May was very quiet in the Wilson-Thomas household after Claire's unexpected gall bladder operation at the end of April. We had an outing to Snoqualmie Falls a few weekends ago to see the Falls full of snow melt. They looked spectacular.

New York

Business and pleasure took us to the East Coast at the end of May for 10 days. Neither of us had visited New York before so this was a taster visit and we loved it! More like London than Seattle, we appreciated the architecture (Grand Central Station was indeed grand), saw lots of brick buildings, churches and some graveyards, rode the subway, and did lots of tourist things too, walking many blocks. The view from our hotel, the UN Millennium Plaza, was stunning.

The first evening we walked up to Times Square, named after the New York Times building. It was visually stunning - not really beautiful but an experience! Lots of large ads, flashing lights, stretch limos, bustling people, huge shops. On Saturday 30^th, we did two bus tours - one in the pouring rain (!) - going past the really expensive shops, up to Harlem, past Central Park, the Empire State Building and down to the Financial District and Wall Street.

Our lunchtime spot was the Carnegie Deli – never had we seen such sandwiches so full of meat. To give you a scale of things, the W-Ts shared a hot pastrami sandwich and portion of New York cheesecake (mouthwatering). We were surprised at the arrangements: rows of tables with everyone sitting (extremely) close together and found the same at the Blue Note Jazz Club. Maybe this is a reflection of how much is packed into Manhattan. It is 23 sq miles, with 1.6 million residents. Mercer Island is about 13 sq miles with approx 22,000 residents.

History

I had known New York had originally been called New Amsterdam. It was Charles II who had changed the name for his brother, the Duke of York in 1664. I did not know that Wall Street was so called because the Dutch built a Wall to keep the British out! I had also not known that NY served as the US capital between 1780 and 1790.

9/11

New York's most recent history is dominated by "9/11". We came across one of the fire stations that had served that day just off Times Square on Friday evening with the fire engines on display. On Saturday the bus tour made us realize how little room there is at the bottom of Manhattan. There were few places to go when the towers fell down. On Sunday we returned to Wall Street before doing a boat ride to the Statue of Liberty. We visited St Paul's Chapel, modeled on St Martin in the Field Trafalgar Square, and the church attended by George Washington when he was President. The church was used as a mission centre after 9/11 as it is right next door to Ground Zero, but undamaged by the blast. It was very moving and demonstrated the church at its best. Ground Zero itself was hard to comprehend as it is the scene of much building for the new World Trade Centre, but it's a big hole. We had forgotten how much taller the towers were compared to the surrounding buildings, which seemed huge, until we saw a newspaper cutting pinned to a wall, opposite an impressive bronze dedicated to the firemen who lost their lives. It was a somber moment. We were glad we had come to the spot that has so influenced US foreign policy and remembered that many thousands – military and civilian – have lost their lives since 2001.

Our trip to the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island was good but involved A LOT of queueing: one security line to get on the boat, another more comprehensive one to get into the monument itself, including an air puffer testing you for chemical explosives (no repeat of 9/11 here). If you had not bought a ticket a week in advance you could not go into the monument. After climbing the several hundred steps, (we could not face the queue for the lift) the view back to the city was spectacular but in hindsight we felt it had been a lot of effort and after another long line to get back on the boat, we did not have the energy to get off at Ellis Island, the "welcoming" point for immigrants in the 19^th century and early 20^th century.

Sunday evening was finished with a trip to the top of the Rockefeller Centre to look out over New York. Much like Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle, we were the last ones up the Top of the Rock - except we were looking at the Empire State Building, not actually up it. Top of the Rock was recommended by the tour guides and books and we were not disappointed.

Our trip to New York had avoided shopping until Monday morning when we dashed into Bloomingdales; only after the doorman welcomed us in. Our kind of shop. $15 later we left hoping to return (when our bank balance has recovered from NY prices); and with enough time for another trip to the Carnegie Deli (minus cheesecake) before heading for the airport.

Orlando

After the compactness of New York, Orlando in Florida, the most south easterly state was a stark contrast: flat and spread out. And hot: Florida is the "sunshine state". We stayed at the Crown Plaza on International Drive. Claire had our own private pool as few other guests made use of it. Mark attended Microsoft's Tech Ed conference. Thursday evening we went to the Conference Party at the Universal Studios theme park. It was a good evening but reminded us of Las Vegas - all fake; attending in the heat of the day with thousands of others seemed very unattractive. Friday evening we drove away from the theme park area to "downtown" Orlando, which was pleasant and relatively quiet. We ate in the old Station in a "historic Street" which reminded us of New Orleans. We sat by a nice lake with trees growing in the water.

