YMCA of Grays Harbor

The day kicked off with a drive down from Seattle, where I saw Belly and The Breeders at the Paramount Theatre the night before. My legs were definitely feeling the four hours of standing and bouncing around. After that, I made a quick stop in Olympia, Washington’s state capital, then headed south on the 101. The drive was beautiful – pine forests, logging country, and crossing the Columbia River into Oregon before finally hitting Astoria.

Paid the $12 drop-in fee and made my way to the 6-lane, 25-yard lap pool. Due to a shortage of lifeguards – probably still a hangover from COVID disruptions – they could only open three lanes. Seems like a lot of places, especially leisure and food spots, are still struggling to find staff these days.

Jumped in and got started... but the water was freezing! Still, powered through and got my swim done.

Afterwards, I headed across the street for a McDonald’s lunch. As I sat down in the restaurant, I ended up near a team meeting where the staff was going through a review with their area manager. They scored high 90s in everything, and when I overheard they got 97% for hygiene, I couldn’t help but wonder where that 3% went as I was eating my Big Mac!

Swim done, calories replaced, and feeling good – I’m now just five minutes away from Kurt Cobain’s childhood home and the Memorial Park under the bridge on the muddy banks of the Wishkah River in Aberdeen. Time to go pay a visit.