In California.

We're in California. It's rainy, but we're glad to be here.

In Portland.

We're in Portland, Oregon today. We got to town yesterday afternoon and went downtown. We walked around for a while and checked out Voodoo Doughnuts and Powell's Bookstore. We spent the evening with our friends Peter and Haley. They've got a great place in the city. We went out for drinks and dinner and had an all-around great time. I'll post some photos of our time in Seattle soon.

Keep on truckin'...

Joe Dieleman in Seattle.

We were able to see our friend Joe Dieleman this past week in Seattle. We went out for lunch and got caught up on what we've been up to the last few years. Joe is studying economics at the University of Washington (U-Dub, as the locals call it). I plan to be knocking on his door for a job at Goldman Sachs in ten years. How much worse could I make things? Exactly.

It was great to see you, Joe. All the best to you and Rachel!

Josh & Josh in Seattle.

When we lived in Grand Rapids on Richard Terrace, Josh and Josh lived on the first floor. They were great neighbors and we had a lot of fun with them. They both live in Seattle now, and we were able to see them this past week. Josh K. came over to the coffee shop we were at and showed us all around the city on Tuesday. We had a great time seeing all the sights and catching up. In the early evening the three of us were able to meet up with Josh D. and the Joshes' girlfriends at Naked City (it's bar, for the prudes out there clicking their tongues) for a couple of brews.

It was great to see you both, Josh!

Seattle.

We're in Seattle this morning, getting ready to head to Olympic National Park for the weekend. I'll post more entries and photos of our time here in Seattle once we're in Portland and have reconfigured our two computers so that the one is not so overly loaded with data.

I want to wish my brother Matthew de Zoete all the best as he leaves for his western tour today. If you're interested in checking out his fabulous live show, you can find dates and venues at www.matthewdezoete.com.

Dennis, Nathan, and Kim in Squamish.

We drove up to Squamish on Sunday to visit Dennis, Nathan, and Kim. It was great to see them, and we had a great time together. Kim and Nathan made an absolutely delicious roast for dinner, with apple pie and ice cream for dessert. Huzzah! We had a great time catching up, playing Wii, watching videos on the Failblog and Family Guy, and hanging out. Needless to say, there was a lot of laughter.

A big thanks to Nathan and Kim for hosting us on Sunday night, and a big thanks to Dennis for driving down from Whistler to see us. Thanks for your friendship and hospitality. It was great to see you again!

Note: Sorry, Nathan and Kim. We're having technical difficulties with the photo of us together. I think it's related to Nathan's hair.

Dan and Kim in White Rock.

We visited our friends Dan and Kim in White Rock over the weekend. Dan is an old friend from high school and college. Kim is super cool, and we were happy to be able to spend some time with her and get to know her better.

We hung out on Friday night and played Quiddler and Euchre. Dan and I managed to lose four straight. We went out for breakfast Saturday morning and walked around White Rock. It's a beautiful little town. In the afternoon we drove to Vancouver and walked around Stanley Park. We marveled at the big totem poles and enjoyed the sunny (!) Vancouver weather. Then we headed down to Granville Island to check out the market and have a beer. We headed up to Burnaby for dinner at Insadong, a Korean restaurant. The food was delicious, and they even had Hite beer and soju. Huzzah and double huzzah! After dinner we went to the norae bang (singing room) to sing. We had a great time. Upon leaving, I learned from the proprietor that he had lived in the same apartment complex in Mok-Dong (Chil danje) as we had. Amazing!

We went out for breakfast on Sunday morning. We all got French toast, so we joked about having a French Toast Friends Club. We packed up the car after breakfast and said our farewells to Dan and Kim. Then it was time to drive up to Squamish to visit friends there.

A big thank you to Dan and Kim for hosting us this past weekend. We had a great time with you. Thanks for making time and room for us. All the best to you both!