Prepare yourself for a long update. There is so much to do in Seattle...and so much caffeine to keep you going. It took me the better part of a day to get my bearings and clean laundry in my car but through that, I met Jens and got into the nerdiest conversation on this trip about Black Jack and probability...I will spare my readers from this since you would likely overlook it anyway and consider it some foreign language. My afternoon was spent primarily at the ...

Shhh...did you hear that? Texas. Howdy, how y'all doing? I was preparing for a short hike through the Hoh rain forest on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula and some locals caught a glimpse of my plates. It's fun seeing their reactions but, I'm running into more and more Texans up here; guess we all have one common objective, to escape the heat. I hear it's pretty bad there right now. For those curious, I'm hiking in shorts and fleece pullover, so not too c...