Ferries suck!

This morning we got up early to make the 2 hour drive from Seattle to Anacortes to catch the ferry to Shaw Island in the San Juan Islands.   The ferry had been running behind and we were told to arrive 1.5 hours before the departure time.  We arrived at 10:55 to catch the 12:30 ferry only to discover that the 12:30 ferry was already FULL and we were the first car in line for the 3:45 ferry.  Yes!  You heard me.  We had to sit in line at the ferry terminal from 10:55 - 3:45.  If that wasn't bad enough, the 3:45 ferry was late and didn't actually leave until 5:00 pm.  It was a fun day!!

Because we were the first car in line, we were parked at the very front of the ferry and could sit in Stormy with a perfect view. It was a beautiful day and the ride to Shaw Island was incredible.

We were headed to Shaw Island, in the middle of the San Juan Islands, even though there are no hotels, restaurants or other visitor accommodations.  We had arranged to do our first CouchSurfing on Shaw Island with a couple named Carole and Brud.  Brud is the Island's fire chief and she retired from the Island's school where she taught Spanish to the 17 students who comprised the entire student body.

Upon arrival Carole showed us around her property, introduced us to her golden retriever, Luna, and her 29 exotic hens and the lone rooster, Boots.  The front of the home faced a bay and in the back of the home was a beautiful garden.  (see Picasa album for additional photos)

Phyllis cooked jambalaya and Carole made a salad using flowers from her garden.  We enjoyed a bottle of wine and got acquainted.  After dinner Carole showed us photos from her trip to Turkey, where we plan to travel one day.

As for sleeping arrangements, we had the option of the guest room in the house, the bed on the large wrap-a-round porch, or the bed in the lean-to down by the bay.  We selected the bed on the porch and fell dead asleep.  The night was still and utterly silent as there are no crickets, cicadas or other night sounds.

Audibly ASSaulted

We had to get up early today so we could catch the ferry to the Olympic Peninsula. Fortunately the sun was shining brightly by 8:15. Isn't it ironic that all of our sunny days have been in Seattle? We've always been told that it rains and is cloudy year round in Seattle. Go figure. Yay for us!



Yesterday's ferry was a walk on and all we had to do was park the car, stroll over, pay the fare and board. Today we took the car and had to get there early to make the 9:30 ferry. Unfortunately, 1 of the 2 ferries operating between Edmond and Kingston had broken down and now only one was running. This meant that we would not get onto the ferry until 12:30. We began to think that maybe we don't like ferries so much, but the wait didn't seem so bad until "Mr. Minnesota", who had been talking to the people in the car next to us, walked over to Phyl's window and began to tell us about bus transportation, road design and Minnesota traffic laws. Yeah, we're interested in those topics!

Mr. Minnesota- What's this tag on your car?

P- It's called Fast track. It's to pay the bridge tolls in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mr. Minnesota- In Minnesota we have that too and we have the Lexus lane where you can pay to drive in the carpool lane even if you're alone in the car. blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah........................ Did you know that in Minnesota it is against the law to cross the solid white line.?

P- Isn't that against the law in all states? (under her breath.............get away from my car..........)

G- (under her breath) Don't be ugly, just don't encourage him by talking.

Mr. Minnesota - blah, blah, blah, blah......................... (we weren't even talking to him, because you couldn't get a word in edgewise)

P- (still under her breath but getting louder) Turn the key so I can put the window up.

G- (laughing) You can't roll up the window in his face.

P- Ok, then give me an ice pick that I can shove in my ear.

I opened the computer and started typing a blog and Phyllis got out a book and started reading. He talked for another 5 minutes and finally walked back to the poor bastards he had first assaulted.

P- Look now that dude is texting while Mr. Minnesota is talking. What car did he come from? (the dude gets out of the van and opens the hood and is fiddling with something while Mr. Minnesota yaps on and on and on.)

G- He came from the van in front of us.

P- His wife is sitting in it reading a book. She's probably locked his aggravating ass out of the car.

