On the first Sunday of June I convinced my Golden Gardens walking partner to attempt eight real estate Open Houses with me, none of them close to home. No, these were part of what was billed as a Ballard Tour of Homes set up by local realtor Deborah Arends of RE/MAX. Each house was open for just one hour and the locations ranged from Phinney Ridge to Crown Hill.

For starters we should have left the block before the clock started on the first stop, not after. "Amazing 1912 Craftsman" read the postcard mailing that was our itinerary. What was amazing was that we managed to haul ourselves up the P-Patch staircase to Phinney Ridge and all the way south to the shadow of the Norse Home with three minutes remaining. There was Deborah's trademark PT Cruiser parked outside. I'd never walked up there before but didn't have the breath left in me to protest to Deborah that it was hardly Ballard. We peeked inside the museum-quality home and then she prepared to lock the doors and leave for the next location.

"We should have asked for a ride," I told Jo-Ann as we made our way back across the swoopy parts of Phinney and tried to walk 32 blocks north within 25 minutes (we didn't make it). An associate was at the NW 70th open house and then it was Deborah again at NW 14th and 83rd. At that location ("1941 Cape Cod Classic") we had a chance to talk for a few minutes. For Sale signs with the name Deborah Arends on them are very prevalent in Ballard, and I often spot the white PT cruiser that sports her name and the RE/MAX logo. There are two realtors on my block alone but they drive unmarked cars. I was curious.

Deborah and her husband are both in the business, "but totally separate." We discussed the dilemma posed by meeting a mate who lived outside of Ballard, in her case Maple Leaf. "Ballard won," she told me. She has been in the business 20 years and although she focuses on Ballard, repeat clients lead her to many parts of Seattle. "Most people can't live in their starter home forever," she said.

"I do," I said, having explained that my friend and I were not visiting open houses as part of an actual house hunt, but to combine orienteering with meeting a high profile realtor.

"Good for you," Deborah said very sincerely. I'd expected more of a salesperson based on her marketing presence but in person she reminded me of an enthusiastic kindergarten teacher - a combination of limitless energy and shrewd people skills. She was unfazed by our quest, allowing that bicyclists weren't uncommon but she couldn't recall anyone else attempting a full tour on foot. She told us that she and her associates have about a tour per month, buyers like them for their efficiency and she and her team find that they can have as much traffic in one hour as in an afternoon.

As we walked to our fourth Open House we considered streets new to us, combinations of trim color and siding, heirloom tomato plants for sale and the block where someone sells fresh eggs. Kitty corner to the completed, long-disputed gas station on the south corner of the Safeway store on NW 15th and 85th I fell in love with a house. The outdoor rooms of the "spacious 1928 Tudor" rivaled anything I'd ever seen at the Flower & Garden Show. An associate showed us before and after photos, plus the Sunset magazine feature even as the owner continued to fuss with the garden. He had taken a boxlike house sitting in the middle of a square of lawn and transformed it into a period gem surrounded by lush, private garden rooms. For days afterward I could only mutter, "What a genius." He worked on the house for ten years, once it sells he's going to build a home on several acres, "I want to work in feet," he said, "instead of inches."

The final duplex was barely worth a walkthrough. I was on the verge of calling my daughter for a ride as I became hungrier, thirstier, my legs more tired. Our final tally was just five houses out a potential of eight. The open houses didn't seem that busy but when I spoke to Deborah afterward she told me they'd gone very well. Later in the week Northwest Multiple Listing Service released its numbers through May 2008; 549 home sales closed in Seattle for the month. According to Deborah's numbers 78 homes sold in Ballard during that time period, although our Phinney hill climb made me wonder about neighborhood boundaries.

"Why are we doing this?" I asked Jo-Ann partway through the odyssey. She just gave me a look since it was my idea. I'm a pushover for events that strike my fancy, scavenger hunts, bicycle rides with a theme. I must like the excuse to explore new streets, look into other homes and gardens, and in this case play beat the clock while trying to keep up with a white PT Cruiser. I'd always wondered what motivated Deborah Arends to work so hard. It might have been simpler if I'd just asked her instead of trying to walk the outer limits of Ballard. The answer seems simple now. Deborah Arends loves her job, and her job is to help people buy and sell houses.