Woodinville, Washington

Went to a fantastic place for breakfast this morning, The Original Pancake House. Started in Portland in 1953 they have now expanded to 100 restaurants across the U.S. The one I ate at was the very first one, the original, Original Pancake House. Griddle cakes of every description and nationality, unbelievably good. One more reason to love Portland, seems like everyone in the band wants to move here...it's a great town. John went to a guitar shop close to the hotel where he spotted and purchased a beautiful Martin baritone ukulele from the 1940's, all mahogany, deep, rich and resonant.

As much as we'd like to hang around a little longer it is time to move on. A short flight to Seattle then a bit of a drive to Woodinville, Washington home of the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery. The gig is on the grounds of the estate, we played here in 2005 and loved it. Another one of those 'picnic gigs'...outdoors, food, drink and good vibes all round. These shows are so much fun for us and the audience alike, everyone completely relaxed and taking the event in. The audience might have a slight advantage as they've been drinking...in this case the wine that was produced just a couple of hundred yards away from where they're sitting. The skies opened up for a quick bit of rain then things cleared and we took the stage. It was a mild evening and light through most of the show until the last couple of tunes, great people watching.

A runner back to the Seattle airport and another short flight to Vancouver where we will base for the next few days and play tomorrow night. We arrived at the hotel and couldn't resist falling in to their very inviting bar. The bartender made one of the best martinis we've ever had, Hendricks Gin (distilled in Scotland) and instead of vermouth he used a few drops of J&B scotch to dry things up, a slice of cucumber topped it off.....voila...a burnt martini!

So long,

Richard