G- OMG! I'm gonna throw up!!! First Mr. Minnesota tortures us and now we have to sit here and look at Van Dudes hairy ass!! Why is he leaning into his engine?

P- Oh, shit! That is disgusting! His wife needs to make him address that.

G- And his ass crack goes up to the middle of his back! I'm going to gouge out my eyes!!

P - We've got to get out of this car and go for a walk. I can't take much more of this!!!!

We finally got onto the ferry and walked to the upper desk to enjoy some beautiful scenery for a change. The ride to Kingston was only about 20 minutes and we disembarked and headed west. We passed through the adorable town of Port Gamble, stopped at John Wayne Marina for a picnic lunch, and saw several lavender farms before returning to the ferry to head back to the city.

Alyce's husband, Dave, had returned from a business trip and we meet them for dinner at their favorite Thai restaurant. The food was fantastic! Back at their house, we repacked in preparation for our next day's departure. They were kind enough to allow us to leave a lot of stuff at their house while we travel to the San Juan Islands, Vancouver Island and Vancouver BC, before returning to Seattle to leave for our Alaskan cruise.

　

Fran sucks! Let's feed her to the troll.

Another slow start because we can and because we're giving the fog time to burn off. Today it happened around noon while we were in route to Chittenden Locks which allow boats to travel between salt water Puget Sound and freshwater Lakes Union & Washington. We had never before seen locks and this experience was very cool! When the locks were built, they blocked the natural salmon migration, so 18 "salmon steps" were built to help the salmon get from Puget Sound into the lakes where they were returning to spawn and die.

We had lunch at a little fish place across from the Locks and having had enough fried food the night before, ordered fish tacos (no comments from the peanut gallery). When our tacos arrived we were surprised to see that the marinated fish chunks were replaced by a large slab of fried Halibut slathered in tarter sauce and draped in red cabbage. But we do confess to eating it all.

On the the Space Needle where we took a few photos but elected not to go to the top due to Phyllis' fear of heights and her unwillingness to eat her fried Halibut taco twice. Across from the Space Needle was the Duck Boat Tours where we contemplated getting on the boat and looking like jackasses with yellow duck beak quackers. NOT!

We then set off to find the house boats.............you know, where Sleepless in Seattle was filmed.

G- What did Fran say? Take another right? This is not the right way.

P- Well, since I don't know the right way and neither do you, we have to listen to Fran.

G- Fran is full of shit because I can see the water and that is the port, so I know there are no houseboats. Plus, we've already gone in a big circle.

P- Don't yell at me because Fran is an asshole!

G- You see what happens when you start getting too comfortable with Fran? Was she drinking while we were at Qwest Field? I wish a had a damn map!!!

P- Gina, Fran has been doing a good job. Let me see if we can give her a new address and she will "recalculate".

After following Fran's advice and going in circles for about an hour, she recalculated and finally got us to the boathouses which have Keep Out signs everywhere and you can't even go on the docks. Whah!

Needing a drink after that unfruitful fiasco, we headed to the Fremont neighborhood which was supposed to be laden with microbreweries and is considered one of Seattle's funkiest districts. Plus, it was almost time for the Thursday night Saints game. We finally found a place called Norm's, which thankfully had really great beer, because soon discovered that the Saints game was not being televised in Seattle. Whah! Again!!!

Fremont is also the home of the gigantic bridge troll, so we strolled over for a photo and walked back to the car along the river before heading back to Alyce's house.

Flying Fish & Football

We awoke to a foggy morning, but it was expected to clear by mid day. We spent a leisurely morning drinking coffee and chatting with Alyce who is very interesting and a pilot for a corporate CEO. Around noon we headed along the coast road to Alki Beach and the ferry which we took to across Elliott Bay to Seattle.

By this time it was gorgeous and we walked along The Waterfront and through Pike Place Market where, of course, we watched the fish being thrown. The market reminded us very much of the New Orleans French Market back in the day when fruit, vegetables and flowers were sold instead of sunglasses, wallets and T-shirts.

