Month: August 2015

Debbie decided that it was time to make hikes more interesting and purposeful. Of course, she decided to do this without really understanding what she was doing or consulting the others. Debbie introduces Geocaching. Geocaching, for those not up to speed, is in simple terms, a treasure hunt. People have left hidden containers all over the place. You will be surprised how many are around you. There are rules that one is supposed to abide by which Debbie didn’t really get. Ever read Harry Potter with a discussion about the muggles? Well, there you go.

Off we go for the hike around the resort. Debbie announces that the group needs to go across the stream and through the trees to geocache. In her defense, there was somewhat of a path. Occasionally, her phone hoots like an owl. Eventually, the entire group is looking but they strike out mostly, because they don’t understand what they are looking to find. Strike One.

Our second attempt is at a Salmon Hatchery – Uh, no fish but the other members are now doubting Debbie and starting the yell things like “Leaves of Three! Leaves of Three!” Debbie finds this a bit distracting and feels it is not supportive. She has now learned that the owl hooting sound is her phone which means that you are 10 feet away. The leaves of three chant and some itching indicators convince her to throw in the towel. Strike two!

The third attempt is at the Coombs country market where goats are on the sod roof. It is a great store with many imported foods. Before long Debbie, Gerry and Larry are out by the trash can looking for the cache. There is a rumor that Debbie might have accidentally touched a rat trip. Debbie denies but is obsessively washing her hands. Once again – Strike Three.

While unsuccessful geocaching, there are several wonderful hikes on Vancouver Island. The hikes are awesome because they are in the shade and cool. We hike Englishman River Falls and Little Qualicom Falls. We visit a salmon hatchery that is not yet open for the season but do see some salmon waiting for the signal to swim upstream. We visit Cathedral trail with 800 year old trees.

After 3 days of searching on a visit to Qualicom Beach with people shouting “Leaves of three” they make their first find. Larry actually made the find and is hooked.

Tuesday was a great day after the return of the passports. Gleefully, we began the trip to Canada. We missed the 3:30 ferry at Tsawwassen Terminal by 10 minutes. Maybe there was too much celebrating about the found passports? At 5:30 we are on the ship pulling away from the dock. The ferry is huge with multiple 18 wheelers and cars. Once started, we begin the tour of the ship. Gerry, Joyce and Larry like sitting outside. Debbie does not. Debbie takes Larry’s picture and it is a great shot. Larry tries to take Debbie’s picture but the wind has started to pick up so much that her hair stands straight up. Debbie tends to wander away from the group. Debbie goes to the bow to wait for the others but they never come. Suddenly, she notices that no one else is outside. She tries to go inside but can’t get the door open. She finally sees a crew member who is walking toward her yelling “Get inside – it is too windy … The deck is closed”. Debbie points out it is hard to go inside when all the doors have been locked.

When Debbie goes inside, she finds the others waiting. They assure her that the crew member forced them inside and that they would never have left her behind. Debbie says “Hmhmph”

At 8:30 Tuesday night only 3 days behind, we make it to Canada.

If you read the previous blog in the pursuit of the passport, you know the Seattle trip extended to Monday. This makes the Space Needle trip an option.  A new attempt is planned. The group arrives early thinking the wait has to be less than 6 hours. It is 3 hours. Okay, at this point, Debbie wants to point out that the City of Seattle could do a better job scheduling the times. Why does one have to wait in the “Buy a ticket” line to schedule a time for a ticket that one already bought? Answer me that Seattle. The wait is longer than the Eiffel Tower and this is the French planning the process. The opportunity was given to schedule 2 trips but one was enough. The day was beautiful and clear. Mt Rainier is in the background of the multiple photographs. One must look closely to see it but it is there. 

Once the Space Needle trip is complete, it is time for hiking. After discussing with a local, Hiram M. Chittenden is selected as the christening hike. It turns out that it is not really a hike but boat locks and salmon ladder. Technically there are very few salmon as they are not running yet. Debbie still doesn’t quite understand the process but got the point that the fish swim against the current and hang around waiting for a “GO”!   A nice initial walk.

Honest Biscuit

While not on the original agenda, the travelers decide to make the best of the situation and tour Seattle. Why not purchase a city pass good for 7 days? But, remember in their minds they are always leaving the next day. They first wander down to the Pike Street Market. Unbelievably, no food is purchased. The group then wonders in search of lunch and stops at “Honest Biscuit”.  Larry thought he ordered a McMuffin on steroids but got a big colored biscuit with the meat chopped into miniscule pieces. We think that the “Honest Biscuit” name comes from trusting that the ingredients are actually there. Debbie fared better with a big biscuit covered in honey. It didn’t really matter what is in or on a biscuit if there is enough honey.

The group heads over to City Center home of the attractions. Our first stop is the hour city boat trip.   The tour includes a history of the docks, the city, and space needle. For the more hip, a drive-by of Starbucks headquarters, Pier 70 (Real World Seattle house location) and the Hemp Festival. No, we did not attend the hemp festival. Then off to the Aquarium. Most exciting is to see pictures of Salmon but no real life. We did see some sea otters that were working the crowds.

Next stop was to book the Space Needle or perhaps not? A six, yes, six hour wait was just a little too much of hanging out although someone suggested the hemp festival. The Space Needle was abandoned for the trip at this point

The next stop was Debbie’s favorite, the “Chihuly Garden and Glass”. Debbie was quite impressed and took a lot of pictures that I am sure you will be forced to view. Just tell her that you read the blog and saw the pictures and maybe she won’t bother you.

