Pavements

You may recall a few months a go that I left my wallet in the back of a taxi cab.  No, of course I didn’t do so again. But I did leave my rucksack on a subway platform …

Cue a similar dash for recovery. Sadly, there was no moto to jump on this time around, so off i trotted. In sweltering heat, I should add. As I panted (and sweated) through downtown Pittsburgh (a particularly tired transport system had prevented me from hopping back on in the opposite direction) I feared the worst and, as you do, contemplated the contents of my bag, satisfying myself that in the worst instance I stood to lose a couple of books and my factor 50 ‘nose’ cream (which would have been catastrophic, now I come to think of it …). It was only once the bag was safely returned to my, by now sopping, back that I remembered my passport …

Still, all’s well that ends well – a cliche that could readily be applied to our entire stay in Pittsburgh.  Not an obvious stop you might think and you’d probably be right.  Geographically, however, it was here or Detroit.  Plus, our trusted guide book had given Pittsburgh a glowing reference and I’m pleased to say that it wasn’t too far off the mark (how far exactly, would depend on your disposition – Anna, I suspect, would be bringing the Lonely Planet’s good reputation into disrepute at this moment).  All very well and good if you’re staying in Pittsburgh.  Clearly not used to entertaining backpackers, we had to make our way to the township of Robinson – a misleading name for it was in fact a series of highways coming together around a hodge-podge of giant superstores and not very appealing restaurants (one of which we visited, tragically – microwaved mexican anyybody??).  And not a pavement in sight.  The walk to our hotel was interesting … (check out some of the names of the aforementioned dodgy restaurants!)

Pittsburgh itself is a mixed bag.  The downtown area itself – relatively small in comparison to the cities visited thus far – was fairly nondescript (but with the obligatory fountain and football stadium, below).  However, the various areas surrounding downtown (or, at least those that we managed to visit) were far nicer and more engaging.

We spent much of our first full day in the Southside, which culminated in a trip up Mount Washington.  Nowhere near as exciting as it sounds, it did offer up some good views of the downtown area.  Even better, we found an excellent little pub.

On our second day, we headed to Oakland – home to the University of Pittsburgh.  The university has a very cool campus, including the exceptional Cathedral of Learning – the second tallest educational building in the world, apparently.  And once we’d figured out how to get to the top (not as easy as you would think – the building’s elevator system made that of Chicago’s transit look straightforward) we were afforded further good views.

The inside of the building was pretty neat too.

And that was all we really had time for – thankfully, Anna has just muttered over my shoulder.  I disagree but hey – come find out for yourselves.

We spent most of yesterday on the Greyhound which, happily, has been on best behaviour since the Seattle debacle.  Our destination was Philadelphia.  We only arrived last night so we’ll fill you in on our adventures shortly (we’re only here for a day, so expect them to be short) but just to say that we are once again staying in the middle of bloody nowhere.  Or as the Americans love to say, in the “boonies.”  We do have pavements though – hurrah!!

An Inspired Choice

When deciding which cities we would visit in the United States (all those months ago!) we knew we definitely wanted to hit a few key cities on the West and East coast but the thought of travelling inland had not really occurred to us.  However, when flicking through our USA travel book, Jordan struck gold and suggested we pay a long visit to Chicago.  I know he has already filled you in on our fantastic room and our first full day, but I thought I’d catch you up with what else we have seen and done in this wonderful city.

Chicago is a city with many things to see and explore (some free and others sadly not) and quite simply it is a joy to stroll around – believe me we have done plenty of this!  The weather has been perfect (almost), the sun is almost always shining and the architecture combined with many parks make for some awesome sights, not to mention the 18 miles of walking track to enjoy along the water front of Lake Michigan.

On our first full day we had already sampled some of what the city had to offer but there was much more that Chicago offered.  On our second full day (but 3rd day overall) we made our way North to Andersonville and visited the home of the Chicago Cubs – one of 2 Chicago baseball teams - who play at the famous Wrigley Field.  Unfortunately any potential seats for us (under $50 and not behind a huge post) were all taken so we were unable to see the Cubs play, but we’ve luckily booked ourselves some tickets to see the New York…..Mets in August!  Sadly the Yankees were sold out as were the Boston Red Sox.

