Into the West... but not in a dying sort of way... by Tessa

We are on the West Coast now, and at this time in two weeks I should be arriving home!

Tuesday 3rd was where I think I got up to… blerg its hard to type because I am lying on my stomach on the floor! Ek. Maybe I will just go to sleep instead… NO I’m almost a week behind again! Geez.

So we got up at Sparrow Fart and tried not to fall asleep on the way to the airport. The flight was a killer because although we had a half hour layover in Chicago it was basically 8 hours long with NO FILMS- shocking. We landed in Seattle (because it is a helluva lot cheaper than flying to Vancouver) just after lunch time and discovered how useless Seattle airport is. Eventually we found out how to get into the centre. We dropped our bags at the Greyhound Bus station and then killed a few hours eating spaghetti and meatballs, and taking the wickedcool monorail (there should be more of them in the world, they are so futuristic and fun!) to the Seattle Centre where the Space Needle is and a slightly bizarre fairground. We had been planning to meet some of James’ friends in the area but couldn’t get hold of them, so were reduced to the tiresome occupation of lying on the amazingly soft springy grass and watching the crazy fountain. The weather was gorgeous with a bright blue sky- not what I had been expecting from a city where apparently it rains most days of the year! We had to go catch our bus after a little while, but picked up ice creams in a Cold Stone Ice Cream place on the way (WHITE CHOCOLATE! So good). As the bus made its way to Vancouver through mountains and small towns the sun was setting in deep oranges, and while I wasn’t distracted by that I made a decent start on Joseph-Cardinal-Ratzinger-now-known-as-Pope-Benedict’s book on the mission of Theology. It was such a bizarre coincidence that I brought it with me because I left England before the conclave and didn’t even look at who it was by when I picked it up! Anyhoo. Got pretty desperate to lie flat towards the end of the journey because my back was killing, but we were met at the Vancouver end by Catherine Mori, James’… first cousin once removed? His mum’s first cousin anyway… and she transported us to her home in Richmond just south of Vancouver. By the time we were in bed we had been up and on the road for almost 24 hours straight. Ick.

Wednesday 4th May-

Slept through most of the morning. Had brunch, and then went back to bed (I know, I’m pathetic! But I was feeling quite ill). They have the most beautiful cats, three Tabby/Siamese crosses- see the photos- but they are quite crazy and followed us around everywhere. In the early afternoon Catherine came back from school (she’s a Latin teacher) and drove us around the area for a while. The area by the coast (not straightforward sea coast mind because of the fragmented nature of the coastline) is rather beautiful in a still, dusky colour sort of way. We returned home, and I tried to catch up on my logging before a load of James’ relatives turned up for dinner and to view the boy.

Thursday 5th May-

We figured we really shouldn’t bum around for our last day in Vancouver, so we caught the bus into the Downtown area and tried to ad-lib some sightseeing. This was rather unsuccessful until we found the beach, which was great because we could lie on the grass by the sand and feel we were getting some experience of Canada whilst falling asleep! Perfect. I tried an Oreo Cookie ice cream bar, which turned out to be rather bizarre. We caught the bus back after a few hours, and met Catherine in Richmond centre (after a bit of confusion about where and not being able to find a pay phone). We packed up when we got back because Greg, Catherine’s son, had offered to put us up for our last night because he lives in a swish apartment in Downtown very near the Greyhound station. Another relative of theirs, Sean came over too, and Greg drove us around Downtown and Stanley Park as the night fell in his awesome Hybrid car (I WANT one! It’s so quiet and comfortable, and of course good for the environment). We stopped at some place to get gelato - I seem to be obsessing about the food but there you go it can’t be helped- they had ROSE flavour! Words fail me. Suffice it to say I had rose and white chocolate ice cream and I was very happy. When we returned to the flat we were pretty tired but after Sean left we decided we felt like going for a swim in the pool and enjoying the hot tub. Soooo relaxing, mmmmm…

Friday 6th May-

We woke quite early because there is so stupid loud construction site nearby but read and relaxed all morning, and James finished uploading a huge bunch of photos for your delectation and delight. Greg’s wife Huyen came home around lunch time, so we got to meet her briefly before Greg dropped us at the station. I had a panic trying to find my return ticket. When it failed to turn up I had to buy another one, which made me cross but it couldn’t be helped. Of course it turned up when we arrived at the other end. Just where I had been looking for it. >:( So we arrived in Seattle again in the early evening, and were met by our kind friends and hosts the Olsens. They drove us back to their gorgeous house a little way outside the city, pointing out things of interest along the way. Ben and some of his band, South of Seven, were practising in the garage when we arrived, and once we had settled in we went to observe. Well I observed, James joined in. A load of Ben’s friends turned up after supper, and we went to the cinema for a late showing of Kingdom of Heaven. It was… interesting.

I’ll leave it there for now because we are going out. Ciao!

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