Lag in the blog....

This is called a blag, it’s a blog that lags in time…..I’m getting there gradually, but so many adventures leave little time to write. Its always on to the next day. So here’s more to the story of where I’ve been.

After reaching the west coast of the states I slowed down considerably. My dear friend Young Wha welcomed me with her delicious cooking, from tastes of Thailand to French apple tart, and all the flavors of goodness in between. We walked the shores of Pebble Beach, met with sunsets in the evening and fog in the morning, read books, enjoyed her lovely garden, and laughed a lot. She left for home in Korea as I left to meet Tamia in San Jose for our drive north to Seattle.

We made it just north of San Jose, to a little town called San Francisco, and had to stop by the quaint little wharf and eat those long-legged critters the locals call “dangerous crabs.” Dangerous?? Anyway, we won the battle of the butter and gloried in our slurpiness as we stood over a trash can depositing vanquished and emptied shells. Then north to Sausalito, little willow, on the bay of SF, where Doreen and Maya met us on their catamaran in the harbor. Tamia and I walked the town – we needed to walk – eating and drinking along the way, then chattered into the night with yet more laughter. The next day we made it as far as the vineyards in Sonoma, oh my, and yet more eating and much tasting of wines. Up and up the coast we went, find room at an small cab/inn just before Oregon, where we slept to the lullaby of the waves (sometimes within the plumbing!).

Ahh, the lovely coast of Oregon, we traveled the whole day, Tamia driving, me gazing in awe at the cliffs, the forests, the beaches. We stopped here and there briefly, until we got to the brewery-by-the-sea, Pelican Pub in Pacific City. Warm sunshine with cool breezes and sparkling ocean accompanied our lunch with all the tastes that they produce in house. We left with growlers and bottles in the cooler for our trip up to La Conner, north of Washington. And we made it all the way to Astoria that evening, where Tamia had booked us into the historic Hotel Elliot. Not much rest for the weary travelers, however, since we connected with Sig Paulson and his lovely wife that night for singing, dancing and frolicking on the roof of the hotel! From Astoria we made it to La Conner, stopping to briefly hold hands with Hans in Seattle. We got stuck in the most delicious traffic in Bellington, that consisted of smoked trout dip spiced with smoked salmon and gobbled up on organic corn chips, until Tamia had to drive and had to abandon chips.

Celeste and Lucas from Vancouver awaited us in the cottage in La Conner and we all went to a lively dinner at Stella’s house. Can you tell that my life is all about eating and drinking with friends? The next night we attended a special opening of the newest addition to the cultural arts scene in the area, where we….you know the chorus by now…ate and drank and laughed some more. Back to Vancouver for them, back to Seattle for Tamia and me, and back to Cambridge after a day visiting the new SAM art park with Tam, Hans and friends. Almost time to make it down to Colombia……