We had talked about going flying with Sherri this morning, but the weather was not accommodating this plan. So instead we packed our bag and in the afternoon, drove down to an Asian market called “Uwajimaya” (http://www.uwajimaya.com/) and browsed for bowls, green tea and pickled mustard greens.

That last item is something I’ve been looking for ever since reading a recipe for dry-fried long beans that called for “pickled mustard greens” for the authentic flavour. We couldn’t find them anywhere. Kim Chee kind of worked instead, but I’ve always been curious… we found them – several kinds – at Uwajimaya, sealed in plastic like, um, nothing I’ve seen before, really.

We had an early dinner at a chinese restaurant called Shanghai Garden, which featured brown rice – both fried and steamed varieties – and a number of fruity variations of “classic” dishes. There were a lot of dishes I wanted to try!

Sherri dropped us off at the airport at 6:00 in plenty of time for our 7:30 plane back to Vegas.

Even though it was overcast, on the climb out of the Washington area we had perfect views of Mount Ranier and Mount Adams, just gorgeous. They are serious hunks of rock. The setting sun rendered Mt Adams’ giant shadow as a perfect triangle pointing East. The camera was buried in the middle of our carry-on luggage, but I refused Lisa’s offer to extract it. Yes, Lisa, I regret it now!  I doubt we’ll have a view like that again. The other side of the plane got to see Mt Hood and Mt St Helens, but I think those of us seated on the left were better off.

For some reason, every flight we’ve made in to Vegas gets a little rowdy. We happened to be seated in the middle of a groom’s party, I think.

I get curmudgeonly in the presence of people getting excited about visiting Partytown, USA, but Lisa sensibly reminds me that they ultimately pay for our roads. Hmm. I hope they all have a great time.

The cats were fine when we got home. Kami was waiting for us, and Karma was outside by the mail box by the time I ducked out to collect the mail. Both of them were unusually bouncy, so I guess they’re happy.

Interestingly, one food bowl was completely empty, the other three appeared to be untouched. Maybe they were planning on eating systematically from left to right?