxious to see what their flagship store looked like.

At the entrance of the REI property, we saw trails to test out equipment.

We couldn't believe it when we saw an impressive looking waterfall. REI had managed to create a little oasis in the middle of a metropolitan area.

When we entered the store, the expanse took my breath away. I was in REI heaven.

I could have spent the entire day in that store but I limited myself to an hour.

I didn't have enough time to explore any of the local trails but I will definitely make a point to do some trail running next time I am in the area.

The Green Girl Has A Green Headlamp

The Green Girl went to her favorite store, REI this weekend because as an REI member, she received a 20% off a single item coupon and her annual dividend check this week.

For those of you not familiar with REI's membership program, the lifetime benefits include discounts and yearly dividends - typically about 10% of your purchases. My local REI's offer free classes on basic bike maintenance and hiking for beginners.

I've been coveting the both the Petzl Tikka 2 in Storm Gray (it has some green accents) and the Petzl Tikka Plus 2 Headlamp in Pistachio for months now. The price difference between the 2 models was $10.

After I explained I wanted a headlamp for trail running at night, the REI salesperson recommended the Plus model over the Petzl Tikka 2 because of the high-output LED and the red LED. The Tikka 2 has 4 LEDs but no high-output LED. She said the Tikka Plus 2's red light is convenient when you need to focus on something up close like reading a map. I was very pleased to hear this because the Tikka 2 had a green strap but a grey lamp whereas the Tikka Plus 2 lamp was actually green.

The Tikka Plus 2 is about the size of a pedometer. It runs on 3 AAA batteries. With the batteries, the lamp weighs 83 grams.

I also purchased the Petzl Poche Tikka 2 Pouch which has a pocket to store spare batteries.

When I got home, I noticed how convenient the packaging was. Instead of having to wrestle with the plastic, they pre-cut a tab in the back that you simply push through and then pull out. I was able to extract the headlamp from its packaging within seconds.

The design of the Tikka Plus 2 is very intuitive. I was able to pop it open easily to insert the batteries.

In its default position, the headlamp shines straight ahead but its angle can be adjusted to point downwards. According to the documentation, the white LED delivers 50 lumens in maximum mode and lights up to 35 meters. In economic mode, it is supposed to reach a burn-time of 140 hours.

The Tikka Plus 2 features 3 white lighting modes: maximum, economic and flashing mode. It also has 2 red lighting modes: continuous and strobe. To switch between the modes, you simply press the button on top but you do have to cycle through all the modes to get to your desired mode. One nice feature is that if selected, the lamp stays in red LED mode when you turn it off, so it is in red LED mode next time you turn it on.

The headlamp is supposed to be IP X4 water-resistant. I discovered IP stands for 'Ingress Protection' and the 2 digits following the IP X4 indicate degrees of protection.

The first digit of the IP code indicates the degree that persons are protected against contact with moving parts (other than smooth rotating shafts, etc.) and the degree that equipment is protected against solid foreign bodies intruding into an enclosure. The second digit indicates the degree of protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against the harmful entry of various forms of moisture (e.g. dripping, spraying, submersion, etc.). IP X4 means 'Protection from splashed water'.

Hopefully, I don't encounter a downpour when I am out with my Pistachio Tikka Plus 2.