Phoenix Inn Suites Olympia

Left Columbia Valley, waving good-bye to the orchards and vineyards, even a few fields planted with hops which reminded us of El Bolsón. Stopped at the public library in Yakima to check email, drove along Naches River and into Mt. Rainier National Park. What a beautiful drive! Up and up to the pass, the river bubbling clear and sparkling under the immense pines, the road ...

... s nothing more than a logistical nightmare as we shut down all of our resources here in Olympia, we are simultaneously scrambling to do our final prep work for a trip that will continue for a year. A year do you believe it. It's hard for me at times. Hopefully I've chosen the right pairs of underwear. <br><br>Each day has been comical and dreamy. This of course contrasted with the need to be focused and effective at finishing tasks makes for some pretty funny ...

COFFEE. Yes, I yelled it. I'm craving coffee. Not for its caffeine, not entirely for its flavors (though I already had some this morning for that benefit after experiencing an exquisite dream consisting of pulling espresso shots and making Jewish coffee. Do Jews have their own coffee?--in my dream they did!). <br><br>I had a delicious mocha from Coffee Mechanix this morning. Some people have varying views on what constitutes a ...

... to the brim right now. That is b-r-i-m-b, brimb." Bill, 2 beers after the child-rearing comment above. 8.26.08 Steph: "Thank you for loving me even when I am grungy." Bill: "It's not hard; I love grunge." 9.6.08 Steph: "Please don't play the synthesizer at dinner." Bill: "I'm not. I'm playing the AIR synthesizer." 9.20.08 Steph: "Wow! You can read cyrillic upside down." Bill: "It's easier upside down." 9.30.08 "I need a butt burqa." Steph, trying to ...

... tout ca parce que j`avais pas de monnaie pour une charette (Papounet avait raison). C`est pas grave j`etais impatiente a l`idee de prendre cette avion qui allait m`emmener dans cette ville qui m`a acceuilli durant pres d`un an de ma vie. Bon voyage! So that`s me, Sihame, 22. It`s with pleasure that I want to share with you my coming back in the US, after 3 years of absence. For the ones who don`t know me I had ...

Like the mighty Colombia River, we meandered our way across the Washington landscape from Spokane to Seattle along scenic highway 2. Myrtle (our minivan) ran like a dream, although she was not quite aerodynamic enough to miss a small bird that lingered one moment too long on the road. I imagine that more than one animal will suffer her wrath before the trip is over. The weather was foggy and typical for Washington in ...

OK, so we're done with toodling around San Juan Island. What say we get in this relatively short-looking ferry line? The Ferry Guide Person scribbles a number on our windshield. Matt wants ice cream. I'm hot and tired and hungry. I want FOOD. Like, lunch. We snarl. Finally we settle on corn nuts and the unrefrigerated turkey from yesterday. Toot toot the ferry's in. Do we make it on? Almost. We're the seventh car back that DIDN'T make it on. Oh well just ...

... day lazing around on a headland in the sun watching the sea lions surfing in the waves and the local artists at work. Hopefully we made good subjects for their work as we didn't move much! That evening I headed off into the forest for a quick blast on the bike and K walked for a while (but got too scared of the possible mountain lion attack and went back to the tent!) From Mendocino we headed north again towards highway 101. At this point it looked like we had plenty ...

... I was given that offer as well, which was flattering to say the least. I hadn't told that PI about UMICH, didn't think it would be received very well..scheduling the visit, wasting his time and all. So, after vacation, I'll formally take care of stuff. And a lot of stuff to take care of, selling the house, buying cars and a new house.. move. CRAZY few months, both past and future, that's for sure. But.. as someone here in Crete read off my ball cap and reflected, "Life is Good."

... time I hate it. AND...in the mean time, I can't believe that I'm in SEATTLE!!!!, I'm still sucking in the fact that I'm HERE, by chance, by luck by hard work...whatever it is , I'm here! Stories for later So I found that the Hotel had internet access on this very last day, so here I am checking my mounds of email that built up for a week, and updating this log. The days here have been awesome and lucky us, we only had one day of ...