Tag team today…
Up bright and early. 6am boat time; 7am local time. First thing I did was check my iPhone for internet service and NCAA tourney scores. Back on American service, and look at all those upsets. According to ESPN, this was one of the best days of the tournament ever. Naturally, I missed all of it. After I managed to pry Sam off of her bunk, it was back to more urgent matters. Let’s get our crap together and get off this boat!
M.E.
We gathered up what was left of our stuff, dropped off the stateroom keys at the pursers desk, and headed to the top of the stairwell to the car deck to wait. Our bags were heavy and after 15 minutes everyone was getting impatient to get down. There were several young guys behind us that chatted and joked around (I found this annoying- it is too early for this much talking). Finally, they let us go down and start loading our cars. Unlike the other port calls on the way down, today we were unloading from the aft meaning we were one of the first in line to get off the boat. This also meant we needed to move quickly. I jumped in the car and quickly shoved the cats back into the kennel. I was a bit rough on Tom and he made this known by whining from this point on. Matt had used the Urban Spoon app to find us a breakfast spot on the cheap with great reviews and just a few minutes away. The Avenue Bread and Deli was fairly empty with just a few patrons. We ordered egganues (breakfast sandwiches) and coffees. They were delicious. While waiting for the food to arrive we made all the typical phone calls and texts to parents to let them know we survived- as if there was any doubt! Then it was back in the car and heading to Keystone on Whidbey Island to catch the ferry to Port Townsend. We decided to take the scenic route down Chuckanut Drive to catch the 20. It started out of Bellingham following the coast. It was a gorgeous day: fresh spring air, blue skies, flowering trees. We rolled the windows down and turned up the heat a bit (hey, it was shady and a bit cool). The coastal view turned into farm land and we saw many cows and calves, alpacas, and crops. We arrived at the ferry terminal and got tickets for ourselves and the car. It was only $11.80! We double checked. That includes the car and two people? Yup. Hooray! After spending $1500 on the last boat ride this was awesome news. Matt expected at least $30. We pulled into lane 5 and decided to let the kitties stretch their furry little legs. Put them in the harnesses and leashes and took the opportunity to clean the litter and replace food and water.
S.K.T.
The cats got out of the car and soon decided that they wanted right back in. We freed the cats in the car and then took a little walk along the beach before the ferry took off. The weather is awesome! So, this is what spring feels like. No snow and jeans and t-shirts. The ferry ride was a quick jump across Puget Sound from the Island to the Olympic Peninsula. Half hour trip. We managed to have ourselves back on a boat after all of four hours not being on a boat. We didn’t take any pictures while on the ferry. After the last few days on the Alaska ferry, we had seen plenty of mountains over water. We got into Port Townsend sometime between noon and 1pm. At this point, we allowed the cats to roam free in the car rather than couping them up in the kennel. Headed out of Port Townsend and took the 101 West, across the top of the peninsula. Sam was going to meet my grandmother for the first time today in Sequim, WA. But first, we were stopping in the small town of Gardiner. The Thompsons (Barb and Chuck- Erica’s parents) live here. Erica is Sam’s best friend from Kodiak High School. I had met them over the summer at Erica and Dan’s wedding in Kodiak back in August. I think that from the moment I met Barb, I was being ordered around to help prepare for the wedding. It was funny to learn that they now lived so close to where my grandmother lives. Or, maybe it wasn’t that funny. The upper Olympic Peninsula is full of retired Alaskans. Barb and Chuck have a beautiful home that overlooks the water. We let the cats out of the car and put them in the lower level of the house, to wander around for a bit. We had salmon sandwiches, fresh apple juice (made from the trees in the yard), and cheesecake while we socialized for a few hours. Barb tried to convince us to stay with them. And she was not kidding when she said that they have plenty of room. But, I hadn’t seen grandma for a while and she needed to meet Sam.
