Olympia, Washington

My visit to Olympia was all about catching up with my friend Michelle. We had a wonderful time pottering around together.



My visit overlapped with that of an Shanghai Tech colleague, Simon. So on Saturday Dave and Michelle took us all to see Mount St Helens, my first visit to an active volcano. It was very interesting but I'm glad I wasn't here when it exploded on May 18 1980.



I also discovered Olympia is the capital of Washington state, not Seattle. The capitol building is beautiful, nestled amongst trees. They also have a pretty waterfront, with a great farmers market. I'm loving that I've gotten here just in time for berry season. Tried gold raspberries for the first time they weren't quite as good as regular raspberries but were very golden in colour.

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Portland, Oregon

Portland has moved to the top of my list of places in the USA I could live. It's beautiful and no sales tax means you actually pay the price on the label! My hosts Eric and Doris ensured I had a great experience, visiting an awesome local yarn store, did some wine tasting at some beautiful wineries, experienced the stunning nearby Columbia River Gorge and ate some yummy meals. Their neighbor even ensured I left with a jar of homemade Marionberry jam. Marionberries are only available in Oregon and happened to be in season during my visit. And I even got to catch up with my Shanghai friends Cindy and Mike. A great visit!

Multnomah Falls

Columbia River, from Crown Point.

View from Anne Amie Winery

Doris and I at WillaKenzie Winery.

Twisted

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Colorado

It's been so wonderful to be in Colorado again. I've hiked, biked and rafted but most importantly spent quality time with so many friends. It was incredible to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in a decade and be able to just keep talking!

Nicole and I at Hanging Lake, in Glenwood Canyon.

Edwards

With Kathy BuckRoy, one of many happy reunions.

Storm coming into Leadville, the highest town in the USA.

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Southern Hospitality

I've spent the last fortnight reaquaintting myself with the Western world and the South of the USA, which has meant experiencing extraordinary hospitality. My friends have spoilt me at every step.

There has been a lot of thankfulness for things like hot showers, air conditioning and having a wide variety of food, especially golden yolked eggs, fruit, crunchy vegetables and dairy products. I've also reacquainted myself with my favourite American stores as I've restocked my wardrobe, ie my travel pack.


Minnie and Lee, aka my American parents have been beautiful hosts, spoiling me rotten. They've even let me drive their car, the first day there was a lot of windscreen wiper usage instead of indicating! Minnie and Lee have been wonderful as I've dealt with missing everyone in South Sudan and then the death of my grandmother. I even got to catch up with their daughter, Kathryn and meet their grandsons. I experienced t-ball for the first time, when we saw Charlie hit a home run.



Jorena and I were beginning teachers together here in Lexington, 15 years ago. She drove down from the Appalachian mountains to take me to spend the weekend with her family. It was wonderful to catch up with her and Chris and meet their son, Tommy. Jorena even taught me how to make Southern style biscuits, sausage and gravy and took me to a beautiful local yarn store to buy sock yarn, via the Blue Ridge Parkway (one of my favorite roads in the entire world).


I got to have dinner and a great catch up with Nicole and Julie, friends from travelling in Peru.

I've eaten so much food...


Hot Krispy Keene donuts, I can't work out why they sell them cold in Australia.


Lexington style bbq (pork) with hush puppies and pink lemonade. A must when visiting Lexington, I have it sliced rather than the traditional chopped though.


Southern family style breakfast at Shatley Springs in the Appalachian Mountains. I'd forgotten that country style ham existed abd how good biscuits are.

It has been an awesome start to my North American adventures.

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