Saturday we spent the whole day at the Kennedy Space Centre, an hour's drive from Orlando. Quite spectacular. We paid the extra for the NASA Up Close tour and it was totally worth it. We went on the Space Shuttle Experience - a simulation of going into orbit, out to the launch and landing sites, saw a Saturn V rocket and saw the capsule for the new Ares rocket for the Constellation program that aims to have men on the moon again by 2020. I came away with three reflections: a) the earth and the heavens are the Lords and everything in them; b) don't give up on being adventurous, even when my slippers and reclining chair seem to hold me tightly in their grasp; c) if the US can develop such amazing technology to get into space, there should be the ability to develop more fuel efficient vehicles and ways to tackle climate change….

Miami

Absorbed by all these thoughts we drove 4hrs to Miami Beach, staying in the art deco hotel called The Hotel. Highly recommended, especially the pool on the roof from which you can see the Ocean. We enjoyed al fresco dining on Ocean Drive watching a man fascinating tourists with a snake and a biker with a convincing model of a female passenger!

Sunday we drove part way down the Florida Keys, a spit of land at the bottom of Florida, where in places you can see the sea on both sides of you! We ate beside mangrove swamps, Claire swam at the Coral Reef Park and we stuck our nose into the southern part of the Everglades National Park on our way back to Miami. Our trip ended Monday in the hot sun on the sand of Miami Beach, fixing our thoughts on this moment as we returned over 7,500 miles later to rainy Seattle, cooler by 40°F!

Mark was speaking at the Microsoft MIX Conference last week (March 4-7) in Las Vegas. We decided to make a "trip" of this opportunity, so I joined him on Thursday (6^th). En route, it was amazing to fly so close up to Mt Rainier and the Nevada desert went on and on. Then out of nowhere, comes Las Vegas, which is visually spectacular, if somewhat bizarre. We were staying in The Venetian, which in the theme of Las Vegas, is supposed to be a mini-Venice. Las Vegas Blvd goes under the "Rialto Bridge". There is a mini Doge's Palace façade and the Campanile Tower greets you. Upstairs is the Grand Canal (just think about that for a moment!) and St Mark's Square. It is very cleverly done with the ceiling painted to look like the sky, so you feel like you are outside, but having seen the real thing, we commented that the streets were too wide and clean. On Thursday and Friday, we ate in the restaurants around the Grand Canal and St Mark's (the hotel has 30 restaurants!) feeling we were eating 'al fresco'. Of course we weren't, but after a Seattle grey and cloudy winter the illusion was very welcome!!!

The grandeur and illusion of the Strip is built on gambling. There are slot machines awaiting you as you get off the airplane and you have to go through the casinos at all the hotels to get anywhere. Walking around on Thursday night, there was a mixture of grandeur (the hotels are trying to outbid each other in glamour and facilities) and seediness. The housing around the strip is very poor. Guys with "Girls for You in 20 minutes" T-shirts walk the streets flicking their advert cards. On my own, it felt quite intimidating. Although we were still in the US, I knew I was in a different state: prostitution is legal in most counties (but not Las Vegas, which is why they are available in "20 minutes") as is smoking in public places. The scenery is so very different, but more of that in a moment.

Friday I walked up and down "the strip" exploring the different hotels: the Luxor is in the shape of a pyramid with a sphinx outside. It is has a Tutankhamen tomb but after fighting my way through a dark and smoky casino to no avail, I gave that up as a bad job (and I've seen the real thing). Excalibur is the shape of a castle, MGM has a huge bronze lion outside, New York, New York is built in the shape of the NY skyline with a statue of liberty and Paris has an Arc de Triomphe and a half size Eiffel Tower. The Bellagio is spectacular at night with fountains 'dancing' in time to different pieces of music every 15 minutes. But by the end of Friday, I was ready to move on.

Friday afternoon we took a trip to the Hoover Dam, which is on the Colorado River on the Nevada/Arizona border. We took the Dam tour and went inside the power room and the Dam itself. It really is an amazing piece of engineering. We walked from one inlet tower to the other on either side of the state line and changed time zones in the process! It was interesting to read about the wrangles of whether the dam should be built or not by the Federal Government. The folks of the West did not want the government interfering and folks in the East thought it was the West's problem and not one to be solved by the people's tax dollars. In the end the Federal Government did step in and a huge project was delivered to prevent flooding and drought and provide electricity.

