Week in Seattle - Followed by a LONG FLIGHT

I spent last week in Seattle - well actually in Tukwila, down by the SeaTac airport.

The facility was quite nice, and comfortable. The classroom was right on-site and the service at the Homewood Suites more than expected. Some cities have higher rental car rates than others... and some airports have on-site rentals and off-site rentals. Since I arrived late in Seattle last Sunday... I just took the hotel shuttle and didn't rent a car. Then each day during the week when I thought of renting a car so I could do something after class at night... the $75 per day charge just didn't justify it.

So a week in Seattle and NO KING WHA... boo hoo... I just couldn't justify the cost. (And a taxi from my hotel to King Wha and back was just about as bad.)

I did get to go over to the Southcenter Mall food court one night while the 'Twilight'-mania was going on. Hundreds of teenage girls (as well as a lot of their mothers) were dressed in Twilight-branded clothing fawning over the actors from the show (I guess 'Jacob' was in town)On Wednesday Ken/Cathy and Debbie/Craig came down and took me out to dinner! Thanks... it was nice to visit with you all again!

Friday after an 'early-out' one of the students was kind enough to drop me off at the Airport and I took a flight to San Francisco. This was to have an hour and a half layover... time to recharge my electronics, get a bite to eat, and leisurely go over to the International Terminal in SFO. But that was not to be. Our flight down from SEA to SFO was delayed and after 'running' through the airport (I know, that's a disturbing visual image) I barely made the flight to Auckland (and had a terrible seat assignment for the nasty 14 1/2 hour flight)The hotel was sold out the Saturday night before my Sunday morning arrival, so they weren't able to put me directly into a room when I arrived at 6:30am... but gratefully some folks were continuing on a tour and checked out early... so by 8:30am I was back in a nice bed taking a nap to get my body 're-sync'd' to New Zealand time.This afternoon I took a walk around the 'North Shore' area across the bay from Auckland and even got to walk on the Takapuna beach and watch the wind surfers and kite surfers.
Here are some pictures from the area around the hotel and the view of Auckland from my room on the 19th floor of the 'Spencer on Byron' hotel - this is on the 'North Shore' of Auckland.I should be all ready to go for class here starting tomorrow.