A Road Trip

My espresso machine has been a bit temperamental lately -- it's Italian and getting old -- so this morning I took it to Seattle Coffee Gear for some attention. (The place is actually in Lynwood, a few miles north of Seattle.)

The nice men there listened to my description of the symptoms, asked a few questions, ran some tests, adjusted the grinder setting, and had the machine operating smoothly again. The procedure took about half an hour and they didn't charge me anything, even though I'd bought it elsewhere!

The selection of coffee machines and accessories in the store was amazing, as were some of the prices. The most flamboyant machine had strip lighting on its edges and looked like a vintage jukebox. Judging by the name on the front, I think that's what the designer had in mind.

After the business was taken care of I met Mr. Mole at a pub/bottle shop he's been raving about for a long time (and now I know why). There were 38 beers on tap and an excellent selection of bottles. We happily roamed the aisles, glasses in hand. I bought a few bottles and Mole bought a lot more.

We then proceeded to Naked City Brewing brewpub for a long lunch and another beer -- a small one, since I had to drive back to Bellingham. When Cynthia asked me where we'd had lunch, I paused -- for dramatic effect -- between City and Brewing!

It was another great day.