4:30-6:30 at The Mountaineers's south climbing plaza. Ed showed total beginners like me how to make two basic knots: Figure 8 and Butterfly. He's very easy going and patient. Gear Junkie provides ropes and harnesses. I was able to climb a wall (wait in queue) while one of the Gear Junkie employee holding the rope on the other end. Afterwards, everyone was given a buff and two raffle tickets, and I and many others asked Ed to sign it.7pm, event moved to Eddie Bauer store in University Village. I didn't want to be at the store too early, so went to check out the very first Amazon Books nearby. It's been a year and half, since Amazon opened this brick-and-mortar premise. Very busy this Saturday evening. Quite a few sales person walking around and asking if I needed help. Everything (except for maybe magazines) lists user ratings on Amazon. Only the highest rated items are stocked in store. Most are books, but also gadgets like Kindle, Fire TV, Echo, Bose headsets, USB cables, batteries. There're also a few sections arranged as "if you like this" - the left most book on the shelf, "you'll like these" - the rest of the shelf. Around the walls and windows are steps to sit, with Kindle Fire on the side for you to use if needed. Comfortable space to while away time, while browsing the books and magazines.
This Eddie Bauer store is quite small for an event. Not many people showed up, maybe two dozens. Gear Junkie gave everyone in the Eddie Bauer store another raffle ticket, and showed a few events and outdoor groups in Seattle on screen. Ed spoke of First Accent line of clothing since he's an Eddie Bauer Athlete. He then hung around for a bit chatting with whoever wants to talk to him, and later with the owner of GearJunkie. He left during the raffle. Here’re the gears that were raffling away!- Maximus Duffel - 45L - Alchemist 40 Backpack - Stargazer 2-Person Tent - Flying Squirrel 40° Sleeping Bag - Cenote Bladder - 3LAnd some Eddie Bauer gift cards and GearJunkie T-shirts. I got a $25 gift card.
