Other highlights during our week in the Pacific Northwest would have to include…

* Contemplating the challenges of living on the Olympic peninsula, far from civilization, and evidently with not much internet…

* Exploring the ‘historic’ Victorian charm of Fort Warden State Park in Port Townsend.


* Followed by perfectly deep-fried Alaskan cod and chips on a waterfront deck in Port Townsend. Mushy peas: unfortunately not. But homemade tartare sauce and coleslaw are really not too poor an alternative.

* A sunset run by the waterfront after work. So lucky to be able to run here, just steps from the hotel and office.

* One of our nights out in Seattle welcomed us to the world of tinned tuna belly at a tapas bar with a difference: Jarrbar. Jarrbar serves tins. As in tins of stuff served to paying customers in the tin. Not like a tin of beans or a tin of tomatoes. Like sardines, mackerel, octopus and tuna. But this was not the insipid waterlogged tuna of old, briny and smelling of cat-food. This was rich and unctuous, tender but with real substance. There’s no reason to ever look down on tins again. In fact, I’m on a mission to hunt this particular tin of Spanish Matiz tuna belly down.  They also did rather a nice line in sherry.

All good things must come to an end, but not quite as soon as we thought.  We underestimated the traffic to Seattle airport on a Friday afternoon and oops, missed our flight.  I guess we should be grateful that we were able to transfer to the next flight, a mere 3 and a half hours later. (Long enough to get the hell out of the airport, do a bit of shopping and visit a nearby brewery for a different kind of flight). 


Unfortunately, missing your flight is a bit like being the naughty kid at primary school, given ‘the look’ and designated to the naughty step. I could see my Alaskan Airlines status melting away before my eyes, as we were assigned our seats at the back of the plane. We didn’t even have to argue about who got the nasty middle seat, as were seated one in front of the other, both in the nasty middle seat. Penance! As if to add insult to injury, Alaska airlines even rustled up one of their oldest planes. One from the era of no power at the seat (phones dying at this point) and no in-flight entertainment.  (I know, first world problems!)

As for that silver lining we’re always looking for… at least it’s a chance to catch up on the blog!