We ate gyros at a Mediterranean place and strolled around the city through Pioneer Square where the first Seattle residents lived

It was happy hour, so we began looking for a cute place to grab a beer when suddenly, looming up ahead was Qwest Field.

G- OMG! Is that Qwest Field where the Seahawks play?

P- It is definitely Qwest Field because it's written on the side of it, but I'm not sure it that's where the Seahawks place. I know the Saints play in the Superdome, but I don't care about the names of other teams stadiums.

G- It is where the Seahawks play! Let's go see it!!

And with that, Gina took off like a little kid who had just spotted the entrance to Disney World.

P - Where are you going? I'm sure we can't get into it and I'm not walking across the parking lot for nothing.

G- Come on, I asked the guard and we can even go up the steps an look inside the stadium to see the field.

After numerous photo opportunities and looking at the field and banners, it was now time for a beer at a place just next to the stadium.

P- You happy? You're like a little excited kid.

G- I'm very happy. It's cool to see the stadiums of the teams I've been watching since I was little. It's a very cool stadium and much smaller than I thought it would be.

P- Oh yeah. I'll be it's cool all right. Especially in winter when the wind is blowing off the water and freezing people's nuts off.

G- No nuts here! We're safe. Now gimme a beer.

After our happy hour we returned to the ferry and ate dinner at a hole in the wall fish place where we enjoyed fried Halibut, shrimp and oysters while overlooking Puget Sound. We then sat along the Sound watching the sun set and the people out for evening strolls. What a fantastic way to end a great day! Seattle is already much favored over Portland.

Do the deer and the elk play?

We left Portland headed north on I-5 and were quickly in Washington State. After an hour or so we turned off on Hwy. 505 headed to Mt. St. Helen's national park. All of the state highway marker signs have the number of the highway in the silhouette of George Washington's head. Just like on a nickel.




We entered Mt. St. Helen's park on highway 504 the one way in and out to the blast crater. The landscape was surprising green and lush with Nobel Firs, Douglas Firs and various other Christmas tree looking trees.

G- Did you see that crazy sign? 

P- Yes dammit and I was just thinking about how I'd love to shoot someone's dog, pitch a tent and drink a beer.

G- Well, we don't have a gun, dog or tent, but we always have beer in the ice chest!

There was a sign marking the entrance to the blast zone and the landscape began changing to a grayish pumice stone look. There were naked, downed trees on the tops and sides of mountains and although there was some sort of ground cover tree stumps still defined the hillsides.

At one of the lookout points, we finally saw 2 elk with big racks! Signs had been warning us of elk crossings for days but we had not seen so much as the tip of an antler.

P- There are so many deer in California and we see deer crossing signs all over, but since we crossed into Oregon we have only seen elk crossing signs. Do you think there are deer around here too?

G- Well, I know from the song that "the deer and the antelope play" but I'm not sure if deer and elk play. Maybe it's some kind of hoofed animal hierarchy.

P- You stupid!

We returned back down Hwy. 504 toward I-5 passing a man, on his John Deer tractor, plowing a field. His adorable blue painted house, separate garage and barn was just up the road in an idyllic setting, with neatly manicured grounds and abundant flowers.

G- This seems like such a peaceful place to live, but what does someone up here do for a living?

P- Maybe he's retired or maybe he works in one of the towns off I-5.

G- Well he's farming something, but that plot is so small, he can't earn a living from it.

P- And if you lived up here, what would you do for fun??

G- Maybe they get together with friends, or a big city is not all that far away, and they had a Direct TV dish, so if you think about it, Monday through Friday we just worked and went home and on weekends sometimes we got together with friends and sometimes we didn't.

P- Nice place to visit of have a weekend home, but we could never live so far from a biggish city cause we're city girls.

G- Yep. But we did pass that park and ride sign and lot. Where the hell are they riding to after they park? And who are "they"? How many people can be around here that need to ride to somewhere?

