Embassy Suites Hotel Seattle Bellevue

... carrying any live plants, fruit or animals?" We answered, "Dirty clothes and driftwood" and "No" and he told us to have a nice day...karma rules once again... We got to the hotel in Bellevue around 10:30 or so, loaded up our suitcases with rocks and wine, and got to sleep. Tomorrow's itinerary includes a 9:40 departure, connecting flight at Chicago Midway, and on to Tampa...hopefully with all the wine bottles intact...

We leave in two days. Today is packing day. This is the gear we will be carrying on the bike and believe it or not it all fits into four panniers, some small frame bags and on the rack. We also took the bike apart today. Lets hope it all fits into the carrying cases. That part of packing will happen tomorrow so stay tuned. I hope it is ridable when we get to Adelaide.

... a few hours in the coffee shop, we headed out into the rain to see the Seattle Space Needle. We took the elevator to the top of the swaying landmark. The 360-degree view was great, but a little hindered by the gloomy clouds. After a walk around the outside deck, we took the elevator back down to the gift shops, resulting in queasy heads and stomachs after such a quick ride up and down the building. With matching headaches, we ...

... morning we weren't up early. We had a lazy one and eventually braved some fresh air about midday. We rode the monorail up to Seattle Center (that's American for Centre) which took about two minutes. It's not just that it's fast, it's just not very far, only about 7 blocks. First stop was some grub where we treated ourselves to possibly the worst Thai food in the world. To make matters worse near the food court was a stage and we were subjected to a show by a family of ...

... Ashley and I were pretty good at the game and we were getting quite competitive but still managing to have a few laughs here and there. We started gathering an audience, mostly men amazed by the fact that women can actually play this game. We had a few offers of playing doubles, which first Ashley and I thought that it would be difficult, but the we decided to give it a go and yes it was hard, but it was fun. Needless to say that Ashley and I weren't drinking much at ...

... traditional uniforms were constantly combing the aisles, passing out drinks and snacks throughout the flight. The movies were on-demand so you didn't have to wait for them all to end to watch the next. We even got the great seats we deserved because we had booked our tickets more than 8 months before. Any alcoholic beverage you could think of was mixed up any time you wanted it. It was ...

... weather didn't cooperate. We drove about 15 miles toward 'Hurricane Ridge" and decided to turn around. The views are spectacular and we did see a few deer along the way, but that was the extent of experience. We stopped for lunch in Port Angeles and then made the 2 1/2 hour drive back. The boys had a couple hours of daylight to play with some friends they had made last week at this RV park. We'll stay here until Friday, when we begin heading east.

... the boys or house chores. Well, share their life, the kids and Camila's visit during Easter holidays, even celebrate Rosario's birthday. Today, a visit to downtown Seattle is programmed with Claudia, Tomy and Mateo; Walk and visit Seattle Centre with the huge architectural sculptures, Music Museum and get wet under the International Fountain. See Alejo's photos.

... three days of "this is what it means to be a PCV" begin on Tuesday. I have really enjoyed e-mailing my soon-to-be fellow volunteers the last few months and am excited to meet everyone. This year is the 45th anniversary of the Peace Corps and the University of Michigan is hosting a large semi-formal party on Wednesday evening that we will all attend. Should be a great opportunity for me to get some smoozing in HA HA! I ...

Komarom, Hungary, Sunday, December 5th 2005 Part ONE One way to gauge the degree of Travel difficulty is the hotel room mini-bar. A good day's travel does not earn the mini-bar a second glance. A bad day on the road requires, let's see, so far, a bag of sesame fish crackers and a bottle of Theodora Water, which may also contain fish. The TV is tuned to 'The Flintstones' in a language I don't understand - the only words I recognize are when Fred says "...remember, Wilma..." I think I've ...