People Watching in Pike Market Place

***Miles travelled today: 131

***Total Miles: 8429 in the 4x4

***States travelled through: Washington

Having logged onto the soulful sounds of 'Cesaria Evora' on Youtube, I'm now 'smiling' as the melancholy of her voice parallels the feelings of today....a 'loss of ending and yet a lift for what is yet to come' (Mrs D - write this down and look for her on Spotify, think you might like her, a bit reminiscent of Buena Vista Social Club).

As you've gathered, we've arrived in Seattle - the destination on the West Coast that would denote the glorious ending of a wonderful adventure. So, I guess it isn't surprising that today is filled with mixed emotion. Linz felt this when we arrived on the west coast a week ago and clearly my reaction has been 'slightly delayed', as the impact for me, is today.I think Linz has been grateful for the introspective quietness from me over these last few days and hopes it lasts for a while :)

....Dropping off the car at Sea-tac Airport wasn't without incident. Having arrived at the car rental returns, we got out the car and a little lady with what looked like a 'wand'; waved it over the bar-code on the windscreen and gave us a receipt that said we owed them nearly $800! All from a wand....Linz asked the woman to clarify and was promptly told in broken English, "It's OK - it's from the credit card" to which Linz immediately replied, "No,it's Not" and asked to see the manager". So to cut a very long story short, as you may recall from 10wks ago when we collected the car in Boston, the car rental voucher on their system didn't match the one in our hands however we were assured this wasn't a problem and it would be sorted out....mmm clearly not. After various telephone calls to/from Boston; we were presented with a bill that said $0.00 but on closer inspection, Linz isn't convinced and we'll check our statements later on in the week. It's a good thing that we're back in Boston next week to sort it out if it hasn't already been resolved. Thinking about it, it's quite scary how easily payments are taken from credit cards as they neither use 'chip n pin' nor check your signature, simply relying on an authorisation process.

Leaving the airport, we made our way to our hotel in Downtown Seattle where we were hoping to meet a vibrant colour of diverse people, smells, sights and interests. Advice given by 'western folk' was that Downtown was the 'alternative trendy' to the 'gauche Uptown where designer labels resided' as it was theatre-land and filled with market places. I figured either way we had the best of both worlds as they'd be moments from each, each offering pleasure of a different sort. Downtown is a salad of cosmopolitan difference and what a pleasure this was....

We navigated our way to the Pike Market Place with Linz having some difficulty reading the map. When I pointed this out to her, she simply responded with, " I don't have a problem with map reading. The problem is how they label their roads!" I guess there's not much more you can say to this except smile! . Well, her map reading got us to this small park where we grabbed a coffee from Starbucks flagship store and listened to the various musicians sitting around, each competing for a break in someone's song so they could start up their own. Walking off in no particular direction, we came upon the Pike Market and realised that whatever direction we'd come from, you really couldn't miss it! The Market is the oldest farmer's market in America, running for more than 100yrs. It is alive with the dramatics of fishermen 'tossing' fish about from one to the other (sometimes to customers) and singing whatever songs they think are 'sea-like'. Having seen so may fish markets (Madeira used to rate as tops for me), I was astounded at the variety and 'size' of things. As for the fresh fruit/vege produce; not only were the colours vibrant but the freebies meant that you bought plump fruit just because the sweetness/pleasure was immediate - who said we had a problem with immediate gratification;)

As for the sunflowers, these are both for you Stingha and Ronel.....hope you like them (Ronel, you'd 'go spare' at the flowers in this market - your camera would be clicking faster than our's).

We finally had a late lunch at a Japanese restaurant and wished Cec, that you were with us as the patrons were mostly Japanese and all sounded excited (but maybe that's bit like the Portuguese, we sound excited even when talking about petrol). Linz says, the Portuguese make everything sound up tempo to the boring English! (haha). Strolling back to the hotel, we found a place where we stopped for coffee (again) and more quirky photos ensued. Mrs D - hope you like this one of Linz too.

First impressions of Seattle? Alternative and quirky - a good base to start from.

OK Sus, we've now moved - 'find Seattle and put a sticker on it' x

... a day of all sorts...

***Miles travelled today: ...we didn't write it down as we had planned on going out again this evening... but didn't...

***Total Miles:

***States travelled through: still in Washington...

...so we decided to go off and do some more exploring today ... what else is new??? Well, we only have a few days left of exploring so we need to get as much in as possible!!!