Saturday saw us off on a mini 'road-trip' to Death Valley in California. The Grand Canyon is the more popular trip from Vegas and we do plan to return to the Canyon. We chose to visit Death Valley as this is a good time of year to visit – before it simply gets TOO hot. Our drive took us through amazing countryside – brown dry hills with arid ground and what looked like giant yucca plants. We stopped in Pahrump, for petrol (opposite a "gentleman's club" in the shape of a castle) and lunch (good food and good value) at the Bougainvillea Café, not realizing we were going to have to make our way though the casino to get there, and eating breakfast surrounded by slot machines!!! We were driving a rental car with an Illinois plate (!) and got greeted warmly by the occupants of another car as "near neighbours". They lived in Wisconsin and we had to explain that no, we were not from Illinois at all. In the afternoon we drove into Death Valley and Badwater Basin. This is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere – 282 feet below sea level. It was hot - around 85F – and dry. The whole area is one large salt flat surrounded by mountains, with shimmering mirages of water. We went on a side drive to Artist's Palette, which was stunning.

Our Saturday night stop was at a tiny place called Tecopa, about an hour out of the park. Let's just say the contrast to Friday was striking. We stayed at the Delight's Hot Springs Resort in a breeze block unit of 3 rooms with a very loud snoring neighbor, but we did something we could not do in Las Vegas: sit in a natural hot mineral spring bath staring up at the sky full of stars – fantastic! We had dinner in a small bistro, Pastels, that was like having a meal in someone's house. As Tecopa is so small practically everyone knew each other. The atmosphere and food were excellent. We returned for breakfast and sat outside (for real this time) peacefully looking across at the hills. What was bizarre was within 5 minutes of sitting down we heard an English voice talking about the M25 (for US readers, this is the London orbital freeway) and ferries from Southampton! We mused waiting for our pancakes and Panini that such a little outfit (see the pictures) would just never happen in the UK. The regulation over restaurants would mean that the place would be shut down sooner than you could say "Bob's your uncle" and we wondered how many small communities do lose out by not having an innovative place for food and community.

After another good meal, we returned to Las Vegas by an alternate route over the Old Spanish Highway. We "wowed" as we went round corners into unexpected valleys and vistas and took a scenic drive in Red Rock Canyon before arriving back on the "strip" for one last look at the place and sample a recommended burger joint, In-n-Out Burgers.

You can see most of the pictures from the trip on this page, but we have also put together some panorama shots of a few interesting places along the way. You can see those over on FlickR.

A great weekend: we packed a lot in, saw some fantastic scenery but were glad to return to the trees and water of the Evergreen State.

Last week I came across a piece in The Times (London not New York) talking about an article written by Trevor Philips, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK. His thesis is that race relations would not improve under an Obama Presidency and may even go backwards. He said about Obama's white support, "A vote for Obama is a pain-free negation of their own racism." My immediate reaction was this misrepresents the situation and a lot of the comments on The Times website disagree with him.

My impression is that Obama's supporters are genuinely in favour of his ideas, and, as fundamentally, of his approach. They see him as a better choice for the nomination, whilst recognizing Sen Clinton's achievements. The issue of race does not seem to come into the decision, at least, not here in the Pacific North West. I hear this view from friends and saw it first hand when Obama was in Seattle a few weeks back.

After the inconclusive Super Tuesday, both Clinton and Obama had last minute gatherings before the Washington caucus on February 9th. Mark and I tried to see Clinton on Thursday night (7^th). She held her "rally" at an out of the way venue on the waterfront and by the time we got there, there was no parking and people were being turned away. The Seattle PI said 5,000 attended.

The next day I decided to be more prepared and arrived one hour before the doors opened on Sen Obama's rally at a central sports venue. Even then the crowds were numerous and, most strikingly, full of young people (although it was Friday morning so perhaps not so surprising). The crowds were so large the doors had to open early. The venue filled to beyond its capacity to around 18,000 (what the heck to fire regulations?). 3,000, who could not get in, listened to his speech broadcast outside. It truly was an experience with people full of enthusiasm and patience and a totally electric atmosphere when he did appear. Obama came on stage 3hr after I had arrived, by which point I'm thinking this had better be worth it!

As I waited for Sen Obama, I reflected how very different UK politics is. The US presidential election is so much about one individual and yet ironically they do not control Congress in the same way as the British Prime Minister controls Parliament. I also couldn't remember any similar sort of "rally" in UK politics. I've been to meetings to hear candidates for local and national election but it's all been very "proper" and orderly, and on a small scale. My only recollection of a similar rally was the Sheffield rally before the 1992 General Election which is alleged to have contributed to Neil Kinnock's Labour Party defeat against John Major's Conservatives. You can see the rally on YouTube (needless to say). It is compared by the commentator as the "nearest British equivalent to an American style Convention" and it really is, but as far as I can remember, never repeated: these events were seen not to be to the British taste.

