May 26, 2006 - Everett to Yakima

Left Tacoma Thursday am and headed to Everett to stop at Magnam Energy factory to see if they can figure out why we have low tv channel interference off our antenna when the invertor is on(They make the invertor) Dave & Dave(their technician) worked on it for 4-5 hours and could find no solution. They finally admitted they had gotten other complaints but had no ideas that worked. Guess we will try to figure something out later. They offered a nice spot in their lot for overnight and so we stayed and left for Yakima after the am traffic rush...

May 2, 2006 - City pictures.

I'm outside Fall City, Washington at a very nice campground. I'll be here for five nights. Gotta get my Dish receiver swapped out - it got here this morning. I need an oil change for the Bigfoot, some clean clothes, a little time not behind the wheel and wait from mail to be forwarded from new homeland of South Dakota. Weather is extremely nice. Maybe 65 degrees, sunny and gentle wind. Supposed to be even nicer the next few days. I hit this place at just the right time. Warm, mid 70's, sunny and very slight breeze. Locals tell me that this...

Apr 9, 2006 - Super-cool Seattle

We did find our B&B in the end without TOO much bother and it's the most fabulous place ever. It's located in Capitol Hill which is a suburb of Seattle and where we have since found out that 2 weeks ago some weird gunman went nuts and killed 7 people in the street next to ours. Oops. Anyway, Capitol Hill is really cool with lots of shops and tons of restaurants all within about 5 mins walk. It's about 20 mins walk into the city with the major advantage of it being downhill, or a 5 min bus ride. The breakfasts have been utterly superb with...

Mar 23, 2006 - Port Orchard Washington headiing for Bellingham WA

Left Nora's home aftr breakfast yesterday with a stop in Olympia for lunch at a mall. We totally embarrassed two of our three children as we carried our cooler into the mall to have a lunch break at the food court. We then proceeded to Port Orchard with a quick stop at a bookstore. First stop in Port Orchard was at the Bethel Animal Hospital where we found our good friend Jim Wempe. He had been a vet years ago in Bethel and was a sponsor of our dog team and would help with running the dogs. We had not seen their family in probably 12 years....

Mar 20, 2006 - Seattle, WA - a perfect day on Mt Rainier

We whizzed through Oregon in 2 days, though those were great 2 days. The coastline was unbelievable, kind of similar to California, but even more dramatic. Giant rocks line the foreshore, crashing waves make their way to the rugged beach. The mist from the breaking waves is hardly separable from the rain - lending the scene a monochromatic quality. We did a couple of hikes along the way, checked out the sand dunes first on foot, then on ATVs - since Namibia we wanted to do it again. On a bit smaller scale, but it was a very similar...

Jan 25, 2006 - Sleepless on the way to Seattle

Dear all, After what felt like a month (in fact a day and 2 nights) on a train that then was 9 hours late on top of that, I have finally made it to Seattle: home of coffee, the Space Needle, and the film that holds the honour of that which I have seen the most times at the cinema - 10 Things I Hate About You (I was going through a rough patch and it made me laugh, plus it's a great movie - I make no excuses for it). Seattle, as expected, is wet. Pretty much all the time. Apparently there is a 96 year old bloke here somewhere who saw a day...

Jan 24, 2006 - Farewell Letter To Friends and Family

Dearest Friends and Family, Well, here goes. I'm about to embark on my journey with the Peace Corps. In my last few days I hope to spend time with my family, eat some of my favorite foods, drink some of my favorite wine, finish my book and listen to some good music. Thank you to all that made it out last weekend to bid me a farewell. It was great to see everyone. I will be heading over to Miami on the 29th very early in the morning for a four-day orientation where I will finally meet the other volunteers that will be serving in Paraguay...

Jan 14, 2006 - Seattle

After arriving back in Vancouver, we took a side trip down to Seattle to see my cousins Jeanna & Tamsyn. Really cool city, full of bars & coffee shops & places to hang out. Was really cool catching up with my cousins after so very long! We went to a NBA game - Seattle Sonics vs Miami Heat - that's right, Shaq in Action!

Dec 26, 2005 - In the beginning.

Hey, this is Tom. I just wanted to get you all up to speed on the evolution of this trip of ours that just began. Amy left for Lima early this afternoon and is currently on a long flight from Washington D.C. to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I'll leave early tomorrow morning and meet her late in the evening in Lima. With that our adventure will begin in earnest. To give credit where due, Amy concieved this trip on her own, long before we even met at our friends wedding late this past summer. I guess she likes me since she invited me along. Unlike...

Dec 23, 2005 - USA - Seattle, WA

Arrived in Seattle to celebrate Christmas with friends and family. This is my last US stop for god knows how long, at least a year if not longer. Time to get my final fill of unhealthy american food and healthy American friendship before heading back to the other side of the world.

Dec 20, 2005 - travel eve.

just getting ready. you know how it goes. packing, preparing, cleaining, organizing, talking to your folks, floating in a sensory deprivation tank. all the usual stuff. im going ULTRA lite, so its easy.. 1 of these, those, this, that, them. 1 . d(one). melody and cuzin caring for the homestead. (pheww). see you in seoul.

Oct 29, 2005 - Seattle, WA

We made it to Seattle!! Yippeeee!!!!! We're just chillin' with our friends, Cathy and Johnny, camped in their driveway....right between their TWO houses! Seattle is a city on hills, where the houses grab every inch of land, all facing the Puget Sound. They get their share of rain but noooo snow. Staying until....Hmmm....well, just before we overstay our welcome!