Blogs from Washington, United States, North America - page 201

Well you all must be wondering what happened to me since I haven't written in quite a while. I've been keeping quite busy, and I'll update you on all that. Also this website has been down and it seems I've lost my last blog entry about my friend's visit. But to let you know the big news: I had to leave the Peace Corps and return home to the US. The circumstances around my departure are very personal so forgive me for not expounding upon them here. Just rest assured that I and my family are in good health and that if I truly had the choice I would have stayed in Togo for another year and finished my entire service. But, C'est la vie! I certainly learned that you can't take anything for granted, and ... read more

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/Ches.Alli/Chapter4 We ended Chapter 3 with a photo of the scary bridge over the Columbia River at Astoria, Oregon, but didn't tell you about Astoria, established in 1811 as a fur trading post. It's a narrow, gritty city with tall ornate stone buildings downtown and victorian homes on the hillsides. We timed our trip to stop at the Farmer's Market on a Sunday morning. What a disappointment it was. Not many vegetables and not a very good selection of prepared food. We had hoped for something uncommon like the tofu/noodle stand we ate at in Corvallis, OR but only saw spaghetti & meatball, cotton candy and icecream booths. I couldn't resist a stop at a stand with loaves of fresh bread and goat milk yogurt. Their bakery was just 3 blocks away and fresh baked ... read more

Day 1 - Got to the airport a little late, which wouldn't have been a problem if the people I was standing near weren't so obnoxious. Big Brooklyn crazy dad was talking up a storm to everyone in his path, and this weird preteen behind me kept playing the same tune over and over on her little wood-flute-pipe-thing... it wouldn't have bothered me s' much if she was actually good at it. Anyway we got on the plane, got good seats, and the flight really didn't seem that long. The weather was it's famous cloudy-drizzle mess.. which was fine with me. That would be weird to go to Seattle and have beach weather, no? Anyway.. it was kind of funny that the very first thing I see as I'm walking out of that tunnel from the ... read more

How do you wrap up the last three months of your life? With reflection on the past or wistful thoughts of the future? I suppose all that will come with time, but right now more than anything we feel like slapping each other five and toasting with a little self-congratulation, because we did it! We completed the journey we planned in the manner we envisioned with the budget we hoped. In fact we did more than just survive the last ten or so weeks on the road, we enjoyed it immensely. I remember when we left there wasn't much support being handed our way. We were reminded time and again how it wouldn't be giving up if we just decided to cut a straight path across the country, repeatedly told how this would be a "true ... read more

After a stunning, three-hour ride through the Cascade Mountain range, we arrived early this afternoon in Leavenworth, "The Bavarian Village". Leavenworth has an interesting history, tracing its foundations back to the early settlers. Its main economies of logging and agriculture suffered in the first half of the century, following the economic depression and war years. In the 1960's, community leaders began a transformation of the town to attract tourists, and Alpine-like facades were added to the buildings. Today, the village is a big tourist attraction year round, boasting superb shops (none of the usual trashy-tourist souvenirs here), lots of good eating and watering holes, and a large number of hotels (including the inevitable Hotel Edelweiss). We can recommend our hotel, “Howard Johnson”, which is excellent and has free Wi-Fi and internet access. Later in the year ... read more