What I Did On My Summer Vacation Part II, or, How Not To Enjoy Your Birthday

The day after kayaking we checked out of our B&B and waited with the car on dock for the return ferry ride back to Anacortes, and then Seattle. The wait let us see some interesting "wildlife": the hippie mom who let her child run around the parking lot without shoes or socks, and who had a bumper sticker that read, "Magick is alive" and the jovial 65 year old man who the previous evening at dinner had been downing martinis like they were going out of style, and who thus looked a little worse for the wear.
We took the hour long ferry and deboarded around 12:30. It was an overcast day, so I turned on the headlights for the hour and a half drive back to Seattle. With a good portion of the afternoon remaining, we decided to brave the Seattle freeway traffic and check out Capitol Hill.
We crawled along, found parking and wandered the streets. Independent stores that would never be able to afford rent in Boston abounded, kitschy bars and seedy lounges beckoned. We entered one with a Mexican motif and asked what was on tap. Only Ranier (a kind of PBR equivalent) so G ordered us each one. I should mention that it was my birthday. We read the local papers and nursed our watery beer, then asked for the check. The bartender mumbled something about $3...G thought he must have misunderstood and so said, "No, I'll pay for both." The bartender said, "Sure-- they are $1.50 each-- it's Happy Hour!" G demanded to know what other specials we were missing out on then asked the barkeep to hit him again. We wandered out of the bar into the refreshing Seattle air and decided to head back so that we could enjoy my birthday dinner with my stepdad. I went to start the car while G finished a phone call...but the car wouldn't start. I made sure the key was in the right way and that all systems were go. And that's when I noticed the headlights had been left on. G and I exchanged angry glances and he tried to turn on the car while I called the rental agency who put us through to AAA. I was told someone would be by in "half an hour or less" and that I should remain with the car. G and I had reading material, but limited water and no snacks. My stomach started to growl. We played count the hipsters as they walked past and tried to find our Seattle area couple match. Forty five minutes passed and G went to scavenge for food. I called AAA again and was told they were delayed. I stared at the sunset behind the space needle through the rearview mirror. G brought back sandwiches and fries. After an hour and a half the AAA guy arrived, our car was jumped and we were reminded to just drive for half an hour to keep the charge. I smiled and turned on the car and that's when the gas light went on. G had that "I told you so" look on his face, because he had, in fact, told me that we should fill up with gas earlier. I didn't know if we could drive 30 minutes and then buy gas, or if we would run out. We took the gamble, found a station, turned off the ignition, bought gas and...the car started. We made it home, and my birthday dinner was at the breakfast bar; sandwiches, the salt from the remaining fries, and a bottle of bubbly found in the garage. In Amazing Race terms we were 0 for 2.

next...like a monkey hitting itself over and over, we take the car into the Seattle AGAIN

What I Did on My Summer Vacation, or, Why the Amazing Race Will Forever Be Out of My Grasp

Having initially eschewed a vacation in order to save money, by mid-summer I knew I would need one badly, so G and I booked a trip to Seattle and the San Juan Islands. G is a good sport about visiting my family in Seattle, but I realized some ameneties to improve our independence were in order. So we rented a car and reserved some personal time in a B&B on San Juan Island, off the northern coast of Washington. When we picked up the sporty black Dodge Neon, we felt a freedom akin to a 16 year old getting her first set of wheels. I put previous bad experience with cars in Seattle (two parking lot fender benders 8 summers ago when I lived in Seattle) in the back of my mind and instead prepared for The Amazing Race.
Early Sunday morning, G and I set off for San Juan Island with the ferry schedule in our hand. We made excellent time, boarded the ferry and made it to the island by 10:15 am. We had no map nor directions to our B&B, but instinctively we found it! We then tooled around the island and found the British Camp where we hiked and ate lunch. After a nap at the B&B, we headed out again, G nearly dove into the 50 degree water, but then thought better of it. We saw about a dozen Orcas from the beach and then headed to an early dinner. We were feeling great and even managed to polish off a Netflix movie that night. We awoke early, had breakfast with another couple staying at the inn and then made it over to see about some sea kayaking. The woman we checked in with said she had room on the 10:30 if we could make it down to Snug Harbor. It was a beautiful day and we were excited about a new adventure. We saw the couple from breakfast at the harbor and the there were two other couples. We climed in our kayaks (G in back, me in front) and received our rudimentary lesson. How hard could it be? Paddle in unison and use the peddles to control the rudder-- press right to go left and vice versa. The tour guide told us all to stay together not only for safety, but also so we could hear what he was describing throughout the morning tour. We were off! G and I lagged behind, but at first I figured it would just take us awhile to get the hang of it. About an hour into it we were still behind-- the rest of the group frequently waited for us to catch up.
Guide to A and G: "This your first time doing this? You okay?"
A: "We're city folk, but I'm sure we'll get better."
We saw starfish, some harbor seals, paddled through a bull kelp forest (which slowed us down again!) and saw Victoria in the distance. Two hours into the tour I was getting worn out-- we kept zig zagging. With an hour to go, I figured we were likely (hopefully) going to paddle into another harbor and catch a van back to the original harbor. But then the tour guide told us it was time to head back.
Guide to A and G: "Where you folks from?"
G: "Boston."
Guide: "Hey--that couple's from New York! (yells over to NY couple that we are from Boston)"
NY couple: "Sorry! HAHA!"
G: "It's JUST A GAME! (through clenched teeth)."
This was probably the point where I realized we were not the fun loving hippies, but the annoying, fighting couple. G would whap me with sea kelp or poke me with his paddle, and I would yell back for him to focus on steering. He stopped steering and we started to head out to sea. I almost started crying and imagined having to be rescued and pulled back to the harbor by a rescue boat. It would be so humiliating. G put all his force into paddling. I started to feel faint.
We eventually made it back to the harbor. We were the last to arrive and I was thankful to be on steady ground. Perhaps we lacked the kayaking technique or should have been more coordinated, but in my mind I know what the real problem was. G and I had a defective kayak. It's really the only logical explanation. We headed to lunch and enjoyed sandwiches and beer in the sun. We may have lost this leg of the Amazing Race, but the week was just beginning.

next...taking the car to Seattle Part 1.

Netflix

Zara recently emailed me to join her as a Netflix friend.

A: Yeah! Don't be intimidated by my massive list of foreign films.

Z: Don't be intimidated by "Kate and Allie".

Touche!