World United States Washington Seattle

Kathy and Bryan's Sabbatical Journey

South of the Border Oct 23, 2009

October 15 – 21

We haven’t seen enough of Canada yet, however we only have six months and we have to get to Florida by December. So we caught the ferry from Sydney, a nice, quiet little retirement town, and headed for Anacortes, Washington. The first stop for the ferry was Friday Harbor, one of the San Juan Islands. Some day we have to come back and visit these islands (so much to see, so little time).

Driving through Anacortes we choose to stop at Deception Pass on Whidbey Island. There was something about this quiet spot that didn’t warrant its name… UNTIL the Naval Aviators revved up the jets and started to practice their circuits overhead. If you can see them, it’s fun… if not, it’s annoying: especially at 7:00 o’clock in the morning. Although the weather was a little grey, we still managed to get in a good hike along a winding trail to see some of the local scenery (and spot some of the local wildlife).

We are not fond of big cities, however Seattle was a must-see. We had contacted Carmela and her husband Gennaro in plenty of time for them to arrange a weekend trip to Houston. However, we meant the following weekend, so they decided to paint the house. (We always want to leave people an “out” in case they don’t want to see us.) Actually they were very gracious hosts and we certainly enjoyed seeing them (thanks for the bedroom door Gennaro). I had worked with Carmela back in Montreal, and we had a lot of stories to share (good and otherwise) and reminiscing is often good for the soul. We were able to have a little tour of the area, which itself has some stories which we won’t go into here (Carmela, do the ”little finger thingy” here). If you ever go to Seattle, stop for coffee at Everett. They have some quaint little drive-through coffee stands, where you can get a lot more for your money. We didn’t “take advantage” of any, however there are places like “Bikini Java” and “Juggs”, which should tell you more than my words can (sorry folks no pictures here).

Seattle is also home of the Aviation Museum, with the President’s plane, a Concorde, and many, many other interesting aircraft from vintage to space explorers. We had to do that one, and try out some of the cockpits, like landing the shuttle (it isn’t as easy as they make it look on TV). Although Seattle would warrant a few more days (OK Carmela we should have stayed longer), we were off further south in search of warm, sunny days.

Warmer days, yes: sunny, no. We planned on seeing Mt. St. Helen’s, which, according to the web-cam at the interpretation center, was like looking into a glass of milk at the time: cloudy, overcast and fog. It doesn’t matter what you call it, it was not going to be worth the 47 miles to the top to “not see”. So, we camped across the street from the interpretation center in the hopes of better weather. No such luck… so off to Cape Disappointment (don’t you just love the names they give these places).

Cape Disappointment it certainly was not. Long beaches, where you could walk until tomorrow and still not find the end: great waves and surf that make a person (this person anyway) realize just how small and insignificant we are in the greater scheme of things. We kept meeting up with birds along the beach that seemed to have been injured in some way. Whenever we approached, they would drag themselves along the sand, as if crippled, and into the waves. They couldn’t walk, and they didn’t seem able to fly either. Kathy laid awake most of the night (yah, right) worrying about the poor things, so we asked the park ranger next day. Apparently they are Murres, a bird that can swim (but not well), can fly (but not well), and they can’t walk. Kind of like Penguins, I guess.

Cape Disappointment is also home of the Coast Guard training area: talk about big toys. I have a lot more respect for these people after watching them practice in the huge waves, maneuvering up and over, straight through, and nearly tipping in the valleys and crests of the waves. Unfortunately, noon must be lunch time for them and we all had to go home. So, time to head “souther” to find warm AND sun!