Sea Tac Valu Inn Des Moines

... for the first day as was feeling exhausted from four days of being woken up early in Toronto! The next day we went for an explore round Vancouver - it was absolutely stunning. Its a really 'green' city in all senses of the word and we had a nice walk around Stanley Park. We spent the rest of our time in the city doing pretty much the same - its such a lovely place. The one down side was a trip to Hastings Street - which apparently is the poorest street in the ...

... It's right next to one of the 47+ Starbucks within 5 miles-no joke, 47.) Tired and with a new hairstyle magazine in hand, we headed back to the condo, without the use of the GPS. Apparently, it reset itself at some point, losing all saved information, including the address of the condo. Fortunately, I have a photographic memory ☺. Time for more gin rummy and wine: it was a late night of frustrating card play-I hate to lose. Did you all know that?

The problem with Seattle is that it's in the States. That means running the immigration gauntlet again. Fantastic fun. It was a double whammy again. Once getting on the ferry and once at the other side. The first question was where are you from. Nice and easy, but the second he asked the second I knew I was in for a good few more. How long have you been away? Off we go again, where've you been? What are you doing here? yada ...

... yg sedang kita hadapi... akhirnya kita ke kantor Customer Service, disitu udah ada beberapa orang CS yang siap membantu...akhirnya setelah menunggu dan menunggu...mereka siap meng-escort kita ke Customs karena keadaan yang serba tidak memungkinkan bagi kami untuk memiliki gate pass untuk dapat melalui security gate... Kami dikawal oleh Pam dan Tom... mereka berdua sangat-sangat membantu kami selama dalam perjalanan melewati security guard... At last kita sampai ke bagian Customs ...

... are some of the last few countries who have this policy. Ireland eliminated it a few years back (the last of the European countries) and New Zealand eliminated it last year. Most countries don't even grant citizenship to children born to legal residents (including the entire European Union)! Working at the hospital I see families benefiting from this rule ev**y day. We discussed this a lot on our trip and how it changes the way people are acculturated ...

Many times I've been accused of talking incessantly about how wonderful the Northwest is. How much better it is than, say, Illinois. Today my Dad and I took a quick motorcycle trip around the Kitsap Penninsula, just west of Seattle, WA, and I was reminded of how right I am to say things like that. I forget, living in flat'n'boring Illinois how utterly and unbelievably beautiful the Seattle area is. Hills ...

... intentions and high expectations of ourselves to be world ambassidors. But most of us end up napping on hammocks, get drunk, and taking more pictures than we'll need. Some of us read the day away. I think I'm ok with this... but I don't know how many more times I can do this before I convince myself what I'm doing is immature and that I need to either reconsider my motives for travelling or stop all together. Until the next adventure. Signing off, -Lei Gong