Dad sent us a link to the new Geocaching Australia beta site tonight - one of our photos has been immortalised!! Check it out here.

The shot was taken at the Melrose Showgrounds, where most of us were camping for the event over the last June long weekend. Alex (Team Canyonero) was perusing the topo maps of the playing field for the weekend, and Andy took the shot with the extension cord running over to the nearest powerbox .

Who says you can't be civilised in the bush!!

We braved the evening traffic tonight to head into Safeco Field for another Mariners game - another of the things on Mary's 'must do' list while in Seattle. We managed to get good seats again behind centre field, and everyone received a bonus 'floppy hat' (otherwise known as a bucket hat at home!).

Today was also 'Flag Day' in the US, so along with the bucket hat we each received a little US flag on a stick, and the army band from nearby Ft Lewis played the national anthem for the crowd. In memory of service veterans, the opening pitch was made by a female Army Captain, also from one of the units based at Ft Lewis and just returned from Iraq. Missed by a mile, but the crowd lapped it up anyway .

The game itself was against Philadelphia, and the Mariners had just completed a two-series road trip on the east coast. Tonight, however, the team was on a roll - Ichiro scored his 1,000th career hit, and the team went on to win 3-1. That's two from two for the games we've attended!! Needless to say, Ichiro's on-site fan club went absolutely nuts and continued in much the same vein for the rest of the night .

It was a quick game, at just on two hours - but that meant we were home at about 10.30pm ... not too bad for a school night!

I was really looking forward to today, as it was going to be a first for me too - an Argosy cruise around Lake Union and Lake Washington. Luckily the weather held for us ... blue sky through the skylights in the moning at home is usually a good sign!

We met up with the Unwins and Mark and Mary at the pier in town - managed to score a group discount, and even got Katie a free ticket . It wasn't long before we were loaded onto the boat and pulled out from the pier into Lake Union proper.

We had an on-board tour guide, who spent most of the tour pointing out the sights and giving us a potted history of some of the local quirks. Some of the sights included:

- the Montlake Bridge
- Bill Gate's house
- the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat
- the SR520 floating bridge and
- Husky Stadium

We stopped into Hooters for wings at the end of the tour (it's a family restaurant, really!). The waitresses all loved Katie's Hooters t-shirt!

What a weekend ... we all agreed we couldn't keep up the pace of the last few days! Back to work tomorrow to recover .

Tonight's plan was to meet up at our house again for a launch to the Red Lobster in Lynnwood. This time we'd done a bit more planning, and aimed to arrived early to beat the crowds and ensure we had a table to seat everyone.

Mark and Mary were spending the day in Seattle, so when they didn't make the rendezvous time we weren't too worried . We left a note in the door with the address of the restaurant, and trusted the GPS in their hire car would look after them.

We headed north in convoy with the Unwins, and watched as they took the wrong exit ramp and ended up heading for Canada! We thought we were going to end up on a dinner for two at this rate... We found the restaurant, and the Unwins made it not long after - they just had to make a few detours along the way .

Once again, the food was great - it was actually the first time we'd both knowingly tried lobster, and decided it wasn't too bad after all. Steve ordered a margarita, not noticing the line about size in the drinks menu - 24oz!! Wasn't that a surprise when it arrived on the table ... including lobster party beads!

By the time we finished up, the queue to get in was stretching out the front door - finally, one of our plans paid off!

Tonight's restaurant of choice was a bit closer to home - The Cheesecake Factory in Bellevue, not far from the apartments we stayed in when we first arrived in January. Geez that seems like a long time ago now!

Dinner tonight was a group effort - us, Mark and Mary, and the Unwin clan! Everyone met up first at our place, then we headed into Bellevue.

Unforunately we're also nearing the end of the school year, so the place was packed - we were warned it might take a while to find a table large enough to seat us all. Then we suggested one of the dozen or so empty tables under the verandah ... hey, now there's an idea! .

The food was great, and the cheesecakes were evil . Mark and Mary defied public opinion and went with the chocolate peanut butter cookie dough cheesecake ... and promptly decided peanut butter should not be used in dessert recipies! Andy & I had a chocolate oreo mudslide between us .... mmm, chocolate .

The weather was great, and they even had Dark and Stormys on the drinks menu ... not a bad way to spend a Friday evening!

Mark has a list of 'things to do' for Mary while they're visiting - one of these is dinner at Tony Roma's ... which just happens to be walking distance from their hotel .

Of course, Andy & Mark went for the Red Hot ribs ... Mary and I chose something a little more sedate! Then the waitress brought out the wrong meal for Mary - her first experience of having to send something back in the US . All very pleasant ... heaps left over for the doggie bag, so Mark's got ribs for breakfast tomorrow!

We wandered over the road to the shopping strip after dinner, mainly to let the food settle . Browsed through Best Buy looking at MP3 players for Mary until they kicked us out to close the store - whadaya mean, it's after nine already?? Daylight savings is very confusing this far north, it stays light way too late!

We stopped in at the airport this afternoon to meet Mark and Mary on the last leg of their journey from Adelaide. As usual, we overestimated the travel time from our house to the airport - time enough for a coffee before they arrive!

Unfortunately the security measures at SeaTac prevented us from waiting at the gate ... a bit primitive to what we're used to at home!! So we had to wait at the luggage carousels instead - eventually we spotted them after they came downstairs from the arrivals level.

After making sure their bags had arrived safely, we helped them find the hire car and load everything in the boot trunk .

Mark and Mary headed into Southcenter to find the hotel, so we headed off to the Museum of Flight for a quick visit. We'd been meaning to take up membership for a while, so we had a chat to one of the volunteer ladies on the membership desk and signed up. Also means we've got a couple of free passes for visitors .

Mark and Mary took us up on the offer of dinner at home - we heard a car pulling into the driveway, and then saw them taking a photo of the house! Andy cooked up some wings on the BBQ, and we caught up on some of the news from Adelaide. They started fading as the daylight dimmed, however - not a bad effort considering jetlag!!