We went back into Olympic National Park... to explore the mountains... there are three extremes to this National Park... the rain forests and the beaches and the mountains... it's amazing to see them all so closely together... well, we drove up Hurricane Ridge to the visitors centre at the top, where you can look out over the mountains, the tallest being Mount Olympus... all of which were covered in snow... unlike at Glacier National park there are no roads that take one through this park... the interior of the park can only be reached by foot... well, after taking numerous photos... of snow, snow and yet more snow... we made our way down, stopping at various points to admire the view... one is able to see right across to the main land, and in the distance see Mount Baker... you are supposed to be able to see all the way to Canada... however the fog and pollution is now preventing clear views!!!

We had read in the newspaper this morning that various Native American tribes were participating in an annual Tribal Canoe Journey... which comes to an end next week, when they arrive at Makah, which is the western tip of this peninsula... tribes from America paddle, as do tribes from Canada, and they meet up at Makah... we had read that they were due to come into Jamestown Beach early afternoon today... well, we found Jamestown beach, but unfortunately the weather had not been brilliant for them, and the undercurrent had been strong, so many of them had to be transported, having to come to shore at a less treacherous point... we were talking to a young guy who has taken part in the canoe journey for the past four years and he said that last year there were over 100 boats that had participated... he advised that the purpose of the journey was to keep their traditions and culture alive and to teach the younger generations about who they are as tribes.

We then went off in search of lavender fields... as there is a lavender festival in this valley tomorrow and over the weekend... so we took a few photos of fields covered in lavender... the smell was absolutely lovely...

...we had planned to go out to the point tonight to watch the sunset... although it was over a two hour drive we discovered... making it rather a long journey, so instead we needed to get all of our packing sorted out... which is what we have been doing... or rather, what Jay has been doing...

Having had our lovely car for the past 10 weeks, we have collected rather a lot... we've had a cooler bag, two 'dryfood' bags... a canvas bag full of books and magazines, a 'huge' toiletry bag... that never even made it's way into the suitcases... water bottle... flask... a bag full of cleaning stuff, car wash, laundry...etc... etc... need we go on... everything had it's place though... we have laughed when we have seen some of the boots on our journeys, and how untidily people travel!!! Jay even had 'in-car smellies' to make the car smell like caramel!!! (Oh... and of course my bag of maps, leaflets, booklets, brochures etc...) Well - Jay has done a brilliant job... and we now have three suitcases all packed up... and a pile of goodies for the housekeeping person tomorrow!!!

We will be off early tomorrow morning in order to get the car to the car rental at the airport by lunch time... and then we are off to explore Seattle!!!

It seems really strange to be giving the car up... it has been a great asset to our journey... thanks for the upgrade Dierdre!!! I can't actually believe that 10 weeks ago tonight we were sitting at our hotel in Boston, all psyched up and ready for our trip... and what an amazing trip it has been!!!

...just a final note... Jan, thank you for the e-mail... Jan, the lady we met earlier this week has said that we could put her web site as a link... so we have added it above...

'40 (that's her <- and 39 - that's me -> )

***Miles travelled today: 220

***Total Miles:

***States travelled through: Staying in Washington until we leave for the East Coast

OK, so I quite like the title - just for today, I agreed to 'agree with Linz most of the time' which of course, to anyone who really knows me - would know the struggle I endured until 8pm tonight! Anyway, the day started with family phoning from overseas to wish Linz a Happy Birthday which absolutely made her day before it had even begun (Linz is now winding down and thanked everyone for their emails, blog entries and phone calls). Susie had also sent us an email saying she had been camping in the New Forest this weekend and said we, 'should find the New Forest on our map and put a sticker on it!' A little bit of our own medicine although she had us in stitches.

During breakfast we'd decided to take an exploratory drive of the west end of the Peninsula that allowed us to visit this trail (Hall of Mosses Trail) I'd been told about and then researched. The trail is found within the 'Hoh Rain Forest', a temperate biosphere settled between mountains and the ocean. Given it was a rainforest, we expected it to be humid and smell dank; but it was neither which made the walk easier (we could've chosen a hike). The only way to explain it is to describe the moss hanging from the trees as a 'canopy', that the walk one takes is through dappled sunlight and that it's over before you realise. This is where the film 'Twilight' was made and it was easy to imagine how the vampires moved between the trees and pounced on their 'prey'. Walking through here as well as the neighbouring town has made us decide to watch the film we'd avoided and then perhaps we'll understand why it was so popular. At times we giggled at the crowds of people lining up to do the 'Twilight Tour' - mostly because it was young teenage girls and their mothers.

