I’ve had to drastically reduce my downhill speed because my rear passenger shouts “yellow light!” as soon as we pick up the pace and cold wind hits his face. Not to be left out, the front kid shouts “blue light!” but I think his fairing keeps him warm enough and he’s just returning the favor of shouting out his brother’s favorite color. We discussed which specific body parts are getting too cold and the answer was: face, neck, and tail (because they’re puppies, you know). So we headed to REI for ski goggles and balaclavas.

I was delighted to find $10 clearance Scott Little People Goggles, but the kids didn’t like the $15 Seirus Thick-n-Thin Headliner Balaclavas I’d admired online from home and chose the $30 Turtle Fur Windtech Maskot Beanies. They’re worth the extra cost–the kids are more comfortable with the little nose hole and they’ll fit forever and work great in the snow, too. But then our visit got even pricier as we found plush salmon near the checkout. I wanted to replace our lost yellow perch with a salmon or two–every Pacific Northwestern child should have a toy salmon, right?–and at least we saved on shipping by buying on the spot. So we added two Cabin Critters to our haul: sockeye for the four-year old and chinook for the two-year old. We’ll earn a dividend big enough to also buy salmon for Mr. Family Ride and me at this rate.

I have yet to choose a favorite route to REI and often get lost on the way there if I haven’t studied the map closely before heading over. I’ve already forgotten the route I took there, but to avoid the Mercer Mess of South Lake Union, I took Eastlake home. It was convenient in that Eastlake runs right alongside REI (I hadn’t realized this before!) but Eastlake isn’t the most pleasant street to ride along, being so busy. I resorted to the sidewalk for half a block to avoid a delivery truck blocking my sharrow, but otherwise it wasn’t so busy that I couldn’t use the road. And it certainly is direct. I’ve also been taking Dexter a lot lately to avoid the South Lake Union construction, but I have to admit it’s really not that bad for bikes…despite the BICYCLISTS SLOW DOWN DANGER AHEAD signs.