Black Friday at Seattle Premium Outlets

Last year we went to Seattle Premium Outlets before 12mn on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.  It was advertised that shops will open by 12 midnight. The place was full-pack with shoppers.  Once the shops opened, shoppers were so competitive, the ambiance was sort of chaotic.  Panic shopping was not for me so we went to the nearby Walmart where we bought all the Christmas gifts on my list when the Black Friday prices took effect at 5am.  Later, we shopped some more at Old Navy, Ross and Costco.

This year, we went again on Thursday afternoon with buffet dinner first on our agenda.  We did not like the food at Skagit Casino so we tried Bamboo Garden Chinese Buffet in Mt. Vernon, Washington.  We have eaten here before so we knew what to expect.  Since it was Thanksgiving, they have the Seafood Dinner Buffet the whole day, so as early as 3pm, we were having a wonderful dinner.  I mostly feasted on at least 5 different (but similar) kinds of shrimp dishes while Mar so very much enjoyed the king crab legs, he ate so much which was so unlike him.

Cameras were forgotten at home, sorry no pictures.

After dinner, we went to Seattle Premium Outlets, which was 146 kms from our house.  It was still early for the 12 midnight shopping but we want to park there and nap.  I went to check on the shops for some window shopping, expecting the shops to be closed.  At the Coach shop, when I went there to window shop at 6pm, there were about 12 ladies already in line.  Two ladies even brought camping/foldable chairs, so they were comfortably seated, two more ladies brought a huge comforter which they shared while seated on the cemented ground, some more ladies were just standing in line talking.  I ask the first lady the time Coach is going to open their door and she said 10pm.  Meaning they will be waiting in line from 6 to 10pm before they enter the door on a very cold autumn night just to buy Coach bags or purses whatever you call it.  Take note they were there even before 6pm, what time exactly, I do not know, I was too ashamed to ask.  If they were there at 5pm, then, they were ok with 5 hours waiting.  I was not.

Mar and I surveyed the outlet mall and by the time we were done 30 minutes later, more people had joined the line.  Throughout the night, more and more men and women joined the queue, several hundreds of them,  which for me was unbelievable.

Just like last year, we gave up on the outlet and went to Walmart where we bought a huge tv which was heavily discounted and some more items our children wanted.  We also shopped at Target and Costco.  In the morning, we went back to the outlet to see what's going on at Coach's shop because my husband wanted to buy me a new bag.

There were about 20 people in line, I hesitated, but later decided to join the line when I noticed the line was moving at a nice pace.

Mar and I was outside the store in line for about 30 minutes, we were actually inside the store another 30 minutes and came out with one huge black leather Coach bag.

Mission accomplished.

RVing in Europe - Paris, France, Day 3 Eiffel Tower

June 15 - 17, 2007

The line to go up the tower was a lot - it was a very long line.  We wanted to go up despite the long line so we queued up. We paid an entrance fee of Euros 23.40 for 3 persons to go up the tower.  One can choose between going up using the elevator or the stairs.  Going up using the stairs cost less.  It was a wonderful view of the city of Paris from high up there.  It was worth it paying the entrance fee.

Up in the tower, there was a restaurant/food and drinks shop.  We purchased french fries from a french man on the top of Eiffel Tower in Paris, France and ate it too.  It is just funny stating the obvious, bear with me.

We were kind of tired and it was raining, we went back to camp after our unsuccessful try to go malling outside of Paris.  The mall was closed as it was Sunday.

I haven't written about how scaldingly hot - hot showers are in most Europe's camps.  It was pre-set so there is no way one can adjust the temp while in the shower.  Maybe some people like it that hot but we don't. 

Our bill for 3 nights camping at Bois du Boulogne was Euros 94.50.

RVing in Europe - Paris, France, Day 2 Arc de Triomphe

 June 15 - 17, 2007

After getting off the metro/subway, we first headed to the Arc de Triomphe, which was at the farther end of Champs Elysee then we walked the whole stretch of Champs Elysee while alternately visiting some shops, buying some souvenirs, people watching, food-on-display watching, eating, window shopping, resting, taking photos and I'm sure we did a lot of complaining too - about doing too much walking, about how difficult travelling was. LOL.

