We're here at my brother and sister-in-law's house on Whidbey Island. We landed in Seattle yesterday, hung out there and stayed overnight with a friend in Bellevue, then drove out here this morning. Our rent car has a Magellan "Never Lost" GPS system in it, which has indeed gotten us everywhere we've needed to be. Next time you're on the road in a strange city, pay the extra five bucks a day for your rent car to have it.

Today has been adventurous because of a little problem we discovered late Saturday night. It suddenly dawned on me that later this week we're crossing the border into Canada - the wedding we're attending on Saturday is in Vancouver - and our passports and birth certificates were snug and secure in our bank's safety deposit box. As we were taking off on Sunday, this meant we couldn't get to them before we left. Fortunately, we were able to reach someone at our bank today who faxed us a form to fill out and have notarized that would grant permission for my mother-in-law (to whom I gave a key as she drove us to the airport) to get into the box. I just got a voice mail from her saying that the passports are on their way to us, so we're far less likely to cause a diplomatic incident on Sunday when we return than we were 24 hours ago. Whew!

Today has mostly been about getting reacquainted with our soon-to-be-three-year-old niece Vanessa, and meeting her seven-month-old brother Jack. Vanessa warmed up to us after a half hour or so, and since then has peppered us with questions and demanded lots of attention. It's been loads of fun.

We get to do some touristy stuff over the next couple of days before we head to Vancouver. I'll post further updates as I can.