Emerald City to the Treasure State

Long time no see... from the Wandering Berkmans!

Based on the title alone, can you tell where Corona has taken us now?  

We'll give you a hint:  this guy is a close neighbor--

So close, in fact, a passing Ranger stopped his truck to say "You're not going to leave your vehicle, right?" Later research told us bison can weigh 3000 pounds, jump 5 feet and run 30 mph.  Ignorance is bliss.  

We're calling Missoula, Montana our current home for September and our VRBO is one for the books, affordable thanks to Covid-depressed tourism.   It includes a kitchen Ina Garten would feel at home in and a Juliette balcony overlooking the center of town for when Don has the urge to serenade me. Which is surprisingly often.  Who knew he had the pipes?

 

The sunsets and mountain views keep us happy

the view from our back deck

Sunset over the Clark Fork River 3 blocks from us

14 switchbacks to hit the "M" on the U of Montana campus.  #goals

Not to be outdone, leaving Seattle at the end of August was bittersweet-- we had such great times with Julia and so enjoyed our stay in the Queen Anne section of town.  We were walking distance to Fremont, a quirky, artsy section with a bike path along the Lake Washington Ship Canal, great architecture and where a Lenin statue (sorry, Ma!) and a troll under a bridge call home.

Electric Jump bikes-- necessary for those Seattle hills.  That jolt of power when you first hit the pedal is intoxicating.  Or is that just something in the air?

This stunning gent adopted us day 3 and visited us many a morning.  His name- Houdini, no doubt so named because he kept disappearing from his own home.  Houdini was partial to smoked salmon-- a cat of good taste.

This may look like a 40 foot yacht but it was a donut sized/shaped vessel that coasted at a cool 3 mph.  

Truly, that's all we can handle..... but those views!

paddle board could be my life 

Cuban food in Seattle?? Thank you, Bongos, for frijoles almost as good as Ma's 

The musical International Fountain had us mesmerized for hours 

And, of course, a visit with J wouldn't be complete without another waterfall stop, this time to Snoqualmie Falls 

Our latest, ever changing plans have us back in Tucson in October and November-- the weather is great and the Covid numbers are pretty good right now.  After November, who the heck knows.  Best suggestion wins a brand new KN95!

Until then, a word of advice-- if you haven't been taking advantage of Zoom/Skype to stay in touch with friends and family and to learn a thing or two, you're missing out!

Our adopted NJ siblings graced our screen for always wonderful conversation full of family, politics and all things Entenmanns.  Camera shy- David, the tateleh

And Airbnb isn't just for places to stay-- they have a great selection of "Experiences" to chose from that are now all presented via Zoom.  So far, we've tangoed in our living room with Luisa in Buenos Aires, taken a photography class with National Geographic photographer Jonathan in Barcelona, cooked jabchae with Hogan in Seoul, swooned to Fado with Maja in Lisbon, beat the pants off our travel trivia competition from China and NJ with host Rosemany in London and had gentle Brian in Seoul read us a Korean folk tale.  

With Jonathan's tips, we took some very stylish pics 

 

Here is Rosemary post trivia match showing us her double jointed elbow.  

I just could not....

our fellow listeners from Brazil, Pakistan and Kentucky even learned a little Korean with Brian

This post's Slice of Life includes:

Mask signs we've enjoyed--

    

The view in Seattle this week and the view from our window today.  We have ash on our outdoor furniture.  Our air quality is worse today than that of Mexico City,  historically one of the cities with the worst levels, and we're hundreds of miles from the fires.  

We're thinking of all our friends and family on the west coast and hoping for the best.  Stay safe!  And to all, be well!

Thanks for following along

Don and Monica


 washington