All Change !

Day 54  Wednesday 25^th May 2011

We finally got there – release day from the Motel 6.

The motel was just fine but ten days in one place is far too long, we know this with hindsight. We needed to be in Fife so that we could get our bikes serviced and then we had to wait for our appointment at the container warehouse but when all is said and done we probably could have condensed this into five days instead of ten – anyway on the bright side it did give us that day to waste walking to the casino and profitably away from it.

We caught the 501 bus to the Federal Way Transit Center, a whole $2 each. It has been years since either of us took a bus ride but tourists without their own transport cannot be too choosy as a cab for the same journey would have set us back a good $30 or more. At the Transit Center (sounds like a refugee camp) we caught the second bus, the 574 to SEATAC airport (called SEATAC because it serves Seattle and Tacoma and it looks like Seattle won or it would have been named TACSEA). This bus dropped us at the airport and we walked the half mile or so to the Red Roof motel on International Boulevard where we were allowed to check in early by the charming receptionists manning the lobby who also arranged for a fridge to be reallocated to our room for the duration which in this case is the next five days. Having got the fridge we felt morally obliged to fill it with alcohol and a trip to the nearby Tom’s convenience store completed this task albeit at way over what would be considered normal retail price.

Good news, no excellent news, from Bob Erion, our shipper. The bikes have cleared US customs and the container is sealed only to be opened again in Russia some three weeks or so from now. Bob is coming over to the hotel tomorrow morning to bring back our original registration documents that were needed to complete the shipping.

Apart from the fact that it is raining there is nothing more to report today. We will spend a bit of time in the airport tomorrow and then probably take the light rail into Seattle itself and do some real touristy things.