Having enjoyed the temperate biosphere, we headed out to Ruby Beach where the weather was overcast but allowed us to wander and rest amidst the beach-logs. These beach-logs are phenomenally enormous as they've been washed down the mountains when the snow has melted. There are various points on this peninsula where it seems the logs gather, either because of a nearby river or due to the fact the ocean has swept them onto the shore from unknown origins. This was just a place where you could lose yourself to the softness of wood and the lull of the waves. It was so good that we decided later to return so I could go down again and take more photos....

Linz decided she wanted a birthday lunch at Kalaloch Lodge (which in Native American means 'Bay of Clams' - you'd be forgiven for thinking it sounded Scottish). It is a lodge formally built from the local beach-logs and which looked out onto a cove, again adorned by logs and children playing in tidal pools.

We finally got back to the hotel, some 200 miles of exploration later, only to hear there was a jazz / blues band playing live on the pier. We figured that we'd drop our things off and take a drink on the pier and just tune into the music, but on arriving at our room, the music was so clear and the seats on the balcony extra comfy that we didn't move. So, the blog tonight is from the balcony and it's a pity that neither of us know how to download the music we're listening to as it would've been great for you to listen too, whilst you read.

Sus - no stickers today as we're still on the Peninsula.

Further westwards

***Miles travelled today: 100

***Total Miles:

***States travelled through: Still in Washington

So having reached the West Coast on Friday, one would have thought that we could not travel any further westwards...well, today we did. We have travelled the length of Fidalgo and Whidby Islands and caught a ferry from Keystone across to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. Early this morning we travelled across Deception Pass where you could look across to the San Juan Islands and thankfully the sky was blue today!!! When we arrived at the ferry terminal at 1pm, we need to wait until the 3pm crossing so did some interesting exploring along the beach which was absolutely covered in driftwood...if we lived in this area, I would love to make art pieces out of driftwood.

So we actually got to do a trip on a boat today as we needed to get to the Peninsula.

I can't quite believe that two weeks tonight we'll be flying back to Heathrow, having been travelling now for ten weeks. It seems apt that on the eve of my birthday I've spent some time considering the journey, the symbolism and what it has meant both for me individually, as well as together with Jay. As people are aware, the main reason for taking out time to travel this year was due to the fact we are both turning 40yrs...what we have decided is that we don't want to wait until the next decade birthday to do another journey...

We are spending the next 3 nights at a town called Port Angeles where we are in a lovely hotel and our balcony overlooks the Straights of Juan de Fuca (whoever he is, no seriously - he was the explorer who had these islands named after him and this mass of water is what separates the mainland from the Pacific Ocean. Did Jay say something about me having a mindful of trivia-all things American?)

So tomorrow, we are off to explore the Olympic National Park and Jay has given up looking for moose.

Sus- your sticker needs to go on a place called Port Angeles, on a little piece of land off Seattle.

a day in Anacortes...

***Miles travelled today: 95

***Total Miles:

***States travelled through: Still in Washington

This entry is for yesterday... Monday 12th July... (for some reason 'blogger' wasn't working!!!)

So, we are just having an easy week this week... and next when we get to Cape Cod...

we decided to go onto one of the islands today, Fidalgo Island... the main town on the island is called Anacortes... which just sounds really lovely...

we had planned to go on a boat trip and possibly go across to San Juan, but when we got up the sky was really grey and overcast... we have decided never to 'plan' another boatrtip... as every day that we have planned to go out on a boat... we wake up to grey weather!!!

Anyway, Ann realised just where we were on the map, and sent us an e-mail advising that she has a cousin who lives in Anacortes... I think Ann may know someone in every town across the States!!! Anyway, we sent Jan an e-mail, asking if we could meet up for a drink... and simply hoped for the best... well, we got a phonecall from her just after 2pm, we had just left the town after doing some exploring and she was about 15 minutes from the town, with just a two hour 'window of opportunity' to meet up...

we decided on a place called 'Adrift', and guess what there was no red carnation needed in the lapel... the moment she walked into the restaurant we knew it had to be Jan, the family resemblance genes in your family are really strong Ann!!!