We made the short drive to Sequim. My grandmother has a nice, ranch-style house on the northern end of Sequim. On a clear day, you can see all the way across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to Victoria, B.C. Grandma, of course, was thrilled to see us. We made it from Alaska! There is a separate garage from the main house, with a two-room office and full bathroom. It was a perfect place for the cats to stay. My grandmother has a mini schnauzer, Brandy, who does not get along with cats. She and Lucy would have issues. We put the cats in the office and Lucy immediately found the window sill where she kept watch over the back yard. Mom arrived from Puyallup a few hours later. She brought Sage, a black lab/border collie mix. Sage was also not allowed in the house. She got to stay in the garage area of the office.
I tried to watch the Georgia Tech tournament game against Oklahoma State. Alas, it was on at the same time as the Gonzaga/Florida State game. Gonzaga, being a Spokane school, was our regional game. Thanks to Gonzaga being in the same state, CBS made us watch that game until the bitter end, despite Gonzaga being in control from the outset and the result never really being in doubt. GT/OSU was close all the way. At least, I got to watch the final 2 minutes, when the other game mercifully ended. GT wins and gets the other OSU on Sunday morning.
Mom had brought all the Christmas presents that never made it to us over the holidays. It is always nice getting a little Christmas in the spring!
Grandma made a Thai chicken dinner. We opened up the bottle of Kung-Fu Girl wine that Sam had been saving since her birthday. We ate really well today after all that processed food on the boat. After dinner, we played cards (Phase 10), finished off the bottle of wine (and dove into the Midnight Sun beer), and socialized. The card game went until after midnight. Phase 10 may be the most maddening game ever. Every time I play this game, I will cruise until one of those phases that I am stuck on for about five hands. No different tonight. I lost. Grandma won after being stuck on phase 3 for 7 or 8 rounds.
Introducing Sam to my grandmother was a success. She had already met mom, which had gone really well. She seems to be a hit with my side of the family.
Up Next: No Travel, Just Relaxing on the Peninsula
M.E.
Up bright and early. 6am boat time; 7am local time. First thing I did was check my iPhone for internet service and NCAA tourney scores. Back on American service, and look at all those upsets. According to ESPN, this was one of the best days of the tournament ever. Naturally, I missed all of it. After I managed to pry Sam off of her bunk, it was back to more urgent matters. Let’s get our crap together and get off this boat!
M.E.
We gathered up what was left of our stuff, dropped off the stateroom keys at the pursers desk, and headed to the top of the stairwell to the car deck to wait. Our bags were heavy and after 15 minutes everyone was getting impatient to get down. There were several young guys behind us that chatted and joked around (I found this annoying- it is too early for this much talking). Finally, they let us go down and start loading our cars. Unlike the other port calls on the way down, today we were unloading from the aft meaning we were one of the first in line to get off the boat. This also meant we needed to move quickly. I jumped in the car and quickly shoved the cats back into the kennel. I was a bit rough on Tom and he made this known by whining from this point on. Matt had used the Urban Spoon app to find us a breakfast spot on the cheap with great reviews and just a few minutes away. The Avenue Bread and Deli was fairly empty with just a few patrons. We ordered egganues (breakfast sandwiches) and coffees. They were delicious. While waiting for the food to arrive we made all the typical phone calls and texts to parents to let them know we survived- as if there was any doubt! Then it was back in the car and heading to Keystone on Whidbey Island to catch the ferry to Port Townsend. We decided to take the scenic route down Chuckanut Drive to catch the 20. It started out of Bellingham following the coast. It was a gorgeous day: fresh spring air, blue skies, flowering trees. We rolled the windows down and turned up the heat a bit (hey, it was shady and a bit cool). The coastal view turned into farm land and we saw many cows and calves, alpacas, and crops. We arrived at the ferry terminal and got tickets for ourselves and the car. It was only $11.80! We double checked. That includes the car and two people? Yup. Hooray! After spending $1500 on the last boat ride this was awesome news. Matt expected at least $30. We pulled into lane 5 and decided to let the kitties stretch their furry little legs. Put them in the harnesses and leashes and took the opportunity to clean the litter and replace food and water.
