Another four hours to get to Seattle. Today the weather is not good – not rainy but overcast and cool. We have listened to all our talking books so now decide to listen to one of them again ‘Our Kind of Traitor’ by John Le Carre. The reader does a really convincing job with the voices, from an aging Russian to a northern banker to a young girl. The story is complex and very believable. This makes the journey shorter but we are both tired and we have to change drivers every fifty minutes. We have one cold stop where we finish the bread cheese and salami from the day before and then we push on, afraid that if we linger we might fall asleep right there. The last few miles into Seattle is a challenge but we get to the hotel near the airport. We have a day off on Saturday, which is good because we have acquired so many bits and pieces, gifts, CDs, talking books, souvenirs etc that I think we will have to buy another case to hold everything. We have been told to visit Pike Street by people who live or have lived in Seattle. and, as we never get time to go anywhere other than the venue in most towns, we are both looking forward to seeing a bit of Seattle. Neil has played The Triple Door twice before. It is a lovely venue, with a Steinway Grand and people who look after you well. We realise the benefits of a publicist once again as many people have only heard about the gig from others who have checked Neil’s website. So probably won’t get many new people tonight. They are a good audience though, especially a crowd from Texas who just happened to be passing and saw the poster. They were amazed that Neil was there at the same time as they were and stayed chatting and taking photographs well into the night.

Click here to see Tom Wasserman’s photos from the concert that night