We got on I-5 and headed north to Seattle. Ironically, the sun finally started to appear. We had seen very little sun since leaving Nor.Cal., being shrouded in fog and cloudy skies. It was bizarre to end up in Seattle, the rainy and overcast city, and have the most sun we'd seen in a week.

We found Shannon's sister, Alyce's, house in west Seattle with no difficulty, thanks to Fran, and sat on the front steps, drinking our evening Bloody Mary and basking in the setting sun. Alyce arrived several hours later and we enjoyed an introductory chat.

Fran redeems herself.

Yes, yes, foggy and cloudy, but ever the optimists we put on shorts preparing for the midday sunshine that never arrived.


P- Let's use Fran (our GPS). Where is she?

G- Ugh! I think the bitch is in the back. Do we need her?

P- Yes, because we don't know where we're going and we don't have a city map. I know you hate her, but we need her.

G- We don't NEED her, we NEED a map!

P- We're not buying a map when we're leaving tomorrow and we have a GPS.

G- She's a lying bitch and I don't trust her. You remember that day she took us the long way home? And that other time when she argued with me about the way to go and so you made me follow her instructions and she got us lost when I knew the right way.

P- The guy who sold her to us said she'd only be 95% right. Give her a break. She's all we've got. Now get her from wherever you've hidden her and be nice to her.

G- Alright. Stupid bitch better not get us lost.

P- Maybe if you wouldn't keep her in a Crown Royal bag.................Maybe she's just drunk all the time since you have to squirrel everything away in the little bags that you have such a fetish to collect.

G- Shut up! My little bags come in handy.

Fortunately Fran took us the correct way and we drove up to Washington Park, designed by John Olmsted, and had lunch in a fir grove in the arboretum. We froze our asses off, but it's still better than sweating and being eaten by mosquitoes. As we neared the end of lunch a group of camp kids returned to their shelter signaling it was time for us to go.

We drove down a winding road, under a canopy of trees, to the Japanese Garden. There we meditated as we serenely strolled through the manicured garden. You know that it definitely appealed to Gina. And Phyllis love the water features. We were enjoying the morning, no longer freezing even though we never saw the sun, and things were looking up for Portland.

Across the street from the Japanese Garden was a beautiful rose garden; row upon row of every size and color rose, cultivated on 3 terraces. We strolled amongst these beauties for a while, then sat on a bench overlooking the scene and the city below.

We then left Washington Park and went to the Rhododendron Garden near Reed College. It was early evening and although the plants were not in bloom, the ponds and bridges were very pretty. Fran had done an excellent job of navigating, so we asked her to find us a Mexican restaurant. Fran suggested and directed us to San Phillipe Taqueria, a little hole in the wall that had the best, authentic Mexican food we'd ever eaten!!!!

G- Finally, Fran does something right!

Take a Bath!

Our first morning in Portland was, as usual, gray and foggy. Fortunately, the fog burned off by mid day and we got to enjoy the sun. We took the Portland equivalent of Bart, MetMax, into the city to downtown where they were having a food festival and a bridge bike race. We walked along the Willamette River and had a big salad and beer at an Irish pub.

G- The city is nestled in these hills and all of the greenery is beautiful, but this city is not doing much for me. I expected to like Portland more than I am.


P- And look at all of these freaky people who are in serious need of personal hygiene.

G- I know. I've never seen so many hairy mofos who look like they need to be shaved and bathed. Of course it's not everyone, but enough people to make it noticeable.

P- Look at that bitch playing in the fountain. She looks over 50 and everyone else playing in the fountain is under 5. Maybe I should toss her a bar of soap and she can bathe while she's in there.

G- She doesn't look homeless. This is weird. God knows we are use to quirky peeps in Nola and SF, but this is super weird. This is beyond the grunge look. There are colonies of fleas living on some of those people.

P- Let's go, they're making me itch.

We left the downtown feeling less than satisfied and drove to Lake Oswego to drop off some old photos and papers I had found while purging, to my ex husband. Then we sat in Fourbucks and worked on the blog. Overall, not our favorite day, but there's always tomorrow.