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.
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