Going to the Great Northwest

Well, my bags are almost completely packed save for a few toiletries and tossing in my digital camera and my cell phone charger. Yes blog visitors, I plan to send audio reports provided my cell gets a signal from the boat.

Anyway, this will be my sixth trip up to the Great Northwest. The last time I went was in 1994 when we flew into Seattle and drove up to Vancouver and saw such sites as the Vancouver aquarium, Stanley Park (where I saw my first example of rollerblading), Vancouver Island, Strathcona National park and the lumber trucks driving by, and last but not least the Star Trek exhibit at the Vancouver museum. Yes, I said Star Trek.

I guess my most memorable experiences come from exploring the Olympic Peninsula on two separate occasions. And, in my mind, they were funny experiences. Take for example the time we established our campsite right on La Push Beach---and the tide had not yet come in. Four hours later four twenty-something college graduates are struggling to move their tents to higher ground in the middle of the night cursing the fates and, perhaps, our naiveté. I guess the next night made up for it as we celebrated July 4th night with beer and the can of Spam I brought. Unforgettable!!!

Another example is when we headed to Port Angeles, WA to find a campsite for the night. The problem is it’s very rainy there and there was no dry site for our tents and equipment. So, we decided to stay at the Sportsman Inn Hotel, a mom and pop accommodation. A friend decided to take care of the hotel bill with a credit card. The clerk gave him a funny look. My friend returned to quizzical look and said, “You don’t take credit cards?” “Nope,” said the clerk. Well, it was either the dry Sportsman Inn or a very wet campsite so I reached for my wallet, grabbed a couple of twenties and paid the bill in advance.

I guess you don’t realize how funny things can be until you leave your home turf and experience a culture somewhere else, even if it is in the United States.

There were also some heart-tugging moments roaming the Olympic Peninsula, too. I attended a mini-family reunion at Sol Duc Hot springs in the early 1990s. Mom’s sister was there and mom’s brother was there…but Mom wasn’t there. A great feeling of melancholy hit me as I realized that Mom would not be around for these types of gatherings, gatherings for which she greatly appreciated during her lifetime. Another heart-warming moment was driving back to Seattle from Sol Duc with my Uncle Dave’s wife. She talked about my mom and included tidbits of my mom as a younger woman. She also talked about Uncle Dave and his life before he passed in the 1980s.

So there you have it. I think a safe thing to say is that a trip up to the Northwest will include the whole spectrum of emotions. But the emotions I hope I cherish from this trip result from the fun I have sailing around the San Juan Islands.

P.S. I just got a phone call from my Uncle. We have scheduled a round a golf for next Monday in Richland, WA and he and his wife have asked me to sing bass in their church choir for service. Let the vacation commence!!!