Back in the US, Sen Obama seems to have started a movement. He's offering a message of change and hope, quite reminiscent of Tony Blair in that respect before the 1997 UK General Election. Obama speaks in the same sort of measured tone (both are lawyers by training) but without the "I say unto you" of Mr Blair. Whether Sen Obama will clinch the nomination is still up for question. Much will depend on whether Sen Clinton is able to make a significant come-back in tomorrow's primaries and make a case she is still in the race.

February 5th (Super Tuesday) was expected to bring a clear winner on each side of the Presidential nomination battle. But fact has been stranger than fiction.

Over the last two weeks, John McCain has emerged as the Republican nominee, although technically he still does not have the right number of delegates to clinch the title. After spending millions of his own personal fortune (Newsweek, Feb 18th says $355m), Mitt Romney announced on February 7th that he was 'suspending', his bid for the nomination. This felt quite surprising, but he'd done the assessment and worked out that he wasn't going to make it: "money can't buy you love". He's since asked his delegates to support McCain.

After Romney dropped out, Gov Huckabee suddenly looked all the more attractive to Republicans who feel McCain is too moderate and not conservative enough. After a burst of primary wins on Saturday 9^th in Kansas and Louisiana and a close run thing in the Washington caucus, Mike Huckabee has come in second to McCain in the "Potomac" (for English readers named after the river) primaries: Virginia, District of Columbia and Maryland and the two last night: Wisconsin and Washington. I can't see any way that Huckabee can catch McCain now, but he's still in the race…and this contest has shown many presumptions have been wrong. Not all on the the GOP side are happy bunnies at the thought of Sen McCain as the "man", but nothing will rally the party like the Democratic Nomination of Hillary Clinton.

However, that is very much in question. Having led the polls by a very wide margin in 2007, Sen Clinton has not won a contest since February 5^th. Sen Obama has won 10 straight victories in a row – many by a large margin - and is generally thought to have the momentum going into the next big states: Ohio and Texas next Tuesday. The Economist says it is "his to lose" but still wonders if he has what it takes to deliver. Last night, watching Clinton give a speech from Ohio, she looked stressed and sounded screechy again. After the weekend of the 9^th she changed her campaign management and all the commentators are saying she needs to win Ohio and Texas to have a chance of winning the nomination. She is currently around 70 delegates behind Obama. Even then, the nomination may not be resolved until the convention in August on the sheer mathematics of delegates.

Mitt Romney has won four states as I write: Utah, home of the Mormons and Massachusetts, where he was Governor, Delaware and Minnesota, but he has not really come up trumps.

Mike Huckabee has done far better than expected in what has been penned as a two horse race over the last week. He made another great speech, having won three States as I write, and looking like he will win a few more states in the South. Yesterday Romney was saying he should drop out and Huckabee rebuffed him. Today he's proved that he can do well without Mitt's millions. A possible Vice President?

Hilary Clinton felt like she had a new speech writer. She gave the best speech I've heard so far. The most Presidential I've seen and more persuasive. She referred to her mother who was born before women could vote and watching her up on the stage. That is pretty amazing! Excellent speech, but not as good an orator as Obama (although he was not as good tonight as South Carolina). She said that she looked forward to further debates with Barack Obama and there have been some very close contests but California, with the biggest number of delegates available tonight, could swing the numbers. The Democrats have got a proportional distribution of delegates in all the states unlike the Republicans where a number of states are "winner takes all", but not California. CNN have just projected Clinton and McCain to win California, which is significant for both of them. Obama looks like he has won 14 of 23 States tonight, but it is delegates that count. As I sign off tonight, without California, Clinton has 430 delegates versus Obama's 344.

Clinton was not the only candidate to refer to their mother. Sen McCain's 96 year old mother was in his audience. Tonight, he proclaimed himself the "front runner", but California looked close as he spoke. This is the man who was described on Larry King Live on 21 January by Larry Elder of KABC Radio as having troubles with "the GOP base", because he is "wrong on" immigration, voted against the Bush tax cuts, is a global warming "hysteric", criticized Bush and Rumsfeld on the prosecution of the war and is opposed to water boarding "no matter what". Mr Elder said these issues are "going to be a problem for him to overcome". It shows this election is full of surprises: without California, McCain has 475 delegates, Romney 151 delegates and Huckabee 105. He's out in front, but it is not wrapped up yet.

On both sides, there is still much to play for. Washington State holds its caucuses for both Republicans and Democrats on Saturday. We may see a few candidates in Seattle over the next few days...and certainly some political advertising. The Seattle PI reported yesterday that givers in Washington are supporting Obama and Ron Paul, in fourth position in the Republican race, so it will be very interesting to see what happens here in the Northwest, in a State that normally has no influence in the choice for the Presidential candidate.