We decided we would see Eiffel Tower on day 3.

RVing in Europe - Paris, France, Day 1 The Louvre

June 15-17, 2007

We spent a total of Euros 202 from Barcelona to Paris for diesel, 198 liters of diesel at Euros 1.02 per liter
We spent a total of Euros 83.75 for toll fees
Total mileage was around 1100 kms.

Camping du Bois de Boulogne is 11 kms from center of Paris.  We arrived in this camp early morning on June 15.  We checked-in, was given our assigned spot, settled-in and took a bath.  We were later ready to go to Paris - day 1.

At the gate of the camp, there is a bus that takes campers to the city (euros9.60 for 3).  From the city we took a metro/train/subway (euros 4.20 for 3) to reach Paris.

Entrance to The Louvre was Euros25.50 for three.  We decided to dedicate the day to The Louvre and that's what we did.  The Louvre, the building, was massive in size.  The Louvre's art collection was equally massive.  The Louvre is not meant for a day's visit definitely.  We took a lunch break and a Starbuck's break later to recharge and went back to the Louvre after each break.  We were happy we persevered going to all the rooms to see most art if not all of them.  We really enjoyed our experience and we felt proud to have seen these important art collections.  Btw, this was second time to see Louve for Mar and I.  The first one was in 1998.

RVing in Europe - Long drive from Barcelona, Spain to Paris, France

 June 12 - 14, 2007

It was about 9 pm on June 12 when we got back to Camping Masnou to get our RV.  Mar moved our RV in the parking lot before we left the camp to go to downtown Barcelona earlier in the day so that we would free up our RV spot and would not have to pay another day.  This was approved by the camp Manager.  We left the camp about 10pm and drove to the nearest aire to free camp as it was already late.

The following two days, we drove through a lot of mountains in France to reach Paris.  It was actually all mountains from Barcelona to Paris with elevation too high, we were afraid our old RV would not make it.  It took us 2 days/nights of leisurely drive, meaning we stopped a lot and took afternoon naps and around 1100 kms. total mileage.

A remarkable thing happened.  I found my maiden last name Cantal on the highway huge signs announcing the name of the commune and then again announcing the name of the mountain - as in Montagne de Cantal - or something like that.  I was thrilled and thought that maybe my great great grandfather came from this part of France and therefore I am 10% - plus or minus - French. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures of the road signs so there are no proofs.  When we got to an aire to take a break, we went inside a building with souvenirs shop and a restaurant on the ground floor and what did we see?  My French ancestors name etched on the tiles on the floor.

Oui.  S'il vous plat. c'est la vie!!  Merci. (Yes.  If you may or please.   Such is life!!  Thank you.)  LOL, I know some french words. 


After spending a total of 3 nights free camping in aires, we arrived in Camping de Bois de Bologne just outside of Paris.

Flooding in Southeast Asia, Now Flooding in USA, Canada and UK

The earth is in terrible shape and so do we, humans - something has to be done about global warming.


Below is cut and paste from CBC News Canada titled "Flood Forces Vancouver Island Evacuations.  Hundreds of people have had to leave their homes".

Last Updated: Friday, November 20, 2009 | 1:38 PM PT Comments134Recommend119

The Canadian Press

An aerial view of the flooding in Vancouver Island's Cowichan Valley, where more drenching rains are predicted. (CBC) Dozens of homes have water "up to the doorknobs" and others are under evacuation alert after heavy rain combined with high tides to flood low-lying parts of Duncan, B.C., an hour's drive north of Victoria.
Water streamed around a network of dikes built since the 1960s, when flatlands in the city and surrounding communities were routinely inundated.
The municipality of North Cowichan, which includes Duncan and has more than 27,000 residents, declared a local state of emergency after water from the Cowichan and Koksilah rivers and several creeks spilled their banks Friday morning.
"There's been high tides in the ocean which has not allowed the rainwater to drain away fast enough," public information officer Mark Ruttan said.
"We've had a couple of schools that have closed for the day and we've had to evacuate people out of their homes. That'll be about 300 homes."
Estimates put the number flooded homes at more than 50 in North Cowichan and more in Duncan itself, Ruttan said.
"There's a number homes that were flooded up to the doorknobs".