So, I'm back then
Well, here I am again. I feel like I've been away for months not 1 week. Would have been nice to stay in Seattle for 2 weeks - I was just getting used to the place and had met some people.
Went to a Pumkin party on the Saturday night before I left - it was great. We went to a pumpkin patch and chose pumpkins and then went back and carved them - I don't have many pics cos my treacherous camera battery died again. I'll put up what I do have later.
After the carving we sat round a bonfire drinking and eating smores. There was all manner of drink - some nice beer and warm cider with rum but I can't say that any of it went with the smores.
Smores are a sandwich made from marshmallows toasted over the bonfire and then sandwiched between gram crackers (sort of like a crunchy, dark digestive - ooh or a Hovis biscuit) with a chunk of Hershey's chocolate in the centre. They were good apart from the chocolate. Hershey's chocolate tastes bitter and ashey and is seriously horrid. The pig and I had to have tea to wash them down - how British of us.
Also, for the 1st time I tried pumpkin pie, milk duds, Reece's peanut cups, Cool whip, Reece's pieces and 2 other chocolate bars I can't remember the names of; a coconut one and a peanut-brittle one.
The pumpkin pie was good - unusual - I thought it would be quite savoury but it wasn't. It came with Cool Whip - like a marshmallow crossed with Dream Topping - was referred to as whipped cream. It was OK, edible but incredibly sweet and had never even been within miles of a farm, let alone a cow. Milk duds were not that good - the chocolate was awful but the caramel was ok. The peanut cup was SO SWEET! The chocolate was horrid and the peanutty stuff was salty-sweet, it was
not good. The pieces were nice - like nutty smarties. The peanut brittle bar whose name I've forgotten was not good, salty-sweet-peanutty again - over sweet, but nice texture, possibly an acquired taste. The coconut bar though takes the prize as being the worst of the lot. It was HORRID! I had to spit it out. I have a sweet tooth and can normally manage most crap sweets but this was just awful. I can't compare it to anything I've ever tasted before. It was like a bounty but between the coconut and the chocolate there's some kind of liquid which made it awfully soggy. It certainly didn't taste of coconut. The party guests were astounded that I hadn't tried any of these things before and were very entertained by my reactions to them!
Warm, spiced cider with rum was really nice... I could drink that again and I don't like cider.
We told tales round the bonfire of dreadful situtations we'd been in which were also funny - not all of them involved being drunk! There were some howlers - I won't share as they aren't my tales to tell so I'll probably get them wrong! You'll just have to imagine...
The party was at a friend's/work colleague's of the Pig and his pale colleague on Bainbridge Island which we had to take a ferry to. Liked the ferry ride, the sun was on the way down and it was crisp, bright and fresh. And when we were on the way back Seattle was really pretty all lit up.
The journey back to the UK was long and tiring and not anywhere near as pretty as the way out. It was dark when I left, for a start so I didn't get any pics of us flying past Mt. Rainier or over Hudson Bay, or Greenland but I did get some shots of clouds and coming into land in London.
I had 2 hours to kill before my coach so I found an Internet cafe - paid 50p for 5 minutes and lost a good part of it helping the guy on the machine next to me who was trying to use foregin currency in the slot for the PC. I gave him some money and when it was finally accepted the bloody thing didn't work!
I looked back at my screen and I now had less than 3 minutes left! I ended up having to pay more to check my mail... only now I had no change apart from £1 coins after giving my other change to the guy whose machine had eaten it!
Anyway, I thought I'd better stand outside and wait for my coach early, just in case, plus I was starting to feel very sleepy. It was an hour late due to accidents on the M1, M23 and M25! Then it had to take the back way out of London and took over 3 hours to get home. I felt OK when I got back because I slept most of the way. Unfortunately I fell asleep after waking up this morning and didn't wake up for about 4 hours! So, I'm not tired.
Work, tomorrow, is going to be interesting!
Food review #3 Waffle at Denny's
It was niiice! Very sweet and it was *big* - had to share it with the Pig but just as well cos it was heeuge. 3 scoops of icecream on a large waffle with nuts and strawberry syrup, chocolate syrup, cherries in syrup ,tinned strawberries - we declined the whipped cream remembering the Cheesecake Factory Incident...
I think I might come back heavier...
Food review #2 Kokanee beer
It's niiiiice!
