Extended Stay America Olympia Tumwater

What a wonderful evening last night. We had a great little going away party last night hosted by Tony and Kelli at their beautiful home. We had plenty of food and laughs, familiar faces and some great weather. I have to thank Kelli and Tony for the gluten/dairy free spread of food and everyone else for their additions. Sean's salmon was tasty. <br><br>Of most surprise was the arrival of Nate (Fleischman AT'99) and ...

Yesterday afternoon as we (Abbie, her mother and I) were driving around<br>Seattle when I spotted a beggar on the corner of the intersection.<br>Beggars in Olympia and Seattle are not uncommon, and sometimes I feel<br>something when I see them--"something" like pity, a degree of<br>compassion, resentment or irritation, but this guy really wrapped<br>himself around my heart and constricts it. He was Caucasian, probably<br>early 40's and his ...

... Starbucks has fan-damntastic marketing; that's it. (I hear they used to offer decent employee benefits, but that's neither here nor there.) I tried to let Starbucks redeem itself at my expense, but it failed and I feel repulsed that so many people subject themselves willfully to ****; to each his own, however. I wish there was a Coffee Bean &amp; Tea Leaf here, but alas, I'm in the state of Washington. There's a thousand ...

... with many misconceptions. I was able to still see many things (the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Emperor's summer palace, and Tienanmen square to name a few). however, most of my time was spent sitting at bars. I did meet many people and had many good conversations but I feel I squandered many days. I want this trip to be different. To that affect, I am going to do something I am typically against. I am going to make some plans ahead of time. My Plan ...

... dry and warm. We were always pleased to find some place to have a cup of coffee and get out of the weather briefly. That evening, about four blocks from our destination, the cart hit a bump and, much to our dismay, the center support post snapped from metal fatigue and we couldn't go another step. Fortunately, our host was at home and very willing to come and rescue us and our gear. More good fortune was just around the corner because Michael Hanway, our new host ...

Getting up at 4:30 in the morning to catch my flight was hard. Leaving my family and Jason was even worse. I didn't think I would have a hard time saying good-bye for 4-5 months, it's not THAT long...I guess I was wrong. I figured I could call, write, and e-mail but sometimes that just isn't enough. Mom got to go to the gate with me though, so that was nice, but once I stepped onto that plane I was on my own. My flight left at 7:50 am...and I was off!

... Had no idea what it was about, but it sounded fun! Everyone had their chairs and blankets lining the streets...as they do out here! But there was plenty of space so we went off to find food in our favourite eating place - a food court. The most amazing food court yet...the choice is amazing...you could eat your way round the world without leaving the mall!! Neil had his heart set on chinese, so shared an amazing plate of steaming noodles! Then went and staked out ...

... morning arriving in town in the early afternoon. Hood River is a great little town with loads of cafes and shops populated almost entirely by windsurfers, mountain bikers and snowboarders! I've never seen 5 windsurf shops on the same street!! We bagsied ourselves a top camp on an RV ground just over the river. However we discovered why no one else was really staying there when the cargo trains went past. These are no ordinary trains (all 58 a day), with 4 engine at ...

... and food to the people selling the fruits and vegetables. Mekong Delta, Near Siagon Mekong Delta, Near Siagon The merchants would put up poles showing what they had for sale. Mekong Delta, Near Siagon Some of the boats were permanently lashed together and others would come in every morning ...

... and Steve ordered a cup of coffee that was really quite good. The west coast is famous for roasting the life right out of coffee, (hence my derogatory moniker for their most famous coffee shop, "Charbucks"), but this was really fine. We went to the west side of Seattle and viewed the beautiful Alki Boardwalk. Then it was back home to Karen and Alan's and preparing for the long trip home.