August 11, 2013 Sunday Funday

Today was one my favorite days down at Point Ruston. We went to the waterfront in a few different areas to get pictures, but we coordinated friends to come down to do the 9 friends photo. It was fun to show people the new area and talk about the possibility of living down at the water. Though it was overcast, the weather was nice enough to wear shorts and a tank top. I was pretty surprised how clean the area was given there was a huge concert there the day before, but I guess it makes sense that they're on it. It was a happy coincidence that one of the friends that showed up for the picture has a family member doing the contest. She hasn't quite gotten past the trivia portion yet, so she has a lot to catch up on, but after the phone call he had with her I think she will get on it :)

I also attempted to get a cool photo of Jack Hyde Park, but it's not quite good enough, so I haven't turned this one in.

We had a pretty long conversation with a tenant as she was passing by to go home. We got to chatting; it turns out she was the 2nd tenant in the Copperline Apartments. She told us about the improvements they plan to make in the area and the features she's looking forward to the best. I was a bit disappointed that they will only have boutique-type stores in the shopping area. I think it would work with the area if there were a few shops that were priced toward middle-class shoppers. I've seen some really cool shops that were very worthy of shopping in. If the area is only filled with boutiques then it keeps some of the population from being able to shop there. We will see though. I know they have very smart people making sure everything in the area will make sense.

Something cool that she mentioned was the fact that they will be having more apartments on top of the movie theater. The other apartments will accommodate more families as they will have a lot of 3-bedroom apartments. It sounds like 247 Fitness is an excellent deal. Right now they have founder's specials for $19 a month. And if you rent from the Copperline Apartments you get a gym membership for one person for free. That's a pretty good perk. She doesn't know when the Forza will be up and going. The gym and the Forza are the two things I'm really looking forward to at first! One other thing she told us was about the deal they have between the Apartments and the Condominiums. Apparently if you decide to buy a condo from Copperline and decide to rent from the apartments first, they will apply the rent from the apartment to the mortgage to the condo. How cool!

After a few friends left a few more showed up...with like a million kids. :) We played with a volleyball, hacky sack, and rode the long board around. We stayed past sunset, but the kids had to get to sleep, of course, so we didn't stay too long in the dark. It was pretty windy, but the breeze off of the water made it a cooler night than I expected. Before we left we took a fun picture with everyone plus all of the kiddies.

August 9th, 2013 A Day of Sand, Dogs, and Longborders

Have you ever taken note about the sheer number of longborders that pass through the waterfront each day? It's to the point where I think I saw more longboarders mid-day than I did runners and strollers combined! Today we spent the majority of the day down near Marine Park. We took the dogs this time and they absolutely loved it. Daisy, my 7 year-old cockerspaniel mix is a bit of an adventurer so she didn't really like being on leash the whole time. She's a great dog off-leash, but with kids and whatnot all around I wouldn't want anyone to get nervous. Anyhow, River, my friend Tony's Golden Retriever was in the happiest of moods, but he was sad we didn't let him swim when we were down at the beach at Marine Park. We passed about 100 dogs today. I'm so glad to see people taking their dogs out on these beautiful days. We unfortunately forgot the poopie bags, but the waterfront is super stocked with those poo bag dispensers, so we used a few of those. I have so many, I plan to add a roll to one of the dispensers next time I'm there. Pay it forward...

We actually brought a long board as well. I planned to try my hand at longboarding in the new Point Ruston area since it is so well maintained and still a bit of a secret (so there are less people). I'm looking forward to seeing all of the people, retailers, and everything else down at the Waterwalk area, but for now it's kind-of nice. I have my own little mirco-chasm of the waterfront "all to myself". We went down to the second mosaic to check-in as part of the contest. Again, we tried our best to come up with a cool photo to accompany the check-in. And Tony started coming up with creative ideas for the commercial using the mosaics...though I'm not sure we have the technical skills to pull off our grand schemes :)  Here are a few photos from the mosaic:

I think it's really cool about the time and energy it took to build the mosaics. Here is a News Tribune article from 2012 explaining the mosaics' construction. On our journey along the path we ran into a yoga class. There were about 7 people doing yoga at mosaic one. I think that's so cool that the class is on the Waterwalk. It reminded us of those fitness videos where they have like 3 people on a platform over looking water. :)

I decided not to longboard because I was getting hungry and it was decently hot today. We went to the Ram for dinner (on the waterfront, of course). I haven't been there for a while, so I was pretty impressed with the fact that they take your cell phone number down and text you when your table is ready. That means no more waiting around to hear your name. Even those other buzzer things have a proximity issue. In the case that the wait is around 20 mins or more you can take more time to enjoy the waterfront and come within 10 minutes of them texting you. So cool. I recently read in a magazine that they did a study on the happiest people and one common thing was their affinity for trying new things. Since I read that a few weeks ago I have been trying to open my mind to new experiences by trying new dishes at my favorite restaurants and being open to trying new life experiences as well! So, I got the meatloaf dish instead of my standard burger. It was good and hearty and I had plenty for leftovers.

We enjoyed our time sitting on their back deck on the water. The weather was perfect and it was nice to watch the parasailing and sailboats on the water. The sunset was approaching and Tony wanted to try to get some sunset shots from the Dickman Mill Park, so we got the dogs from the car and walked over to the park from the Ram. He had a cool concept for the photos, but it doesn't appear that he got any he liked enough to submit for the contest. I've really started reflecting and realize that this contest has been just what my summer needed! Even if I don't end up winning, I will have still spent more time in an area that I have always loved. I'm trying not to get my hopes up. When I think about the possibility of living at Copperline, I get excited and hopeful, but without the contest I won't be able to afford it just yet. I just graduated from UW Tacoma in June and have some loans to pay down before I indulge. Who knows what the future holds?

Tomorrow is the Underwater Music Festival which will be held at the new Point Ruston waterfront area. The website says there could be over 10,000 people there. They last held the festival in 2010 and there were over 4,000! That's so cool. I have a friend's kid's birthday party to go to though, so I'm not sure that I will be able to make it, but I have sure promoted it on Facebook. That's just super cool and I hope I'm living there next year when the festival comes to my doorstep. We have big plans for Sunday with family and friends down at the waterfront, so if I don't blog tomorrow, never fear, you will hear from me again on Sunday. Good night friends.

August 7th, 2013 Why I love the Ruston Way Waterfront

So this is actually a challenge under the ambassador headline. I am asked to write about "why I love the Ruston Way Waterfront". I don't mind because I would love to talk about the Ruston Way Waterfront. I've been doing this contest for a little over 4 days and I've been back to the waterfront 6 times since then. This summer I've probably been there 20+ times. If I get an opportunity to cruise the waterfront I do. I love to see the people walking, biking, rollerblading, falling in love, walking their dogs (sometimes cats), catching fish, playing Frizbee, running, skateboarding, duck gazing, exploring, contemplating life, etc. I've done most all of those things. Does anyone remember the man who was stuck in the early 90s and would play rad old music and wear old school roller skates and dance around all day everyday each summer.

There are so many small changes the waterfront has undergone over the past 14 years I've been coming here. The sundial is such a cool feature because it genuinely tells time. It's also a great photo opportunity. Here's a picture of my good friend Elizabeth partaking in this photo op sometime last year.

I was so stoked when they added the Tacoma Chinese Garden and Reconciliation Park a few years back. I watched it as it was built and looked forward to walking around the beautiful sites. One of my favorite parking spot for the waterfront includes under the bridge where a lot of cars don't park. I like to start at one end of the waterfront and walk all the way down. Here's a fun pic of me and a few friends down there a few months ago.

Last, let's not forget to mention the amazing new addition to the Ruston Way Waterfront- the Waterwalk. This is a picture from the outskirts of the waterwalk from March of this year. Look at the colors!

As you can see I love going to the waterfront to take pictures. I spend most of my time there finding beautiful things. I can wait to go there later today to take more pictures for the contest.