What a fascinating lady... we were really privileged to have had the opportunity to meet, even if just for a few hours... (Ann - we have posted a picture just for you!!!) Believing very strongly that people are brought into our lives for a reason, even if just for a moment, she is truly a lady that a great deal could be learnt from, having been ordained as a Zen Buddhist Monk, whilst living in a monastery in Japan... she has a website, as she does 'focusing' and meditation... we will need to get her permission to put it on as a link... Jan, if you are reading this... "thank you for a lovely moment in time today..." (Yes... a hand full of people that we have met on our travels across the States actually have our blog address too!!!)

...anyway, we did a bit of exploring around Fidalgo Island, obviously visited their Visitors Centre in order to decide on our route for tomorrow, and then just had a quiet evening...

Just Has to be, " Y Viva Espanha" and with plenty of vuvuzelas to mark the day!

***Miles travelled today: a few but not many

***Total Miles: one can guess

***States travelled through: we're now staying in Washington until we fly back to Boston, Massachusetts; next week.

First off - Happy Birthday Mom / Mrs D ..... hope you had a great day and it was lovely catching up with you this morning.

.....Before we left England nearly three months ago, I asked Linz to 'do a little exercise' in the diary we bought specifically for our roadtrip (yes, we have -:blog, facebook, tam tam, skype, atlas, electronic journal and....an actual real diary). The exercise was about 'not planning' but about working out a 'more-or-less time-frame' with suggested 'possible place names' of the route we'd looked at; so that I would have an idea of how long we could 'play with' at each destination - just in case something cropped up and we wanted to stay longer.Well guess what, we are by Linz's calculations; exactly where we should be as the diary has us at Mount Vernon on Sunday 11th July and that is precisely where we are!

Now, I'm not sure whether I should've expected such precision or been surprised by it :) {Linz added, 'for those of you who saw the bound planner, it has been exceptionally useful throughout the journey' and my comments to Karen and Nigel in respect of this are, 'it's all your fault' }

Having travelled along R 11 (coastal road) to Mt Vernon, Linz kept her head mostly bowed and in a tour book reading up on 'stuff to do'. I didn't particularly mind this today as the roads were very narrow and not necessarily made for big cars with anxious passengers and precipices on their side. I think her head is going to explode one day soon with 'American stuff' but before that happens, I suggest that if anyone needs to phone a friend (re N.American trivia) - please consider Linz and share the winnings with us..... (I'm Needing someone else :) to listen to all this information)

Mt Vernon is not what we individually thought it would be - somehow I thought it would be more city-like but in a 'small-town-kinda-way' particularly as we're only about an hour north from Seattle. The town appears grey and spread out around an Interstate - although I recognise that this is the main road that connects America to Canada (we're only about an hour from Vancouver). Having checked in, we went off for a drive in search of a late lunch and in our efforts to avoid all the fast-food places, the family-style dining that is popular here and Dairy Queens; we headed towards a Native American Reservation (Skomish) where we hoped to find something authentic. As tourists driving through, we didn't find any place to stop and amenities were lacking with the residential area appearing poor, but patriotic. On leaving Bellingham this morning, Linz took a photo of a home with the red,blue and white bandanas hanging from its windows and here in the Reservation, we saw homes with totem poles and American flags painted onto its walls. There was also a tall metallic totem standing proudly outside the Tribal Court, a little wooden building set at the entrance to the Reservation.

On finding a place to eat off the Reservation, we were lucky enough to catch the end of the World Cup Final and watched as Spain won. What is the world going to talk about now that the World Cup is over, but at least South Africa put on a show and introduced everyone to the drone of the vuvuzella!

I recently found this book called 'Breakfast with Buddha' which we've been reading aloud to each other which makes it kinda like an audio book. Ironically, it's about this guy who goes on a USA roadtrip and who takes with him, against his will; a Budhist. It's been both funny and poignant as the story unfolds some of the places we've visited and the questions we've asked ourselves. We have no idea where the book will take us nor do we know the answers to the questions.

Anyway, tomorrow remains unplanned (this is becoming a habit) and that is the best bit about waking up.....