Continuing on our quest to eat our way around the States we had heard that Chicago was especially famous for two meals in particular.  The first is one of our favourite foods – Pizza, and the second is a Chicago Hot Dog.  On our 3rd night we made it a priority to visit the legendary Giordanos, where the speciality is stuffed pizza.  The pizza consists of a base, a huge layer of mozzerella cheese (and prawn in our case) topped with another ‘base’ and finished off with a delicious tomato sauce. 

We had to wait for 45 minutes for a table, and even though we’d pre-ordered our meal, it took a further 15 minutes to reach us – a testament to how good the pizza was trust me!  It was SO worth the wait.

After successfully polishing off the whole pizza we waddled back to our hotel room and relaxed with a film.

The next day we decided that we would walk North along the lake front and en route we would visit Lincoln park where there was a free zoo. 

We saw a whole range of animals, but our favourites by far were the polar bears.  We spent quite a while watching these beautiful creatures swimming underwater, diving into the water from up high, and generally posing for the cameras - it was brilliant.

 On our fifth day we explored more of the cities parks; Grant and Millenium in particular.  In Grant Park we saw the impressive Buckingham Fountain which displays a huge ‘erruption’ every hour although sadly it had stopped by the time we took the picture!

We also admired the architecture of the city and parks – the bridge below was the most unusual bridge I have ever seen!

Not to mention the giant ‘Cloudgate’ (known also as the Chicago Bean) which reflects the city’s skyline on it’s shell – quite an impressive sight and we had lots of fun taking pictures with it!

And there were plenty of views of the downtown area – you can see the Sears Tower behind Jords.

In a nearby mall Jords made a new friend and although she wasn’t very talkative she did let us take a picture with her.

Near where we were staying was the Old Water Tower – one of the few buildings that survived the fire of 1871.

After enjoying the peace of the parks we jumped feet first into the chaos of Navy Pier – Chicago’s answer to Fisherman’s Wharf!  Its a complete tourist spot (as you can imagine) and had stalls galore – food, arts, tack…you name it they had it!  Hard to imagine why we only circled the pier once before getting out of there!

After walking around all morning (and afternoon) we had worked up quite an appetite, so we decided to complete our Chicago culinary education and headed for a little hot dog shop Jords had spied a couple of days earlier.  It was called Downtown Dogs and was possibly the best hot dog I have eaten – Jords looks a little intimidated here but it is his own fault as he had opted for the ‘double dog’ and cheese.  Truly delicious!

We spent the rest of the afternoon plodding around the shops and finding some free internet at the public library.  Our dinner was at a Thai restaurant that we had seen on our very first walk into Chicago from the tube station – it was reasonably priced and some of the best food we have eaten for a while and that’s saying something!

We completed our day of walking by heading all the way back to the water fountain in order to view it at night.  It has a ‘light show’ within the fountain which changes according to the music that is also played.  This was all the more stunning due to the lights of the city in the background. 

We also revisited the ‘Bean’ to see the city’s evening reflection – equally as impressive I’m sure you’ll agree.

We also stumbled across the mesmerising ’Crown Fountain’ which consisted of two towers, each 50ft high, facing one another.  On the inside of each tower there was a huge LED screen displaying a different face on each – they smile, stare, blink, and eventually, spout water from their mouths, much to the delight of the children playing in the water.  It looked like great fun and we even got to watch a bit of a fashion shoot that was taking place there that evening.  There seemed to be no end to the delights that Chicago had to offer.

Our final full day was spent shopping for the best part of the morning (well…mostly me shopping, Jords killing time in Borders!) but once that was done we headed to the more unusual ‘Greektown’.  Our initial thought was that we’d grab some lunch there but everything was totally out of our budget.  Luckily we stumbled across another Giordanos and indulged ourselves with another stuffed pizza.  I worry we’re going to come home looking like pizzas at this rate!

We walked back to the city centre via the dizzying Sears Tower – I believe it is the tallest building in North America currently.  Managed to squeeze it into a picture though!

On our final evening the heavens decided to open so we decided to hibernate in the comfort of our room.  We picked up some chips, dips and veggies, and a bottle of wine, and retired to our room to sit out the thunderstorm.  We finished our day off by watching a film and crashing out for the last night in our luxury suite.

Our final day began by scaling the massive John Hancock building rather than the Sears tower as it was cheaper – how tight are we?!  Well…one of us is anyway….ahem!  We went all the way up to the 94th floor, in the world’s fastest elevator taking just 20 seconds, and the views from the top were just stunning.