S.K.T.
The cats got out of the car and soon decided that they wanted right back in. We freed the cats in the car and then took a little walk along the beach before the ferry took off. The weather is awesome! So, this is what spring feels like. No snow and jeans and t-shirts. The ferry ride was a quick jump across Puget Sound from the Island to the Olympic Peninsula. Half hour trip. We managed to have ourselves back on a boat after all of four hours not being on a boat. We didn’t take any pictures while on the ferry. After the last few days on the Alaska ferry, we had seen plenty of mountains over water. We got into Port Townsend sometime between noon and 1pm. At this point, we allowed the cats to roam free in the car rather than couping them up in the kennel. Headed out of Port Townsend and took the 101 West, across the top of the peninsula. Sam was going to meet my grandmother for the first time today in Sequim, WA. But first, we were stopping in the small town of Gardiner. The Thompsons (Barb and Chuck- Erica’s parents) live here. Erica is Sam’s best friend from Kodiak High School. I had met them over the summer at Erica and Dan’s wedding in Kodiak back in August. I think that from the moment I met Barb, I was being ordered around to help prepare for the wedding. It was funny to learn that they now lived so close to where my grandmother lives. Or, maybe it wasn’t that funny. The upper Olympic Peninsula is full of retired Alaskans. Barb and Chuck have a beautiful home that overlooks the water. We let the cats out of the car and put them in the lower level of the house, to wander around for a bit. We had salmon sandwiches, fresh apple juice (made from the trees in the yard), and cheesecake while we socialized for a few hours. Barb tried to convince us to stay with them. And she was not kidding when she said that they have plenty of room. But, I hadn’t seen grandma for a while and she needed to meet Sam.
We made the short drive to Sequim. My grandmother has a nice, ranch-style house on the northern end of Sequim. On a clear day, you can see all the way across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to Victoria, B.C. Grandma, of course, was thrilled to see us. We made it from Alaska! There is a separate garage from the main house, with a two-room office and full bathroom. It was a perfect place for the cats to stay. My grandmother has a mini schnauzer, Brandy, who does not get along with cats. She and Lucy would have issues. We put the cats in the office and Lucy immediately found the window sill where she kept watch over the back yard. Mom arrived from Puyallup a few hours later. She brought Sage, a black lab/border collie mix. Sage was also not allowed in the house. She got to stay in the garage area of the office.
I tried to watch the Georgia Tech tournament game against Oklahoma State. Alas, it was on at the same time as the Gonzaga/Florida State game. Gonzaga, being a Spokane school, was our regional game. Thanks to Gonzaga being in the same state, CBS made us watch that game until the bitter end, despite Gonzaga being in control from the outset and the result never really being in doubt. GT/OSU was close all the way. At least, I got to watch the final 2 minutes, when the other game mercifully ended. GT wins and gets the other OSU on Sunday morning.
Mom had brought all the Christmas presents that never made it to us over the holidays. It is always nice getting a little Christmas in the spring!
Grandma made a Thai chicken dinner. We opened up the bottle of Kung-Fu Girl wine that Sam had been saving since her birthday. We ate really well today after all that processed food on the boat. After dinner, we played cards (Phase 10), finished off the bottle of wine (and dove into the Midnight Sun beer), and socialized. The card game went until after midnight. Phase 10 may be the most maddening game ever. Every time I play this game, I will cruise until one of those phases that I am stuck on for about five hands. No different tonight. I lost. Grandma won after being stuck on phase 3 for 7 or 8 rounds.
Introducing Sam to my grandmother was a success. She had already met mom, which had gone really well. She seems to be a hit with my side of the family.
Up Next: No Travel, Just Relaxing on the Peninsula
M.E.
Everyday I'm excited to read what you've been up to! Love you!
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