Quality Inn & Suites Federal Way

... That all was quick too and I got my Korea stamp for entering and departure thanks to this little fiasco. After getting through all that, I got to see a bit of the airport as they had just started boarding. Probably the nicest and most modern airport I've seen.

Got onboard just fine and more nice people everywhere. Only thing unusual was they have a carry on check here at the gate as well as the one at security. Got onboard and away we went. Only 10 ...

We actually visited Seattle on numerous days during our final 7-10 days in mainland USA but I've posted it here as July 13th just to give the blog some semblance of order. I know it's a movie title but it rings true for our Seattle visit because we didn't actually sleep at all in Seattle, we of course stayed out of town in Falls City but so fascinating and fun was our time in Washington state's biggest city that we did end up sleeping a lot less than normal. Ok, so now that I've ...

... page. 4. The overall good mood that everyone is in over here. 'Have a good day', 'You have a good night now', 'Welcome to ...', 'If you've got any questions feel free to ask, I'm happy to assist'. The entire service industry blows me away. 5. The accents. There are regional differences. Californian accents are the hardest to get the handle on for some reason, the other states generally have a more drawn out sound that you get a handle on pretty quickly. Thanks for reading this far. Paul.

... tour guide Our first night on the road was in Van Horn Texas. This town appears to be typical of what is occurring in small towns throughout the country. It apparently was once a thriving community. Now it has 10-15 motels, a couple of eating places and not even one grocery store. Understand they have to drive 130 miles to El Paso to get groceries. There are so many motels because it is ...

... Suddenly a girl got on the dance floor wearing a white t-shirt, which glowed just like Geoff's had. Geoff smiled, went over to her and said "you're bright" - what a chat up line! Strolled around all 8 Avenues of Dawson and at midnight we went for a drive to watch the sun-not-set and crashed at 3 a.m. Three of us took a bike ride on the Top of the World Highway - 26 kms. We got to see a retired dredger from the Klondike before taking the short drive ...

... with a 4 hour layover ....I envy those who can sleep on a plane; I sometimes get fitful cat naps.) Sitting next to the window may sound nice, but your two seat partners must move out of the way every time you want to get up. I will write a little more later when I have rested and can think more clearly. : )

... you a member? Amy was. As she tells it, "For 7 years while living overseas, I was a proud member of that club, thanks to my father who got me the subscription. I poured over the magazine again and again and I wore my little yellow button (I still have it). In the 70s, it seems Africa was more often the topic. Lions, elephants, the Masaai, the Serengeti, researchers in tent camps all seemed so exotic and romantic to me ...

... and when they did, it was often as you'd see on Jerry Springer - a lot of whooping, high-sky clapping, often standing up and doing so for no particular reason, with a lot of 'you go Mariners' thrown in. I was just cracking up pretty much the whole time. There are also Hummers (big cars, if they've passed you by). Everywhere. I'm not too sure how many gallons to the mile they do, but they are probably as environmentally friendly as Chernobyl. That's just the regular ones ...

... traditional Jewish dress who weren't really in line for anything but looked like they could have been in line for everything. Once we realized that whatever they might be in line for wasn't "non-Turkish citizen passport control," we managed to zip up to the front and pop right through. After an unpleasant experience at a coffee shop with something that turned out to be almost but not quite ...

... My brother just had a baby girl so it's been amazing to see her. It's funny because I was so ready to go and travel and focusing so much energy onto that that I had completley forgot about the present moment. Now that I've taken the time to enjoy NOW I'm a bit sad to leave, but excited at the same time. Why is it that I rose upto love, as Bob Marley would say, 2 ...