After that we enjoyed our final few hours in Chicago before heading to the Greyhound station to wait for our night bus.  We both absolutely loved  Chicago and I personally cannot wait to return there one day.

Surely There’s Been a Mistake …

That was our first thought upon stepping into our suite at Chicago’s Seneca Hotel.

Unlike the other 11 countries visited on this trip (sadly, there are to be no more … ), the USA is not very backpacker friendly when it comes to providing cheap beds. (Quite possibly because they wouldn’t be able to take the strain of their inhabitants’ food intake – food, as has been established, does come cheap and in horrendous quantities. See below for yet another example …)

In short, you can spend upto 20 squid (each) for a bed in a dorm of, say, 12 or you can scour the web for ‘deals’ and pay the same for a hotel room. In fairness, this is not the case in all cities – we’ve found relatively cheap hostels in Philadelphia and Washington D.C – but certainly we found it to be true of Chicago.

So, we happened across the Seneca Hotel in downtown Chicago and booked a room for 5 or 6 pound more than we’d have spent on a dorm room. We arrived on a very hot Saturday afternoon, having, incidentally, walked 15 blocks further than required due to the complexity/utter stupidity (I can’t be bothered to go into it) of Chicago’s transport system. Having booked through Hotels.com, we’d expected a small room tucked away in a windowless corner at the end of the long corridor. The latter was bang on – we have a wonderful view of a wall and a car park and much further along the corridor and we’d be sleeping under the stars. But the room … Let me take you on a guided tour …

The bedroom – not a suprise that we got one of these but check out the size of the bed … (and that is a tv I’m staring at, not the wall!)

The Bathroom – again, no shock here but not only does this one come with a tub, it comes with a tub that you want to get in. Believe, that is a first!

The Walk-in Closet – granted, we will unlikely be unpacking our bags (old habits die hard …) but could come in handy in the event of a barney …

The Living Room – I repeat, the living room. Now Anna can’t force me to watch the Gilmore Girls all day!

The Dining Room – ok, I’ve been a bit cheeky here as this is not techincally a separate room but hey, it’s a big room …

The Kitchen – unlikely to be too much used but it makes us feel warm and fuzzy to open the dishwasher every hour or so. Because we can!

We also have an ironing cuboard room but Anna felt that would be taking things too far. Plus, I’m unlikely to break that habit of a lifetime anytime soon …

So there you have it. Honestly, it’s tempting not to leave the room. (The men’s Wimbledon final gave us a convenient excuse on our first morning, though our consciences had long dragged us out before the gripping finale) . Unfortunately, Chicago is a very cool city and, even on our misely budget (yes, the funds are limping as we enter the final month) there is so much to see and do.

After our delayed start yesterday (our first full day), we headed south of downtown (the public transport system may be tricky but it is ridiculously cheap !) to the Hyde Park area, home to the University of Chicago and the DuSable African American Museum. On this occasion, the latter was our destination. We both took numerous classes in African American History at uni so were keen to visit and we weren’t disappointed. Much of the museum’s focus was not on the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr., etc. but on the role of blacks in the military, from the War for Independence right through to the Gulf War. The Vietnam War exhibit, entitled Soul Fighters, was particularly captivating and well done.

From Hyde Park we made our way back downtown to catch the last hour (literally) of the Chicago’s annual Independence Day weekend festival – Taste of Chicago. It was probably a blessing that we arrived so late in the day otherwise we may not have left. I am not kidding. Just deciding on a particular stall could’ve required overnight deliberation – there were over a 100 to choose from.

So, pressured into an immediate decision we opted for BBQ Turkey legs. What more can you say?

Anna will fill you in on the rest of our stay here in the Windy City. Right now, I should probably be getting back to the movie channels …

And We Thought The Vietnamese Buses Were Bad…

After a fantastic week in Vancouver, which was by no means less filling than San Francisco, we were very excited to be heading back to the United Sates. We boarded our Greyhound bus which would take us over the border and back to the US – the final leg of our trip. Little did we know, when naming our blog, how much forsight we actually possessed…

