Travel Diary

Monday

We all met around 8:45 for a final breakfast in the city. This time it was a little Starbucks styled coffee place called Murchie’s. Originally, I thought it was Munchie’s. It just seemed more befitting, given their relaxed laws on pot, but now I get it (actually, I don’t). I had a small coffee and a cinnamon roll. The roll was a mistake. It just looked good, and I think Cinnabon has messed up my expectations. I assume they’re all extremely loaded with sugar and sweet frosting, but this was a little more mellow with a cream cheese frosting. It wasn’t what I expected, which was probably for the best as I would have eaten the whole thing if it tasted better.

Once breakfast was consumed (or tossed), we walked around a little more. The streets had a feeling of business to them, like many were going to work. And then I realized that that was the case. It was Memorial Day only back in the USA. This was Canada. Though, yes, it’s still a tourist town, so many won’t be going to work no matter what day it is, as they’re on vacation from somewhere else.

It was then time to pick up the luggage at the hotel. I had already paid during booking months prior, so no payment was needed and that’s always a good feeling. We headed over to the ferry. I grimaced. The line was already quite long. I guess it was a holiday weekend for those returning to Washington or other American states. At one moment, I briefly felt some panic as my boarding ticket had the prior date on it. It expired??? Was it the wrong ticket?

No, I had just misread it. It had the prior day and month, but the year was 2017. I guess they’re valid up to a year. Good to know. Also, it’s about $37 for round trip tickets. If one leaves from Seattle, one saves a few hours (or more!) of driving, but the tickets shoot up to about $150.

The wait was long, but soon enough, we were shuffling our feet to get onboard again and ready to return to America. Getting good seats was tougher, but the girls were clever enough to wait for the concessions seating area to open and we soon were comfortably seated. Once we were out to sea, the concession booth could see booze, and I was comfortably “beered.” The sign did say the area was for patrons only, so it was only right that I had a beer.

The ferry made its way out into the harbor and we could see everything much better than when we arrived as it was solid daylight this time. The weather was rather comfortable too, although it chilled some when we moved deeper out to sea. Just a few degrees warmer and it would have been paradise sea weather. And that’s a rare thing for me.

Finally, we docked at Port Angeles. The exit line took some time as passports were checked and questions asked. With ferries, the checks are not as diligent, so it still wasn’t too long. I suppose someone could smuggle contraband fairly easily, but realistically, there is not much to bring it that could even be obtained in Canada. Washington is probably looser about cannabis than Canada (though both are fairly relaxed, I hear) so that’s not much of an issue.

Moot point though, since we had nothing to hide or declare.

Once on land, we got into the car. I found my candy ready to consume, but the orange juice had been sitting out for several days. It wasn’t opened, yet I found it best to play it safe and toss it out. I was tempted though--I mean oranges do live without refrigeration most of their lives.

We headed home. The drive went by fast for the most part...

Until another huge traffic jam. This time it was due to a toll bridge that was making lifts for boat traffic. There was a point of having about 30 minutes of no movement at all. New lesson: always shift a day for holiday weekends. A Thursday to Sunday trip would have been much easier in regards to traffic (and perhaps ferry lines too). Finally, we were back on pace again.

For lunch, it was one last stop at a Dairy Queen. I made poor choices, but at least they were tasty ones. And no, I didn’t drink the whole shake. Has to be at least some self-control, even on vacation.

We drove the final leg and returned to Bellevue. At that point, it was just an evening of hanging out at the house with a short trip to the store. I was still full from my lunch so I passed on more candy. No wait. I bought Skittles and Japanese crackers. I guess I’m never THAT full.

Around 7:30 pm, Terry gave me a lift back to the airport. I got my boarding pass and checked my bag. Minutes later, I found the Pre-check line---which was longer than the regular security line! What the heck?!?

I knew this would eventually happen. Oh well. It kind of moved fast. I mean, it only took about eight minutes, but I was well used to one or two minutes. This was inconceivable!

At the gate, I was 20 minutes early, so I found a Warriors game on and as it was Game 7, it was quite exciting. It was down to the last two minutes and a great victory for the Warriors. There were excited fans throughout the terminals as you could hear the shouts of joy after the game.

We boarded about 10 minutes late and I found my seat at the very back of the plane. This time, I read the entire journey and enjoyed the pretzels and coffee.

After landing at SJC, I collected my bag and took the shuttle to the car lot. My car was a bit warm from the hot day in the bay area, but it was cooling off fast. And I do have a good strong AC unit in my Lexus. You can even control the settings.

The drive home was nice.

Crashing in bed was even nicer. It was a fine trip with good friends and hopefully good photos.

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