We still have a couple of weeks to experience and learn before going back home and sharing in person with others.

Hey Sus - remember to put a sticker on Mt Vernon, Nanny Syl says your map looks much better than her's as you've got stickers on all the places we've been to. We'll have to take a photo when we get home, well done sweetie and see you soon x

Lemonade and Martinis...

***Miles travelled today: 77

***Total Miles: 7697

***States travelled through: Still in Washington

So this morning we woke up in Bellingham... on the West coast... although we have discovered that the water that we thought was the Pacific ocean that can be seen from here is not the ocean but something called the Pujet Sound... so we have not quite seen the Pacific ocean yet!!! Anyway, we looked at various maps this morning over breakfast, and decided that we would make our way to a part of Bellingham called Fairview, and then do one of the scenic drives recommended, along Chuckanaught Drive... which took us along the mountain side which looked over the Pujet Sound towards the San Juan Islands...

We arrived at a little place called Edison, which was really alternative... so we stopped for a drink and just to people watch and take it all in... Jay disappeared off with the camera and got some good alternative pictures... the road from this village was aptly named Farm to Market Road!!!

In this little village, next to one of the farm stalls were two little girls, actually selling lemonade!!! They had run out by the time we got there, but we put $2 in their jar and asked if we could take some photos of their stall anyway!!!

We doubled back to Fairview, and stopped for lunch... before finding a lovely quaint little bookstore where we stopped for an hour or so just browsing... I’m still looking at ‘Roadtrip’ books!!! (...and still finding out things to do and see in the few places that we have left to explore!!!)

On getting back to the hotel we settled into the cocktail lounge where Jay had a Cherry Bomb Martini and I had a Hummingbird Martini... they serve it in the shaker... so you actually end up with about two and a half servings... which was fine for me... but... mmm ... rather alot for Jay... who was a little bit tiddly after our evening trip to the cocktail lounge!!! I think Martinis have become Jay's drink for this holiday!!! (...and any flavour will do...)

The West Coast!!!

***Miles travelled today: Alot and given we're so tired, we forgot to write it down

***Total Miles:

***States travelled through: Washington

West Coast - we're finally here......It feels like a lifetime ago that we started off on the East Coast - westward bound until we hit the Pacific Ocean and today, we've seen it. It feels a bit odd writing this as nearly three months ago, we set out on 'making one of those dreams people have' (that we shared); come alive and here we are, nearly at the end of realising it. I say it's 'odd' but in fact, I think what I'm really talking about is the surreal feeling of 'making this kind of dream real'. How many of us want to do things that we think are beyond our reality,beyond our infinite abilities; often 'magic-ing' them into our daily lives through the power of thought? How many of us place obstacles in the way of doing something really fun by excusing it as irresponsible or whimsical? Although I didn't share it, I'm remembering a question posed by a 10ry old girl whilst out riding on the Dude Ranch a few weeks ago. We were talking about the roadtrip and having goals and she asked me why we were travelling 'for such a long time'. I realised the simple answer was 'because we wanted to and to experience all that is different from what we know'. Her reply,"That sounds like fun, I wonder what dream I'll have." I hope she doesn't set any parameters and lives big.

.....I've learned that dreams and goals can be possible if we give ourselves permission to succeed.

OK, back to what I originally set out to say.Due to the fact that today's journey was spent mostly travelling with Linz doing all the driving, there are only a few photos and luckily,none where I'm amusing myself (like yesterday's photos of feet). The scenery was more interesting and unlike yesterday's infinite and repetitive flatness, today was spent driving through pine forests and mountains - so guide songs were few and antics from me, less. We stopped briefly at a fruit store for freshly picked cherries and apricots which were delicious (some farms we'd driven past were all advertising these) . Although we haven't heard much about the Fifa World Cup since USA bowed gracefully out of it; it was clear the proprietors of the stall were supporting both Germany and the Netherlands as they had their flags flying out at the front.

So that's it for today, lovely fruit and the Pacific Ocean which we are yet to explore before getting to Seattle.

Suz - we are in a little town called Bellingham (Mommy and Daddy will recognise the name as it's a bottle of wine) which is North of Seattle. We're here for a few days before making our way to Olympia National Park.

Seattle's on the Map...