Before travelling in the US I had heard less than complimentary rumours about the legendary Greyhound bus, so I was understandably a little anxious that this would be the main source of our transportation around the States. However, after our inital couple of journeys, I didn’t really see what the big fuss was about. I mean, sure, the stations were technically ‘downtown’ most of the time, albeit in slightly (interpreted as largely) shady areas of the city, but you were never more than a few blocks away from the nicer areas of the city. The quality of the buses had also been pretty good too (although the first one smelt strongly of urine) but you get that on any bus right?! After our mamoth 25 hour journey from San Francisco to Vancoucer we thought the worst of our experiences were over…

The journey from Vancouver to Seattle was only due to take 4 hours and the border crossing (which is what can often hold things up) went without a hitch. However, the problems began shortly after entering the United States. Having picked up a few passengers about an hour and a half outside of Seattle we joined a big old freeway which would take us all the way to our destination. It was at this point that the bus decided to jump and splutter to a complete halt. Oh great!

Luckily for us, a Seattle bus company pulled up in front of the bus and after a brief conversation between the two drivers, it was announced that we would be transported to the other bus and be on our way to Seattle (although unfortunately sans luggage). Shortly after this announcement (and after much more discussion between the two drivers) it was decided that we would not be boarding the other bus, as another Greyhound was on it’s way from a nearby location to rescue us and take us on to Seattle.

After 40 minutes of waiting firstly on the broken bus and then at the side of the freeway (behind the safety barrier of course) our saviour arrived! We were all relieved – especially those who had connections to make – and promptly boarded the new bus. We had only been sitting on the new bus for about 5 minutes before a huge truck came steaming past, a little too close to the bus, and managed to take our left-hand wing mirror clean off….and then he carried on trucking down the road. Considering that bus drivers rely solely on their two wing mirrors to see the traffic to either side of and behind them, missing one was quite a significant problem.

This new turn of events meant that we had to sit on this new wing-mirror-less bus for a further hour or more to wait for a mechanic to come out to us (from who knows where? – seriously the drivers didn’t know!!) to take the wing mirror off our original bus and fix it to our new bus so the driver could see to get out into the traffic again. Not to mention that a tow truck had been called out to drag the dead bus full of our luggage back to Seattle and the origin of that tow truck was also unknown! How helpful!

Eventually the mechanic arrived and drove in front of our greyhound bus ‘guiding’ and acting as a ‘mirror’ until we could get to a safe location for the mechanic to affix the new wing mirror. The mirror was on in minutes and we were finally on our way to Seattle. We arrived 4 hours late and our luggage was not due in until after midnight; if then! This meant that Jords and I checked into our hotel, grabbed some food, and watched a movie until 12pm when we headed back through the most delightful area of Seattle to reclaim our bags. We then had to wait for around 10 minutes at the Greyhound station (which felt like a lifetime in those surroundings) until a security guard took pity on us and helped us find our bags. Bags in tow we practically ran back to our hotel and crashed out; we were well and truly exhausted from the day we’d had!

The rest of our time in Seattle was actually very pleasant. We checked out the famous Pike Place Market which was bursting with great stalls to get some fresh fruit, veg, arts and crafts, but our favourite of all – yummy food!

We had timed our arrival in Seattle so that we could celebrate Independence Day in America. It was well worth it too. The morning began by watching the infamous ‘Hot Dog Eating Competition’ (on the TV thankfully) which involved 10 or more people competing against the clock to see who could eat the most hot dogs in 10 minutes. It was truly disgusting but we found it strangely compulsive viewing! It was pretty close throughout between 2 male contenders and after 10 minutes it ended in a tie breaker situation as they had both eaten 59 hot dogs (in buns!). This meant that another 5 hot dogs each were brought out and the first to finish all of them would be declared the winner. We sat in horrified silence at the prospect of seeing them eat 1 more hot dog let alone 5! In the end the American won, to the delight of the crowd and the relief of us, thankful that we wouldn’t have to see any more hot dogs devoured in a less than delicate fashion. We spent the rest of our day in a more civilized manner by walking along the sea front, making a little detour to the Seattle Centre in order to view the impressive Space Needle, followed by a lot more walking!

On the evening of the 4th July we headed to the waterfront again and after over an hour of waiting for darkness to fall (surrounded by thousands of Americans as you can see below!) we were rewarded with a spectacular fireworks display.

It certainly rivaled the fireworks we saw in Hong Kong and we had a much better vantage point for the ones in Seattle.

The next morning we had to get up pretty early to catch the 6.20am bus to the airport as we had a flight booked from Seattle to Chicago. The flight was fairly uneventful and in just under 3 and a half hours we were in Chicago. Why oh why did we not fly to Vancouver?!!

