Washington

The first thing you notice about Washington state is the abundance of green. Most of it is green, a contrast from Arizona, which is mostly dust. And whereas Arizona is dusty because it's dry, Washington is green because it's wet. Makes perfect sense.

In fact, while in Arizona my wife's uncle had told me "Washington's really nice... if you like green".

For Australians (and others) reading, it's probably worth mentioning that Washington state is completely different to Washington, DC. George Washington is obviously a very venerated person in the United States, because about half of everything is named "Washington" somethingorother. There's cities called Washington, the state called Washington, streets, suburbs, schools, buildings - everything.

We've been doing a lot of the touristy-pop-culture things. We've eaten at the cafe in Twin Peaks and had a look around Snoqualmie Falls... had our pictures taken in Roslyn, where they filmed Northern Exposure... gone past the motel in An Officer And A Gentleman... seen the same view that Frasier has from his apartment window... had lunch at the restaurant from Sleepless in Seattle... checked out the bloodstains in Kurt Cobain's garage. Whoops, just kidding...

If you live in Seattle, and you know someone visiting from Melbourne, be sure to take them down to the waterfront. Seattle has half a dozen trams from Melbourne down there, and it's probably the spookiest feeling in the world to be sitting in a vehicle (a) that's such an obvious reminder of home and (b) as far away from home as you are. What really makes your jaw drop is to see the old notices for the tramways band playing at Wattle Park. Just plain weird.

Seattle's Space Needle is cool, too. You've seen it painted onto the back of the studio set on Frasier - well I've gone up in it. Quite apart from the view, the design of it is just so olde-sci-fi that it looks like a prop from one of those early Flash Gordon series.

Seattle also has ferries. Stepping out onto the deck of a Seattle ferry in the wind is possibly one of the coldest things I've ever experienced. The wind doesn't obey the normal rules of aerodynamics - it just seems to go through you rather than around you.

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