Day 3: Kirkland Cross Corridor to Lake Washington, Bellevue, WA

 Day 3 Highlights:

 

 If I were doing the real Camino, today my feet would have taken me 13.1 miles from Zubiri to Pamplona, where the “famous bulls run”.  My guidebook says I would “follow the Arga River, visit medieval churches, gaze at Pamplona’s Gothic cathedral and see where the famous bulls..."

In my real, or is it faux life, the rubber (or should I say my two giant heel blisters) hit the road.  Oh no!  Have I been stopped before I really start? I researched how to care for them, put appropriate band aids and antibiotic salve and decided to do a familiar route where I would have the option of calling a friend (husband) to come and rescue me just in case.

I started at my old friend the Kirkland Cross Corridor trail that goes through Google’s relatively new Kirkland campus, and headed south to Bellevue with the idea that I would explore Lake Washington in Bellevue and see where it took me.

It was slow going because of my blisters (I expect I will become obsessed with my feet by Day 5), and the heat.  It started at 75 degrees and went up to 90 two and a half hours in (23-32 degrees Celsius for those north of the border). My usual 3.6 mile/hour pace slowed to 3 and I kept moaning (to myself) about how little I was progressing.

In Bellevue, as I tried to find the best way to Lake Washington, I ended up in a stark, very exposed, hot construction area that had roads that seemed to only go uphill.  (More moaning ensued.)  But then,  I came upon "old Bellevue" which has quaint coffee shops and overpriced but fun non-essentials shops.  The part I enjoyed the most was the shade and the outside display table of designer masks. 

I then came to the sweet intersection of Main Street and Lake Washington in Bellevue and everything changed.  A cool breeze from the water soothed me and the views started and didn’t stop as I passed Meydenbauer Bay followed by Clyde Beach Park.   

I traveled through the town of Clyde Hill (very fancy) on a long (again uphill) street that led me back to the 520 Seattle bridge trail to Kirkland.  I stopped for what is fast becoming a daily Faux Camino tradition – iced coffee at Starbucks, at Carillon Point where I heard the bells strike 4 and watched the boats and people in the marina. 

From there I passed our three amazing beaches along the Kirkland waterfront where people were kind of/sort of social distancing and then made my way back up to the Cross Kirkland Corridor, through the Google campus once more and then up the final hill home.

Thanks for joining me on Day 3. Enjoy the pictures below.  Tomorrow I will first see how I feel and if I have the courage, will start Day 4 where I left off in Kenmore on the Burke Gilman and head to Seattle.  


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