We are now in Chicago and have both been very impressed with the city so far…although I think Jords is working on filling you in on that at this very moment…

In the Shadow of Mountains

After a fantastic (and filling) week in San Francisco, I had it all to do here in my own ‘home away from home,’ Vancouver. 

As I’m sure you can imagine, it’s been terribly exciting for both of us to return to our year abroad destinations.  However, mixed with that excitement has been a little bit of trepidation – will it be as I remembered, will my favourite pub still be there and, of course, will Anna like it?!

As in San Fran, we’ve enjoyed an extended stay here in the Pacific North-West so I will treat you all to a day-by-day account.  And, in doing so, will hopefully answer the above questions …

Day 1 – Thank God for the Shadow

Well, we got off to something of a shaky start.  Now, it’s never ideal to arrive anywhere after a 25 hour journey, least of all when said journey is spent on not one but three Greyhound buses.  But you can do yourself a favour by at least knowing where it is that you are going to be staying.  Geographically, I knew where we were staying and, even better, how to get there – it was even within easy walking distance of the bus station.  On to a winner, or so I thought.  Demographically, sadly, I had not done my homework.  I knew from my time here that there was one road to avoid at all costs – East Hastings.  What I didn’t realise when booking our abode was that our road – East Pender – was just one block up and, by proximity, pretty grim.  The Lodge itself has not been so bad – it’s secure and though not the nicest place we’ve stayed, did have the bonus of a tv and fridge in our room.  Anyway, feeling the need to rescue the evening and boost morale I took Anna to by far and away my favourite watering hole in the entire world: the Mountain Shadow.  (We won’t dwell on the fact that to get there meant waiting thirty minutes for a bus on the aforementioned East Hastings …)

Upon first discovering the Mountain Shadow, it fit perfectly my preconception of a how a North American pub should be – it has a rambling ranch style layout, ice hockey and football shirts adorning the walls, nooks and crannies galore and, most importantly, great beer!  It was love at first sight.  So it was with a combination of joy and relief that we found it both a) still standing; and b) exactly as I remembered.  Anna immediately saw what all the fuss was about and just like that, I was back on track!  Cheers!

Day 2 – Baby Baluga

No visit to Vancouver is complete without a visit to the city’s excellent aquarium.  Spying an opportunity to cement my place back in the lady’s good books, we made a bee line.  Below is the Aquarium’s and, more importantly to the locals, the ice hockey team’s mascot – the (kind of eveil looking) Canuck.

Situated in the equally fantastic Stanley Park (more of that later), the aquarium’s star attraction is its baluga whales.  For me, these are the hippos of the sea – they rock!  Even more so on this occasion, as a new calf was born just a fortnight a go.  It was pretty tiny by comparison to its mother but has already gained 40kg of weight in just two weeks!!  Understandably a bit intimidated by the crowds, the best viewing opportunities were underground.

Much less shy, were the aquarium’s four dolphins, which are quite the acrobats …

After the aquarium, we spent the rest of the day trundling aound downtown, wishing money grew on trees.  We did treat ourselves to some noodle soup though – harking back to the good old days of South East Asia.  How long a go do those days seem …  

Anna always was the more competent of the two of us with the chopsticks.  Surprisingly, nothing much had changed. 

Day 3 – Eeevvvaaaaaa

Having spent much of the previous day in Stanley Park without really seeing Stanley Park, that was our first port of call on Day 3.  The park is on the western tip of the downtown area and, subsequently, is for the most part surrounded by water and is best navigated by the sea wall which runs for 10km along the park’s perimeter.  Great views are afforded right the way around, particularly of downtown.

We also took a quick detour inland to check out some totem poles – a testament to the First Nations who have long since gone North.

From Stanley Park, we continued along the water’s edge, hugging the outer limits of downtown until we reached Granville Island.  A very cool spot, Granville Island has a plethora of places to eat, drink and shop – all of which can be done in the Island’s centre point, it’s public market. 

There is so much good food in this place, it is dizzying. 

We dabbled with a  few bits and pieces (in other words, stuffed ourselves silly …) before heading to the Island’s real gem – the brewery!  Granville Island beer is amazing!  The all seasons classic is the Honey Lager (filling the jug on Day 1) but here we enjoyed the Indian Pale Ale and the Heffeweizen, both delicious also.

