Day Twenty-three: We were able to sleep late today. (No rude waiters at breakfast either.) We decided to cook dinner tonight for some of our friends here in Seattle. We decided on chicken with artichoke hearts, rice and vegetables and berry pie for dessert. So we headed off to Larry's Market again. I really do like this store: the choices are great, and the food is good and reasonably priced. We again had lunch here, only this time we tried another food stand and another type of food. It was good too. Jody will be joining us tonight, as is Donald Zongker, a good friend whom we have missed since moving out of this area.  I am not sure how all this is going to work out tonight: Jody called in tears this morning saying her pet hedgehog had
died. She wanted to bury it in Ron and Joy's yard. (Later on that night) Just before dinner, Ron went out and dug a hole and we all gathered around.  Jody, in good spirits now, showed off her dead pet. As she laid him in the hole full of bedding and food she said "You used to eat worms, now they will be eating you."  Interesting eulogy, but very appropriate for the circumstances.  (Also, according to Mary, very much in character for Jody.)  Dinner was good: Mary really did a good job cooking. Everyone complemented me, even though I did not do much but time the vegetables.  After dinner Donald played a videotape he had made up at our cabin at Serene Lakes while on a visit last year. We all enjoyed the evening, but too soon it was over and time once again to sleep on a solid bed.

Day Twenty-four: Breakfast of Spot Bagels and good coffee -- what a way to start the day. Mary cut up some fresh fruit to go with the bagels. We had decided to drive today to British Columbia to visit with the friends we had dinner with on day six. The drive was pleasant: some rain, but generally no traffic. We stopped for lunch and Mary got a call about work so we were off the freeway for a while. Traffic at the border crossing at Blaine, WA was easy: the guard was interested in our train ride along the coast. I hope we convinced her to try the train. We followed the directions to Floyd and Gloria's, settled in for a  good visit and a great home-cooked dinner. Gloria is an exceptional cook. We spent the night so as not to be in a rush with our visiting. We slept in a queen bed together -- the first time since we were in Madison, WI two years ago when I was so large there was barely room for both of us. Now that I have shrunk, we do fit in a queen sized bed....another visible sign of progress!

Day Twenty-five: Dawn came early, and we woke up.  (I am not used to sleeping in late: The train shook us so much that we rose early ach day.) After breakfast we were again on the road back to the USA. The border crossing took longer, but they only asked if we bought anything (no) and which country we were citizens of (USA) and where did we live (CA), and we
were off on our way. The Colorado plates on our rental car did not seem to faze this border guard. It was interesting to note that the car in front of us had Colorado plates as well. We drove on to Seattle and guess what? We stopped at Larry's for lunch. It was about two in the afternoon and we decided on a deli sandwich and some macaroni salad. This was our third lunch and we never had food at the same part of the grocery store.  We visited with Ron and Joy and did laundry (again) so we would not have to do it mmediately upon returning home.  At about 6:30 we left to meet our friends Dave and Margo Harris at the Azteca restaurant on Lake Union.  (Dave and Mary had agreed on that location as a meeting place, and we decided to stay there for dinner.)  It was great to see them again and get caught up on all the details of their lives.  They recently got two new kittens who sound adorable.  After dinner, we came back to Ron and Joy's and talked some more while Mary packed our suitcases for our trip home.

I guess it was sort of crazy to really think I'd do some rail-fanning while off the train. We were relly busy just earning to walk on solid ground.