***Miles travelled today: 286

***Total Miles: 7420

***States travelled through: Idaho and Washington

We left Bonners Ferry having decided our route westwards, yes...we keep going westwards... We wanted to try and get a significant amount of mileage behind us today so that we are able to explore the west-coast. We are currently in a town called Wenachee, just over a 100 miles from Seattle. Jay was really bored today as the passenger as can be seen by the photos. The travelling today was actually the 'flattest' and most desert-like that we have done throughout our whole journey. The first part of the journey elicited more 'bored' moans from Jay than at any other time this holiday. We stopped - yup - to use a restroom and to buy a drink... the favoured drinks of this holiday are Iced Coffee (French Vanilla flavour for me and Mocha for Jay) and of course, my Bud Light Lime, although not today whilst driving. So anyway, the place we stopped to buy the drinks did not have a restroom so she sent me next door to the garden centre where there was a sign on the door that proclaimed their 'restroom usage' was for 'customers only'. There was clearly nothing I wanted from the garden centre other than their restroom, so I went in and did my 'girly thing' and the young lad behind the counter took pity on me and allowed me to use it. As we were travelling across the desert, it was getting hotter and hotter - it actually got up to 99 degrees today - and we thought the heatwave was on the east-coast!!! Anyway, the heat was part of what was adding to the bored moans coming from Jay and so at this stop, she decided to change her attire... so armed with bikini top she sauntered into the garden centre saying to the young lad, as she twirled her bikini around her finger," I don't need to use the restroom but could I just...change into my bikini?" Without a moment's hesitation, the young lad said, "Yes Mam!" Jay came out feeling happier and cooler and I think she made the young lad's day, although I did point out that she was probably old enough to be his mother! Anyway, I had a much happier Jay in the car and just had to take a photograph as this was seriously 'relaxed' roadtripping.

What was really strange about the drive today was that the landscape as we are driving through Washington state, having been so flat and desert-like, in the last half hour of our journey today, suddenly it has become quite mountainous with canyons again. Who knows what tomorrow will bring...

Tomorrow we are travelling to a town north of Seattle where we are hoping to spend some time exploring the San Juan Islands. Let's hope for some more hot weather ...

Moving west again...

***Miles travelled today: 199

***Total miles travelled: 7134

***States travelled through today: Montana into Idaho, across the Pacific timeline

Thank goodness there wasn’t any bear outside our door today, not that there would be but there is always the possibility (Jay smiles at this). We have passed numerous campgrounds (Jay says they’re primitive) on our journeying through the park, all of which are full... we laugh when we see little canvas tents near signs that say, ‘Be Bear aware’ and dustbins which have been ‘bear-proofed’. I reckon it would be safer to sleep in the car than envisaging that the only thing keeping us from a bear - is a nylon tent.

We did a final drive up to Lake McDonald today hoping for some reflections today on the water but the conditions were not right. We left West Glacier and made our way further westwards into Northern Idaho. After debating the route with Jay, we are following a different route from the proposed one as Jay remains concerned about the mountain snow that is still about, so we have opted to do a route that is slightly more south as once again, we are only about twenty miles from the Canadian border.

Due to the fact that we needed to stop for a loo break (Jay says neither one of us are into ‘bushwees’), we found a saloon (yes, it was called a saloon) called the ‘Kicking Horse’... I have this ‘thing’ that we cannot just go and use the restroom but we have to buy a drink – which Jay says defeats the purpose as it generally goes without saying that I generally need another restroom an hour later. Jay took some brilliant pictures of the Kicking Horse saloon which was in the middle of nowhere or as the address read, ”Kicking Horse Saloon, Route 2, midway between Kalispell and Libby”.

Along our route we stopped at Kootenai Falls Park and took a walk down to the falls and their swinging bridge which Jay just had to run across (no hands).

We have once again gained another hour, we are now eight hours behind England, nine behind South Africa (we have not worked out Madeira and Japan yet). Once again we found ourselves on an Indian Reservation, the Kootenai Reservation and we have read some interesting information about their heritage. The hotel is really lovely and our room overlooks the Kootenai River. We took some time out down at the pool this afternoon before spending some time catching up with our blog and diary tonight.

Suzi - you need to look for a place called BONNERS FERRY...

We are almost on the west coast!!! We cannot quite believe that three weeks today we will be arriving home!!! There is still so much to do!!!