We rounded off a great day with a trip to the cinema and saw the newly released Wall-E.  I absolutely love Pixar films and  was not disappointed with this latest effort.  I won’t reveal any plot details except to say that it is genius, brave and that you will leave the cinema saying ”Eeevvvaaaaaa” …

Day 4 – Grinding the Grouse

Vancouver is an amazing city but what really makes it so, for me, is it’s surroundings and chief among them is Grouse Mountain.  There are two ways to ascend Grouse – by cable car or by foot.  Naturally, we opted (or co-opted, in Anna’s case …) for the latter – the so-called ‘Grouse Grind.’  Not an unfair name and it was clearly playing on Anna’s mind in the moments before …

The Grind is basically a bloody long staircase.  It’s quite a disheartening experience when after 20 odd minutes of slogging away you reach the 1/4 way point.  Below is Anna’s game face – there was a grimace or two lurking not too far below the surface, believe me …

And then it was over and we emerged into beautiful blue skies, invogorating mountain air and stunning views.  Why Anna still looks sightly dubious at this point is beyond me!!

And the penny drops!

While we were up there we took in a rather entertaining lumberjack show, the race below being one of the highlights - both guys were up and down within 15 seconds.

We took the cable car down the mountain, which afforded further great views and a happy girlfriend.

Once down, we rewarded our hardwork with a very Canadian snack – the beaver tail.  It’s kind of half crepe, half donut and smothered with sugary goodness.  Anna went for the cinnamon/apple combination, and looks pleased with her decision. 

Before leaving North Vancouver, we made a quick stop at Lynn Valley Canyon Park.  When I was out here in 04-05 this was something of a hidden gem – a suspension bridge over a gorgeous creek, the latter made accessible by a track winding down which culminated in a small lagoon and waterfall.  The two or three times I visited it was deserted.  Not so on this occasion – it was like a football stadium had just been evacuated.  We took our lives in our hands crossing the bridge with a couple of hundred others before giving up the fight to get to the creek itself.  People.  Tsk.

Our final stop of the day was at a restaurant called Anton’s.  Specialising in pasta, this place had (and I’m pleased to has retained) a cult following.  This owes as much to the gigantuan portions as to the quality of the pasta (which is also impressive).  We had to queue (and were interviewed in the process – a student writing a thesis on people queueing for restaurants … ) but it was well worth the wait.  When our dishes were finally served, a slight ripple of panic crossed Anna’s face at the task ahead.

Whilst queueing, it hadn’t escaped our attention that the vast majority of people leaving the restaurant did so armed with doggy bags.  And so it was, for the 2nd time in barely a week I found myself unable to finish a meal.  For those of you who know me well, this is unprecedented.  I’m bearing up.

Day 5 – Back to School

In England, this would read back to uni but not so in the Canadian vernacular.  It was great to revisit my campus.  It has a unique setting, being a top a mountain and the views on a clear day are stunning.  As they were on this day.  I have to say, much of the time I spent at SFU was spent in a cloud (literally – not a metaphorically alcohol induced one, though I swear to this day that the altitude affected my soberiety) so I was pleased that Anna could see it on such a beautiful day.  Below is the ‘Academic Quadrangle’ where most of my classes took place.  To be a student again …

Not only is the uni set up on a mountain but it is bordered by Burnaby Mountain Park -  a very pleasant retreat from the bustle and concrete of the campus.  And, once again, great views are afforded, this one below of downtown …

I’ve already waxed lyrical about the Mountain Shadow, which, located just at the foot of the mountain, was our local.  Monday night’s were all about the ‘Shadow Burger.’  Not only is this possibly the best burger to have ever passed my lips but on a Monday, it cost but $4.50.  Yes, Day 5 just happened to be that very same day.  How strange …

Day 6 – Canada Day

 Our final full day in Vancouver was a national holiday and so we did like the locals and ‘took ‘er easy.’  Or, did not very much. 

And that was our stay in Vancouver.  We are still here but only just – we are bussing down to Seattle in a couple of hours.  It’s been great to be back and I think I speak for us both when I say that the past fortnight has been a real high point of our trip.  That said, we are both excited at the prospect of visiting new places again.  I’ve been to Seattle a couple of times before but thereafter, every stop will mark unchartered territory for us both so it should be good times.