#146: A Play Day

What started out as a little trip to visit a friend and have lunch turns into an epic day-long journey.

I took a play day yesterday to meet up with a friend on Whidbey Island. It’s 77 miles to get to her, including a one-hour drive to the Port Townsend ferry for the 35-minute crossing to Coupeville, and then a drive of 30 more minutes down island. No worries. A piece of cake, right? I should have known from the wind and waves yesterday, and the rocking and rolling of the ferry, that something might be coming. I had the radio on as I drove down island and heard predictions of gale force winds coming in later and probably should have paid more attention to those words.

My friend bought an old 1910 house that had been totally trashed by the last tenants followed by squatters who nearly did the old girl in. Trashed, of course, is relative, but in this case I think it’s an apt description…wires pulled, windows broken, pipes to septic system broken but potty still used (don’t ask), a ceiling caved in where people had jumped on to a flat roof from an attic window above just for the fun of it…I could go on and on. My hat is off to my friend for taking on this big project to save the old girl. It will take time and money but she sees the picture of what it can be and I believe that she will accomplish it. We capped our visit off with lunch at a little place nearby in Langley.

This old house has good bones.

After we said our goodbyes, I walked around the little town a bit, found the perfect housewarming gift for friends who are moving into a sweet cottage just a few blocks from me, stopped in to say hello at a bookstore where I had done a signing a few years back, and visited a thrift store, too. Then, wanting to get back before dark so GP and I could settle in for the night, I headed back up island to the ferry dock.

Looks good. I must be the first one here…I thought when I saw the car lanes were completely open, especially since I didn’t have a reservation for the boat. I knew I would get on. Well, guess again. When I pulled up to the ticket booth I was greeted with the 4:15 boat has been cancelled due to wind and it’s not clear yet if there will be a 6 PM boat either. We went through options.

• Option #1: I could wait with no promise of a boat running (the ones after would be 7:30 PM, if it ran, and 9:10 PM).

  

• Option #2: (3 hours and 45 minutes to home.) Drive down island and take the Clinton-Mukilteo ferry, drive to Edmonds to take another ferry to Kingston, and then start the drive to Port Angeles.

  

  Option #2: 3 hours and 45 minutes

• Option #3: (4 hours and 48 minutes to home.) Drive up island, cross the Deception Pass Bridge, head east to I-5 and then head down to the Edmonds Ferry as above, OR continue down I-5, through Seattle, on to Tacoma, crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, on through Bremerton and Silverdale, before turning west to home.

Option #3: 4 hours and 48 minutes

I chose option #2 and drove back down island to Clinton in time to catch the next ferry. Once I got across, I realized the extended travel meant that I didn’t have enough gas to get home, so I stopped and filled up…in a hail storm! Before heading back out on the road I thought that perhaps I should look at the weather report. Something I should have done first thing in the morning before I set out. Hmmm…a possibility of snow. As I drove south to the next ferry, I was thinking of who in Seattle might have an extra berth for GP and me for the night, BUT, my car has AWD and good tires so I decided to keep on going. I made the next ferry and the rest of the drive was uneventful, and there was no snow on the way or when GP and I arrived home in Port Angeles.

Next trip? When I feel the need for a little travel, which isn’t all that often, it’s simply easier for me to walk on the Coho ferry right down the hill from me and go to Victoria BC. It’s a 90-minute ride and not only do I get a little trip, I get to travel to another country, have tea, visit a few lovely stores, and head back home in time for supper. I can’t recall the last time that the Coho was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Although yesterday’s paper said:

PORT ANGELES — Black Ball Transport cancelled its 2 p.m. Wednesday sailing to Victoria, as well as the 4 p.m. return sailing and all sailings on Thursday due to a turbo failure on the M/V Coho’s starboard engine.

The ferry line has a replacement on hand in its Port Angeles warehouse and anticipates the vessel will resume its sailing schedule Friday morning, according to a spokesman from Black Ball.

On second thought, maybe I’ll just stay home.