Red Lion Hotel Tacoma

We made a day trip to Mount St. Helen's today. It was quite spectacular, but sobering. We stopped at the Visitor Centre near the I5 where there were some great displays and a moving video of the 1980 eruption of the volcano. We then continued up the 49 mile trip to Johnston's Observatory where there was ...

... and lupine in a multicolored bouquet. If nothing else has calmed our frazzled nerves this would be the perfect tranquilizer. Meandering through the forest following the Wind River to the Paradise Creek campground for a peek at a place we are sure to return. There is nothing like the Sirens calling, disguised as a tree canopy over a winding road to eat up all your travel time heading in the wrong direction. With no other ...

... to find a Wal-Mart. Wish us luck - the people around here seem to be very good at hiding grocery stores and other useful places. They do have their coffee market down pat, though. We have seen 11 Starbucks since leaving Tennessee. Yeah, I counted. Thanks for stopping by, Kelsey Today's reading material: USA Today Today's iPod choices: Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, John Hartford

Several years ago an aunt of mine was living in Seattle, Washington. I got to visit her in the year 2003. My mother had flown in to visit me from Texas and then we drove in my car up to Seattle. It would be the first time for both of us to visit Seattle. We visited many stores including the Made In Washington Stores ...

... and having fun as I barrel through my to do list, pack up my house, finish my contract work with Passages, pack, repack, cancel utilities, get boxes packed for shipping to Thailand, travel insurance, malaria meds, dentist and doctor appointments etc. So I've been enjoying my favorite foods (I've had sushi 5 times in 2 weeks), taking in the fall leaves, laying in bed for ten minutes just enjoying the feel of my fleece sheets, comfy mattress and pillows, wearing ...

... Dubrovnik, Croatia; Santorini, Greece (particularly Fira and Oia) Worst photo opportunities: Dedicated travel days; Rhine River - Bacharach, Germany Best Internet access: Villa Kolocep - Kolocep, Croatia; 24x7 Internet cafe in Fira, Greece Worst Internet access: Hotel Garni - Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic (we took the internet connection down in the entire hotel with our laptop - whoops!) Best authentic food: Pierogi - Krakow, Poland; Roesti - Murren ...

... market. a few things we did over the long weekend i can think of right now: lunched in a restaurant from sleepless in seattle with a view table, went out to see the salmon ladder and locks- not the right time of year to see them run, but interesting nonetheless, walked thru olympia sculpture park, went to a bizarre improv comedy show (highlight was the age regression of all the actors as part of the plot, and them being replaced by toddlers on the ...

... that it was time to go and leave these strange humans alone. We beached on the Haunted Island, found a few crab legs, and Mona, Anton and I idly skipped rocks on the peninsula, a meeting of three worlds and nationalities-me, Mona from Norway, and Anton from Spain. Mona wore frayed hiking boots and stockings, tromping along in a no-nonsense way, her eyes seemingly connected to the seals. Anton, in his dark curly haired-way ...

... this for a long time and finally gave my notice at work. I had a great job and good career at Microsoft but there was always this urge inside of me to go and leave, hit the road and see where it will take us, get up and experience a new adventure and the unknown. Now I have also found someone incredible who will do it with me and kite as well and support the addiction to water and wind. I learned to kite in May 2005 ...

... to actually learn to play the instruments properly in the sound lab, which gave tutorials on guitar, keyboard, bass, drums, vocals, synth and mixing with real instruments and a computer, lighting up the keys, fretts, pads etc. to use and in which order, as well as how to hold things correctly. We dabbled here for hours, using the instruments in the open booths and sound proof rooms as well to perfect our skills. Finally it was time to wind up, viewing a short digital ...