Weekend #1

So we should probably have done something amazing on our first non-travelling weekend in the US, but we’re saving that for another day. Both days started with football (soccer). It was the FA cup final on Saturday and Liverpool on the Sunday. It’s quite good having soccer first thing as we can get that out the way over breakfast and then we’re free to carry on the day.

On Saturday we had a drive around Bridal Trails, across to Redmond and then down the east side of Lake Sammamish to Issaquah. We drove up Cougar Mountain, much to the concern of Harry and Toby! No sign of cougars though although there were news reports later that one had taken a labrador that had been out for a walk. Issaquah has the look and feel of an old US mining town. It’s not our first choice location but it has potential. After the mountain climb (in a car) we had to stop in Newcastle, at McDonalds, as the boys were starving. There is obviously something about Washington/US air as they have been starving everyday since arrival.

The afternoon was spent playing some tennis (my legs still ache) and then the heavens opened! And stayed open until Sunday afternoon!

Sunday morning saw a return to Seatac airport – a little sooner than we thought but at least the car insurance has been resolved and the £3.7k insurance payment is no longer pending against the credit card. Phew! On the way to the airport I pressed the red button on the rearview mirror. Note to self, don’t press red buttons. The car was immediately dialled through to some emergency service call centre who wanted to know what our situation was. After apologising for the behaviour of my interfering fingers they wished us a good day and on we went. There is a blue button next to the red button. I’m tempted with pressing it but I don’t think I will. And Tracy has told me that I won’t!

The only other things of note from the weekend were…

1. I like Williams Sonoma a lot! Specifically waffle makers, roasting pans for bbqs (picture above) and coffee machines
2. We spend a lot of time (and money) in supermarkets
3. The ribs from QFC or Trader Joes are very good. Melt in the mouth good. Yum!
4. We still don’t know where the post gets delivered!