Day 24: Bellevue Square Mall

Highlights:

I took yesterday off because I had a pressure bruise on my right foot that I was worried would only get worse and potentially bring my Camino to a rude halt.  I followed RICE instructions (Rest, ICE, Compression, Elevation) for the day, got myself a pair of very padded, slightly bigger Skecher walking shoes (good old Costco – for $25) in preparation to start again. 

As you probably know, there have been horrible fires raging on the West Coast with California, Oregon, and Washington state being presented with apocalyptic skies (San Francisco), mass evacuations (10% of Oregon’s population), and very unsafe air quality (Seattle).  A local news source reported: “As of Friday (today) at 11 a.m. PDT, Seattle’s air-quality index was at 197 (unhealthy) while Beijing was at 13 (good).  Washington’s King County Covid dashboard reported “Due to poor outdoor air quality from regional wildfires, [19] outdoor COVID-19 testing sites have been canceled for Friday Sept. 11th.  Ok, this is not funny anymore ☹

When my son texted me first thing this morning that perhaps considering not walking today would be a good idea, I agreed with him.  (Smart man!)  However, having already taken one day off, I didn’t want to lose more momentum.  So, I decided to act like the senior that I am and do a mall walk – a Mall Camino, if you will.

At 10:45 am (the mall didn’t open until 11), I headed to Bellevue Square – a large, trendy, and posh “community of stores”,  a short drive away with all my usual equipment and new Skechers on my feet. 

At first it was amusing to pretend that the pedestrian bridge to the mall was my “trailhead” and to take pictures of carefully cultivated greenery and some fun items in the shop windows.  I even was engaged in an interactive camera that wanted to put a sunflower on my head.

However, after 2 hours of walking, I was distressed when Strava told me I hadn’t quite completed 4 miles and I was progressing under 2 miles an hour.  I was annoyed that my usual pace was being dragged down by shoppers and strollers who probably didn’t have an important mission such as mine to accomplish.  I realized that if I went my usual pace, I risked being stopped for fleeing from shoplifting.

So, I sat at a socially distanced table, pulled out my Purell, removed my double mask and glumly ate my power bar and drank my energy drink – hoping for inspiration.  When finished, I used one of the many high quality potties the mall offered and took myself to the expansive multi-level garage where I power-walked my average mileage from 1.8 to 2.7 miles per hour.  While I was in the garage, I took some shots of the smoky sky and obscured views and watched three teenage lads prank an emergency phone box, dialing the number and taking off. I heard the frustration in the responder as her voice echoed in the empty parking lot: “Is anyone there? Do you need help?” I suspect this was not her first rodeo.

I returned to the mall where I zoomed with a good friend, caught up on life, and enjoyed sharing our opinions over items we didn’t need as I switched my camera to do some virtual window shopping.

As has been my habit on the Fauxmino to date, I watched what was going on around me and formed some opinions.  The stores that seemed the busiest were Tesla (perhaps contributing to better air quality is top of mind today?), Peloton (pandemic urges to become more fit?); and Apple (technology clearly is supporting social distancing).  It was interesting to note that the Microsoft store had closed and polite, well-dressed hawkers were outside countless clothes, cosmetic, and sundry stores, trying not to appear desperate at the lack of takers. Covid-related restrictions on the quantity of shoppers allowed were optimistically marked outside every store.

So, while I kept my pilgrimage going today, I was not inspired by mall walking and probably will not return to Bellevue Square any time soon.  The good news is that while I was tempted, I felt good about not purchasing anything and keeping my sense of humor about how silly the Strava walk pattern looks. 

I still intend to tackle the Cedar River Trail next but may have to wait a few days for the smoke to clear enough to make it safe.  You stay safe out there too and ¡Buen Camino!






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