US and A

We arrived in Seattle by high-speed Catamaran and after passing through US customs (phew!) we pottered around downtown a little bit before heading over to our friend Bryn's house. She recently moved from Ottawa to work, study, and live with her boyfriend. She is cool, and knows kung-fu, I think.

She took us on a lovely walk in a park by the Seattle waterfront, and then we had dinner in a strange-but-cool pizza joint - the kind where they serve by the slice, but one slice is larger than heaven and Earth, Horatio. Then home for a zombie movie!

We can be happy underground...

The next day, Bryn came touristing with us. We saw the original Starbucks store and a post box that looked like R2D2. We also took a tour of the Seattle Underground which was pretty cool - the entire downtown area was gradually submerged as the city built up the level of the city streets, sometimes up to forty feet higher. All the buildings were therefore denied the use of their first floors, which were eventually condemned and paved over. Some of these spaces have been preserved and you can walk around under the sidewalk, looking at the old buildings and shop fronts as they were in the mid-19th century. Highly recommended if you're ever in Seattle.

Look Ma, a robot, like on the teevee.

We skipped the Space Needle but we did look around a sculpture garden and the new public library which was... different.

The next day it was time to say goodbye to Bryn. We hired a car, and headed off to Portland, Oregon, by way of Mount St. Helens National Park. It was quite overcast and foggy however, so we decided not to make the two hour drive all the way up to view the still-belching volcano; instead, we wandered around in a little wetland at the base of the mountain which reminded me ever so slightly of Kakadu.

We arrived in Portland to stay with Elli's friends Beckie and Brian, who are pretty incredible dudes. They have also become crazy cat people since we last saw them, having accrued three beautiful cats. They showed us around Portland, which is actually a pretty cool city... fairly low key, but very environmentally conscious - the supermarket near Beckie and Brian's apartment sold so much organic and recycled goods that it almost had Elli in tears.

Elli, Beckie and Brian

The next day, Beckie drove us out to see the oldest tree of a particular species whose name I have forgotten. It was very... tall. Then we drove to Cannon Beach, which partly due to a gorgeous sunny day was very beautiful. Later that day, after Brian had come home from work, they hit us with the pièce de résistance; the largest second-hand-and-new bookstore in the world, Powell's Books. It was frikkin awesome, but we had to drag ourselves outta there. We still managed to spend over US$100.

Beckie and Elli on Cannon Beach

We said a sad farewell to Beckie & Brian, and the next morning it was to the airport on two hours of sleep, and back to Ottawaaaaah.