Dear Diary,
We have lost an hour overnight, now on Pacific time. So we must be clear about all the times announced for disembarking orders. We were in Canadian waters until just the last couple hours. We awake early for showers and last minute packing. Have a quick breakfast and coffee. We are passing near the San Juan Islands. It's raining hard and the fog is thick with some brief views of the islands. We dock in Bellingham and it is as we remember it. Lots of little houses on the hillside. It's a nightmare getting off the ship. The elevator hasn't worked well and we have avoided it. The same people keep appearing when the door opens. They can't seem to go down. With our luggage we have no choice but to take the elevator. Finally we get down and have to disembark through the car deck. This has been the path we have had to use for boarding and reboarding. It's a bit chaotic and can be dangerous with all the cars, trucks etc in the same area. We get off in lighter rain at 8:30AM and head for the ferry terminal. It's a nice place but not very service oriented. No place to store luggage. We have opted to take the Amtrak to Olympia but its schedule doesn't mesh with our arrival. So we must take a bus connection into Seattle. It doesn't leave until 3PM. We are delighted that David and Jo Maas have arrived to pick us up for breakfast. We had made arrangements in advance and they surprised us by meeting us at the port. Jo was Pat's head nurse in Anchorage, David was a professor at UAA. They are now retired in Bellingham. Luckily they could accommodate our large amount of luggage and they take us into the main shopping area of Bellingham. It's a funky little diner and we have a great breakfast. A nice visit with stories and news, catching up. It ends too soon and they drive us back to the port where we will catch the Amtrak bus. We have a couple hours to kill. We board the special Amtrak bus at 3PM and head south for Seattle. It's not very scenic even though the bus windows are huge for viewing. It's raining off and on, very overcast. The foliage is very lush and there are different varieties of trees and bushes. The yellow gorse bushes are beautiful and everywhere. We get into Union Station downtown Seattle. Our route into the city gives us a view of the downtown close-up, the space needle is always a treat to see. We get off the bus and get right onto the train. Again hauling our luggage up into the train. We have assigned seats. Since we are getting off at Lacey they do not have service to store our bags. It's awkward to stack them out of the way. Our car is next to the diner car so there's lots of traffic. Chuck has to sit with the bags and Pat sits in her assigned seat. The seats are pretty comfortable. But we have had just about enough of public transport and lots of people. And we are tired. The one high point was the route the train took ran through areas of Seattle and Tacoma of interest and then followed right along the edge of the shore with lovely views. We arrive at Lacey at 7PM and Al and Betty Bloomberg are waiting for us. They are a sight for sore eyes. We stow luggage and ourselves into Al's double cab truck, thankfully, and make our way to their house. It's not raining here and a little on the cool side. Still overcast. We are relieved to enter their lovely home and begin to unpack and unwind. We have a light dinner and have a chat. Then we must get to bed. It's been an incredible day of travel, friends, and long hours. On this trip we have been on train, car, SUV, gondola, bus, ferry, RV, and a plane on the way home. We look forward to our stay with Al and Betty, longtime friends from Alaska, Scotland and BP. We are sleeping in a bed that is comfortable, doesn't rock and roll, and the bathroom is just a few steps away and we don't have to hang on to the walls going there! Ah sleep. Night. Ferry Travel Miles: 1629 miles
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