Arctic Club Hotel-Seattle

... in the car. We did get to see Pier 39 and a bit of the street vendors so it wasn't all scary. It was actually quite fun!

NEWBERG, OR
After leaving San Fran we headed on our longest car ride of the trip to Newberg, Or. It took about 11 hours to reach it but the drive was BEAUTIFUL!!! Traffic went well until we hit a dead stop due to an accident. There was probably about 2 cop cars, 3 ambulances and a fire truck that drove past us but when we got to the sight ...

... tour book. Exactly when do you propose I plan a second trip to Volunteer Park to climb this tower? Precisely. I cannot.

After that disappointment, we wandered over to the Seattle Asian Art Museum, and caught a glimpse of the Space Needle (tune in tomorrow for up-close coverage of this beloved Seattle landmark). We took a quick tour through the art museum, which I think Jason and I enjoyed more than Matthew and Elyssa. I guess you ...

... ich allerdings gar nicht uebersetzen konnte. Toller Laden!

Nach und nach hab ich mich dann der Space Needle genaehert.Nicht ganz unanstrengend, denn vom Strassen- bzw. Huegelbild her erinnert Seattle sehr an San Francisco. Nicht, dass ich je dort gewesen waere, aber das uebliche Bild mit Cable Car und steilen Strassen.... fehlt eben nur das Cable Car, aber ansonsten ist die Aehnlichkeit nicht von der Hand zu weisen.

Die Space Needle selbst war dann schon sehr beeindruckend ...

... br>
While neither Alex or I is up to anything miraculous, we are both feeling pretty damn happy these days. It seems as though we have finally settled into what our friend termed: the new normal. Being parents seems to feel pretty normal to us now. I can't believe it, based on how shocking it all was in the beginning. I guess its a sign of how adaptive humans really are.

I am cruising my way through graduate school, one semester ...

... Valinda and I figured we could get our caloric/caffeine needs met and go from there to the International District, which one of our guidebooks described as the only place in America where Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Vietnamese people lived and worked together.

Either the establishments listed by Yelp! did not exist, or the map did not accurately reflect their locations, because when Valinda and I arrived at the designated spot, we did not see any kind of ingestion ...

... and about 25 pairs of panties (because thats how I roll), and I think all of my computer stuff is together and ready. I have all my medicines, bug repellent, and...well...I just can't think of anything else right now. I am really tired. Tomorrow (er, today) I fly with Liz and Rufus to D.C. Finally another place on the map for this blog!

October 15, 2007 It's a boy!!! Ann and Pete welcomed John Taylor Montgomery to the world this morning...as Pete said in his email, Grace and Meredith are picking out his princess dress. Congrats Ann and Pete! Well - 6 days and counting 'til I am on a jet plane heading to Kathmandu. Holy Sh*t! What is this week like? Full of emotion, to-do lists, excitement, nervousness, questions (how do I get around Kathmandu??) Apparently the bicycle rickshaw is the way to go ...

... hike - Karlovy Vary, CZ; Murren walk up around the back of the town where we saw the cute old man! Worst walk: Rhine River walk to St. Goar (Boring!) Most crowded tour: Mt. St. Michel - Normandy, France Best people (friendliest): Anna, receptionist in our hotel - Krakow, Poland; Lettie in Bacharach, Germany; Artemis and Anna - Santorini, Greece Worst people: Bath, UK and France Best weather: Karlovy Vary, CZ, Murren, Switzerland, Croatia and Santorini ...

... can see, for hundreds of miles, there are no crops, no cattle herds, no farms, no houses... It's bizarre... this barren void. Who owns it? What is used for? Why aren't ALL the strip malls in the universe here instead of taking up valuable space elsewhere? Unfortunately, it was dark by the time we began our crossing of the Wenatchee Mountains, so we'll have to see that on the return drive... We actually know a lot of folks here in Seattle ...

... miles down the Hole-in-the-Rock road to the "Forty Mile Ridge" sign, turn left and go 6.7 miles to a parking overlook. From the parking lot one can actually see the entire hike and on the right is the exact place where you will ford the Escalante River(18" deep). Follow the cairns from the parking lot for several miles until you come to a cliff, where there appears to be no way down; look over the cliff and you will see a 15" crack in the rock which is an easy trail down ...