Especially when it's been in the freezer for a bit (I like my beer COLD!).
Sweet and light and slightly caramelly and, well, it's beer.
It's also Canadian.
Food review #1 Chocolate Mouse Cheesecake
I had a cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory yesterday and it was SO SWEET. It was a chocolate mouse one and I could barely taste the chocolate because of the sugar!
They also did something to the cream - added vanilla and sugar I think, it just tasted sweet - it was squirty cream though so it was bound to be a bit sweeter. But, anyway, I wasn't impressed...
What's it like then?
Well, it's strangely familiar over here.
When I first got here it felt odd because it wasn't different enough from the UK. The sky was cloudy and overcast the temparature was similar. And the environment is familiar even though you know you haven't been here before.
Then the next day it did feel like I was somewhere else but the familiarity was still there. The place reminded me of everywhere else I'd been - certain things would seem German, some things would remind me of Oz and - especially because we're on the coast - it would remind me of Stockholm - but it's not that cold yet!
There's also a very big reminder of Milton Keynes - it's REALLY difficult to get around without driving.
It's comfortable though - in an odd way.
Er, what's my name again?
Yesterday was great. Got to see some killer whales jumping and swimming and - well having a whale of a time (heh)...
Didn't manage to get any pics because my treacherous camera battery died as soon as I went to take a picture from the boat grrrr!
Was a fair way to go to see the whales - we had to drive up to Anacortes and sail out to the San Juan Islands - not far off the Straights of Georgia. About an hour and a half's drive from here, we were almost in Canada. Was a full day out on the boat - which got a little bit choppy in places. We got back to Seattle and got out of the car to go and eat at The Cheesecake Factory and I started to feel a bit funny. The ground was moving and I felt really queasy.
Flying to Seattle, driving an hour and a half the next morning, spending a day on the sea and then driving another hour and a half has also made me lose all sense of time. I tried to work out what time it was in the UK to see if I could call anyone and got very confused.
I was still working out 8 hours behind instead of forward...oops!
Don't even ask me what the time is in Australia!
Displaced!
Waaaaa! I'm actually in Seattle now! I can hardly believe I'm here after the mammoth Friday I had. I finished 3 hours later than I'd planned!
Anyway, I've had THE longest day.
It's been daylight for me for 20 hours. I set off at 3.45pm and arrived at 4.25pm! It may have been half past midnight but it was very bright. The sun only went down an hour ago - it's now 3.15am for those of you in the UK.
Man I can't get over the length of this day! I don't even feel as tired as I should because I've had so much daylight...
I also had my first experience of US officialdom - I forgot to bring along Neil's apartment address which I have to give on the visa waiver form. Oops! I was very apologetic to the wrong people who assured me it would be OK. So when I got to the customs desk I forgot to be sorry and was a bit excited and strange instead. It didn't go down well at all. The man was most unimpressed. I can't say I'm surprised because I didn't know where I was going, I don't have any US money on me or travellers cheques and I've never been here before either. Looks kind of dodgy I suppose. Plus I was overhappy but must have looked knackered so the poor guy was probably justified in his resigned sighing and stern glares.
I've flown thousands of miles to be with the pig and he's gorn out!
He has to go to a dinner he can't get out of or something - I'm getting suspicious as I'm also locked in. Hmmm.... rats are beginning to stink! Perhaps it's just lack of sleep paranoia....
The apartment is alright inside but smaller than I imagined from the webcam views I've had - very soft carpets... especially good on my feet that have stewed in plane socks....lovely!
I would put up some pics but I can't get them off my camera so you'll just have to imagine the glaciers and snowy expanses of Greenland and the rocky, patterns of Hudson Bay's lakes and coast. All this technology here and I can't get some shots from a digital camera... typical.
I shall post pics and things later. I'm going to read for a bit. I'm under orders to stay awake until at least 9 because I have to get up early and stay awake tomorrow.
We're going whale watching....
It's been a while
Well, it has. Been to see the big pig's family, the Big Pig's been home and gone back again... and now I'm planning another visit to the big pig's family....
Was really good to spend time with the bigpig's little sis (I say little, she's the same age as I am and a good 6 inches taller than me!) cos I don't get to see much of her when I'm there with the bigpig...
I'm getting excited about staying with them again... I must talk to them about the Sunday breakfast though....
