Gasworks Park and Ballard

Grayson and I went to Gasworks Park on Saturday, a park that once was a plant that converted coal into gas, and was bought by the city in the '70s and converted into a park...where all the rusty, industrial bits of the plant are surrounded by Lake Union, vegetation, and people with kites.


It's a fun place, with plenty to take pictures of: the downtown skyline with the Space Needle, the hills and bridges of Seattle around the lake, wild berries:

and thistles:


...until one's camera breaks. My camera decided to not only NOT connect fully with my lens over and over again, but to make nice plastic crunches whenever I tried to fix the problem. So all was lost, and I got off a whole four pictures or so before it decided to be a big ol' broken lame-o. Now I get to take it into the shop. Maybe while I'm there I'll get a new lens...

After that, the sunny day started raining, and Grayson went home to study and I went to Queen Anne for a meetup group. The rain kept pouring until just as I got to the University District it stopped raining, as the sun was setting. Grayson and I met for pizza, which after only one meal and a day full of walking, two slices ended up not being enough for me, but Grayson insisted that we find a treat in Ballard, one of the last few neighborhoods to explore on our list. So we made our way to Ballard, where Archie McPhee's was closed and it was mostly boring and lame, and I felt grumpy and sad that the trip was for nothing. And then...


...we found a Trophy Cupcakes, a happy little cupcake shop. It was a perfect treat, and super fun to boot. They had chalk-drawings of bunnies, and delicious cupcakes of many flavors, and delicious Stumptown (local roaster) coffee. My lame trip to Ballard was justified! They even made a pretty design in our lattes:


All in all, a great find. Grayson had a MoFro cupcake (chocolate cake with mocha frosting), and I had a Coconut cupcake (chocolate cake with coconut shavings frosting). I also got a LEGALIZE FROSTITUTION t-shirt. Because this is an issue I support strongly. More frosting, regulated safely by the government.

Also, Hobbes got his first bath:

Do not feel bad for him: as you may know, kitties usually give themselves baths and do not usually need help from humans, but not when a kitty commits the unspeakable evil that Hobbes committed. Then, you get help from humans. He didn't seem to hate it, though. Freak.

Next week, I swear, we are going to go to the Arboretum. I will definitely want a working camera, though.