 

Since the goal was full value for the ticket, the group chose the “Emp museum”. The regular admission price was $25.00. Debbie can’t really tell you the purpose of this museum. She thinks that just put stuff related to music. What did we learn? Jimmy Hendrix was from Seattle, sometimes the EMP shows dancing Japanese characters on a giant drive-in movie screen that make crowd members feel obligated to dance, and it is possible to make a hanging guitar tower. Debbie and Larry did not feel obligated to dance and now know where to send stuff when it needs a home. They think Jennifer’s clarinet might need to go to Seattle and $25.00 is way too much to see it.

 

We left our weary group with an appointment at the Passport office in Seattle on Tuesday morning at 10:00.  The night before they spent hours filling out documents.  Debbie assists with ancestry.com research on key dates and pictures are purchased at Walgreens in preparation although one looks like a mug shot. With high hopes for the passport office, we check out of the Residence Inn.  Joyce and Gerry are convinced that the passports are lost and will never be found.  Just in case the documents show up weeks from now, they leave a phone number.  Just to be safe for the momentous appointment, we leave an hour early for the 20 minute ride.

As we pull onto the freeway, Ida (GPS system) say “Severe traffic ahead – rerouting.”  Really, Ida, who says things like that?  So we reroute, although with hesitation since she keeps getting us lost in Seattle.  Turns out that we are quickly using up our safety net and there are delays on the rerouting.  Joyce starts to sweat and her phone rings with a call from FedEx to tell her that the package is “Lost”.  (Really, big surprise there?)  No one knows where it is and has been declared officially lost.  Joyce hangs up to discover that it is 9:45 and several miles away.  At 10 minutes away, a decision is made to drive down the bus lane in front of a police car.  This decision makes Debbie uncomfortable and she tries to hide in the bottom of van but realizes that the seat belt needs to stay on.  We pull up in front of the passport building at straight up 10.  Joyce and Gerry jump out and run down the street.  This leaves Debbie and Larry scrambling to get out of the middle of the street with the car.

Larry and Debbie have no idea where to go or park so begin the serpentine dance of circling the area trolling for parking.   As they make their first circle, Joyce is seen back on the street on the phone talking.  How could she be kicked out of the office so soon?  They continue the circle and Larry’s phone rings.  It is Joyce.  The Residence Inn called to say, ( wait for it, wait for it) THE PASSPORTS HAVE ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!

On the second circle, Joyce and Gerry are retrieved.  High Fives all around as we go back to the Residence Inn and claim the package.  It is a good thing that the passports showed up as the passport office wouldn’t let them in the building because of a fire drill and employees were evacuating  the building.  It would have been a long day.

So now we are on the road to Canada.  Yippee!

Our trip begins with an early ride to the airport. Some of our chauffeuring staff protests at the early hour. 

The trip is uneventful. We are shocked at the number of people in Salt Lake City airport and how much they want to share about themselves.

We continue on the Seattle and settle down to wait for our traveling companions, Joyce and Gerry. Joyce and Gerry have traveled more than any people we know.  Around two, they call to share an issue just discovered. They had forgotten their passports. One needs a passport for Canada. Debbie has been quizzed at Canada customs enough to break into a sweat so is pretty sure that this will be a problem. Soo, after calls back and forth the group decides to stay in Seattle to try to recover and get back on track.

So for all you problem solvers reading this, here is what has happened.

• Joyce convinces her friend to get a locksmith in to drill the locks and get into her house
• Friend finds the passports – Yeah!
• Joyce sets up an overnight delivery pick up with FedEx via Delta – Yeah!
• Friend calls at 5:25 AM that FedEx didn’t show up – Boo!
• Friend calls at 5:30 AM that FedEx did show up – Yeah!
• Passports go to Norfolk to begin flight – due to arrive 7:00 PM Sunday – Yeah!
• Passports don’t show up Monday at 7:30 PM – Boo!
• Track Passports to Atlanta – Boo!
• Passports to arrive on Monday at 10:30 AM– Yeah!
• Getting smarter and check on status before 10:30 AM – Hmmmm…
• Passports went to Minneapolis Sunday night – WHAT???
• No, it didn’t go to Minneapolis – WHAT AGAIN?
• OKAY, WE LOST IT but the good news is that we won’t charge you for it. REALLY FedEx????

Sooooo, we are still in Seattle and have gone to the fallback plan. Joyce and Gerry have an appointment with the passport office on Tuesday morning. Read the blog to see if they end up being deported. On the upside, Debbie and Larry keep looking at each other and say “Whew, at least it wasn’t us”.

So our trip begins with packing. Debbie and Larry have two very different techniques of packing. He lines up all his different choices side by side and interviews each piece. He thoughtfully considers his selection and tries out various options. Debbie on the other hand has a big (over 2 days) or small (2 days and under). Larry has smaller bags to pack inside the larger bags which Debbie uses although has gone outside her authorized red colored bags and “borrowed” some of Larry’s green bags. On the morning of the trip, Debbie finds Larry’s suitcase open with bags aligned possibly by using a straight edge. (Debbie might have accidently tapped the bag misaligning some bags). Debbie’s bags might have a couple of items rolled into a ball and stuffed in the corners using a Girl Scout technique. Larry’s bag closes with a fast melodic zip. Debbie’s inches closed with a slow moaning sound. At the home weigh in, Debbie weighs in at 44 pounds with much dancing around the room. Larry weighs in at 51 pounds with more dancing by Debbie. Larry points out that it is not a competition.