Holiday Inn Express Suites Tacoma

... is wonderful. I have a bedroom with a queen bed that the three of us sleep in. Isa has the coolest play room ever. You walk in and there is a loft with a double bed. It has a shelf so she can set her animals on to play. Downstairs she has her kitchen set up with a slide out that contains her art room. There is a little table, two chairs and drawers of art supplies. The kids have a blast. When we are at someplace that has nice weather I'll pull out her kitchen ...

... in the workshop (but, boy, was it a NICE shop, with auditorium-type seating). But they had a really interesting film about Lino, the Italian master who has influenced many other artisans in this area. And there were wonderful pieces on exhibit, including a collection of glass "canoes" suspended in air (named Endeavor, a work by Lino) that looked like an entire fleet approaching on the ocean. Tacoma's hills reminded Mike and me of San Francisco. There ...

... of here. We're pretty well covered on the caretaking end of things. We planned to have a caretaker training at Pension Del Plecchio involving a few key folks that have been and will be helping us get through the remainder of this. The group instead gathered in Mark's hospital room making the place feel a bit more festive. Remaining count after tomorrow's treatment - only 8 more radiation treatments and 1 more chemo.

... departure point for most hiking and climbing trips. Given its elevation, Xela enjoys a slightly more temperate climate than elsewhere in tropical Guatemala. Which is very nice. I spent a few days in Xela in January. I happened upon Quetzaltrekkers when, on a whim, I joined two Aussie friends on a trek up Mt. Tajumulco. As I learned more about the organization and their mission, I was hopeful that at some point ...

... would take two days (waiting for parts). We didn't have that kind of time. The young sales guy (the car owners son) tried to fix the oil leak, but couldn't. We asked about registration and insurance, basically what we'd need to get it on the road. He said that it wouldn't be a problem, but some of his methods and suggestions seemed dodgy. Feeling more and more dejected, we said we'd go for a coffee and have a think about it. He said ''no problem, there ...

... train ride: Salzburg to Switzerland Worst train ride: Overnight train from Krakow, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic (train stopped every hour for NOTHING with screeching brakes which woke us up hourly). Best taxi: Salzburg Mercedes Worst taxi: Extremely stinky man in Pilzen, Czech Republic (We could barely breathe in the back seat - yuck!) Best city for taxi's: Krakow, Poland Worst city for taxi's: Sorrento, Italy and Naples, Italy (they drive without ...

... it on Saturdays... I even offered to pay her to come in and the answer was still no. Ugh. Chris can edit from contact sheets, but I can't, so basically, I feel like I haven't seen anything since Tampa FL!! It's very frustrating (for me). So now I sit at the lab while Chris goes through the negs, and since we couldn't find the light table (lost somewhere in Bokeh) before we left Montana, he has to copystand shoot the negs here at the lab ...

We are sweaty from the heat, itchy from the grass, and wet from the fountains. Where next? Well, the lobby of the highrise Sheraton, of course, to check in and live fancy for a while. There is a reception going on, black tie and spangly evening gowns and a string quartet. Okay, let's get upstairs and get cleaned ...

... morning we went back to Ocean Shores and had breakfast at Homeport Restaurant and then a drive on the beach. We're packing up now to go to the Tacoma area for tonight and then to Mark's tomorrow afternoon for the weekend. We ended up in Puyallup at Majestic Mobile Manor RV Park. The RVs are really packed in here on gravel with no tables, grass or anything. Oh well, it's a place to park and it has TV. We went to Tacoma to see the Dale Chihuly exhibits. I love his glass ...

... out what the things we were seeing actually did. There was one almost completed plane at one end, as bits of the next plane were being assembled around us, waiting for their turn to be connected all together. After viewing the assembly area we again made our way out to the bus, which then drove us over the freeway on the Boeing bridge (which the planes must also cross) past the painting buildings and to the final preparation areas. Here we drove past the planes ...