We're In

We crossed the border into Idaho yesterday. After a mid wait beside some disturbing cattle trucks we finally got to the booth where we were asked to pull up, park and come inside. After a twelve dollar processing fee and an assurance we were not carrying any citrus fruit they let us pass. But they still managed to misspell Austra(i)lia in Kat's passport. This is the border.


On the way to Spokane Washington I bough a pair of twenty dollar boots at an army disposal store. They were new. I now remember why I usually buy expensive shoes. My feet hurt. After an uneventful night camping we left for Seattle. Seattle traffic is brutal and the parking worse. It turns out that this weekend is one of the busiest of the summer in Seattle. There are two football games on, a few conferences and an art and music festival called Bumbershoot. We couldn't get in contact with our Couchsurfing host so we tried to find a hotel/hostel/ park bench. Somehow we managed to get one of the last two rooms at the Panama Hotel, a heritage listed hotel established in 1910. It's beautiful, the floorboards creak, a Siamese cat lives in the common room and an extremely helpful bald man with greet you at the top of the entrance stairs. It is the original Japanese building in the city and sill has the out of service traditional public bath house. The rooms are basic but the place has way more charisma than a free bottle moet.