Life and vagaries of Seattle weather

For a writer of travel blogs, it never occurred to me to write a blog on a place I lived around for two-odd years, until now, that is, almost a year later, nevertheless, here goes...
Before I traveled to Seattle, I was curious to know how the weather would be like, to prepare for appropriate clothing et al.. but nothing would prepare me for the vagaries of the weather defining my life here.

In Seattle, it rains. Enough said.
It drizzles, it rains, it pours, just to drizzle again. Add in grey clouds, cold winds and  an average temperature of 10C and you have a perfect picture of almost any day in Seattle.
So what does one do in such a situation?
You move to California.
Or you plan your life around the weather just like you would plan around an infants' sleeping-burping-feeding times.
Seattle seasons go something like this -
Spring - April to May is when you still bundle up and stay indoors and do essential outdoors only. Like taking pictures of the beautiful blossoms outside. By late spring they'll bloom and you will get your sunny days, albeit @ 5C, but by this time of the year you'll thank such blessed days!
April is also time to visit the tulips in Skagit valley, which is open the entire month.

Tulips @ Skagit Valley

Blossoms in full bloom

June is rainy is when you want to do the plan-by-the-hour scheduling of your day.You plan your day according to the hourly forecast on www.weather.com, right down to cloudy and sunny changing to sunny @ 11 a.m. means an outing to park , and ensuring you make it back in time for sunny changing to cloudy with rain @1 p.m. And forecasts being as they are, also means being on your toes to be prepared for change from a sunny @ 11 a.m. to dark, depressing and looming clouds @ 11.15 a.m.

Chism beach park 

Another must-do indoor activity is a visit to the Museum of Flight, which houses many aircraft's  including the supersonic Concorde and Air Force One.

Autumn - September,October is fall and chilly, but make the time to go out for some amazing views of the fall colors in bright cold sunlight.

Summer - July and August is when you should live outdoors. Literally. Because that's about the only time you're going to see the sun, so live it up! Fishing, barbequeing, beach volleyball around the Lake Washington, trekking in Olympic national park, around Mt Rainier or up the Cascades,definitely Family 4th on Lake Union, feed giraffes in Woodland zoo or visit the Bavarian-themed town of Leavenworth, or fish and chips at Alki beach- take your pick, just don't sit at home. And there will also be one day in this season when it'll get so hot you just won't be able to sit at home. How's that for contradictions!

Giraffes out for a feed@ Woodland zoo

Leavenworth - the Bavarian themed-town

Alki beach

Fireworks on July4th

Winter - November to March stock up and hibernate. Say goodbye to your neighbours whom you'll meet in spring. There will be the one day, of course when you must bundle up and come outdoors - for the black friday sales @ Macys or the premium outlets at Tulalip, and the traditional picture with Santa!

Snow late winter

But I will say this - given all of the above, there will be many a bright-chilly-day when you'll drive through WA-520's Rosellini floating bridge , from Medina to Seattle, with Mt Rainier in the background, and it'll  still be one of the most spectacularly beautiful places to live in.

A touch of divinity near the coast

So here goes my blog on my visit to Udupi and Kollur..

Udupi is an only an overnight train away from Bangalore, and yet million light-years away from the maddening rush of the city. Narrow winding roads with no traffic, trees are greener, heartbeats slower. The sleepy little train station gives you the feeling of having got off  a time machine. And its so consoling to know sleepy peaceful towns still exist and indeed, may it always be so!
First stop is the Mitr Samaj on Car Street for brunch  - yummy, tummy-filling fare and yet light on the stomach! It doesn't get much more value-for-money  at 30 Rs a plate either!
A half hour drive from Udupi train station is Malpe beach - be warned though, staying near the beach is a lot costlier but you can't beat the convenience of getting soaked on the beach and a warm bath only a few minutes away! Evenings bring a small crowd of folks to the beach, some venturing out for para sailing and riding on speed boats. Its still an enjoyable way to spend the evening watching an orange sun playing hide-and-seek with the clouds.

Para-sailing in Malpe beach

Post-sunset is also a great time to visit the famous Sr Krishna temple surrounded by eight mathas - darsan during deeparadhana is a truly spiritually enchanting experience as the lit diyas and smell of incense together engulfs you in a little bit of divinity in the tiny stone and wood temple - and as you gaze through the window to see the deity  its as if Lord Krishna has come down and blessed you Himself. An absolute must-go in Udupi.

                                             Paradise Isle Resort on Malpe beach

The next day was our chance to visit the Mookambika temple in the tiny temple-town of Kollur, an hour-and-a-half drive from Udupi - the route into the temple is lined with street-sellers selling toys and artifacts. The temple elephant gives out blessings quite charmingly in the outer courtyard of the temple, much to the delight of onlookers. And I was lucky(!) enough to get a bit of whack from the elephant (a rap for some sins, eh?) Outside, there is a neatly stacked shoes rack and clean bathroom for the convenience of the pilgrims. Being off-season, there was a short queue to go in, and men do have to remove their shirts before entering. The Goddess Devi adorned with pink flowers is truly beautiful and  radiates a powerful energy to the lucky who make it here. Priests of the temple will recite prayers and devotees can repeat-after - truly personalized and surprising to find in an old temple such as this! Sarawathi pooja for little ones happens every day and takes little under 10 minutes, do bring your cameras for this, as you can take pictures of the ceremony!

                                                       Enroute to Kollur

Last stop before taking the night train back to Bangalore was the tiny and somewhat off-the-beaten-track beach of Kapu, 10 kms from Udupi. White sands is characteristic of the area although the main attraction here is a 19th century lighthouse  standing atop rocks by the seashore. Not a very tall one as far as lighthouses go, but as one goes up the winding stairs, one's legs tend to get a wee-bit wobbly and yes, though the view from above is quite breath-taking, the somewhat tiny space does give the faint-hearted some very frozen legs! A very much must-go for a truly old-school attraction, although personally, I'll be taking a break from scaling any lighthouses! At least for now.

And therein ended our journey, my first to coastal Karnataka, and a truly enchanting one!

                                               Kapu beach lighthouse

                                               Kapu beach

Kapu beach - view from the rocks

Kapu beach - view atop the lighthouse

Kapu beach - view atop the lighthouse

Kapu beach - view atop the lighthouse