feet out the window (stomach just above intestines)

The unwritten part of this travel is that I have some sort of virus, some bug, which, since about Tuesday, has had me sick -- at first almost unbearably so, frighteningly so, but now almost manageable. Almost, but not totally.

Upon our arrival at Kalaloch, in a nauseated panic, I made a call to my doctor's office. I was told that I needed to stop eating the normal foods that I eat and stick with dried toast, bananas, rice, and tea. That, and to get some rest. Real rest, not hike-for-several-hours-and-then-drive-for-a-few-more kind of rest. After posting my last entry at Port Townsend, I slept for pretty much the entire day and that whole night. I was exhausted and very sad. Today I feel okay, but I am sick of being sick, sick of herbal tea and plain white rice, sick of having to explain to wait staff -- no, no butter, just rice, just toast, no jelly, no jam, just dry, just sprite, no coffee, no cheese, water only, just the broth, do you have any bananas?, no, no cocktail, yes, I am sure I only want an apple . . . I keep thinking I've turned a corner, but not yet.

This morning, we said goodbye to H's cool cousins who live in this amazingly cute 1970s treehouse-looking home in the woods near Bellingham. We drove north to see them yesterday, and had a really chill afternoon and evening, taking in the fresh air, the view, and the trees, talking about politics, driving their biodiesel truck to the co-op for vegetables and cooking, and hanging out with the kids. We spent the night in a camper in their front yard and woke up to singing birds.

We landed in Seattle around noon. We've checked in to the Ace hotel in Belltown, where we've rented a tiny little room with a shared bath on the hallway. It's a pretty hip place, what with the hip-hop being piped into the bathrooms and the tattooed and crooked haircut crowd. We did some much-needed laundry in the basement. Everything is painted white and all the fixtures are clean stainless steel. I've got my bare feet hanging out the window onto 1st street as I type this, and I am trying to will health back into my body, to calm all of my internal organs down. H. is out at a barber shop down the block getting a haircut. We have plans to go see some live music tonight, perhaps meet up with some old friends, but I'm taking it about an hour at a time, which means that I might be just as content reading Don DeLillo's new book, Falling Man, which, so far, is pretty great.

I'll post some photos when I have a couple more minutes.