Well, it was finally
time to head back to the U.S. — so I took the Ferry from Victoria, south to Port
Angeles, Washington. The Customs & Border Patrol Office is right there at
the Ferry Terminal in Victoria, and you sit in your car as the CBP Officers
come around to your vehicle to check things out. A quick look at a small form,
then I had to walk over and get checked-in with my passport at the Customs
Office. It easily takes about an hour for them to go through everyone with
vehicles going on this ferry, but it was pretty streamlined and eventually we
were all driving onto the Ferry to begin our journey to the U.S. I was trying
to squeeze onto an earlier ferry than I had originally booked — and the only
reason I had a chance was because I drive a tiny Smart Car. I was literally the
very last car on the ferry, and they squeezed me into a half-space behind a big
truck. The guys joked that they could just pick my car up and put it in the
truck bed — and the guy driving the truck reached over and grabbed the tail
gate. (Fortunately I don’t mind the jokes — heck, I get 50 mpg in that little
thing!)
After taking the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, I thought
I was prepared — but, alas, this ferry wasn’t anywhere near as nice. No nice
restaurant, no cute gift shop, but plenty of rude Americans — plopping their
stuff on seats to “save” them, and then going elsewhere to sit. There were
easily twice as many seats as there were butts on this ferry, yet I still
struggled to find a place to sit for the 90-minute ride.
That’s OK — I just headed topside and walked around on the
deck, out in the open sea air, and this was probably my last time on the ocean
for a while. Instead of a delicious buffet, this ferry-ride I had a couple of
Granola Bars that I pulled from my backpack. And this was a significantly
rougher ride, being bounced about quite noticeably as we hit the currents from
the Pacific — but it was a lovely view, and it was just about sunset as I
crossed the border back to Home Soil.
Besides, I was heading Home — at least back to the United
States. Canada had been great, and the strength of the US Dollar against the
Canadian Dollar made it exceptionally affordable — every $1 US got me about
$1.25 CAD. That means that something that has a $10 price tag, actually only
cost me $7.50 — and without realizing it as I planned my trip, that’s a great
thing when you’re on a 3-week roadtrip.
BUT — I hadn’t exactly calculated my schedule quite right,
and kindof last-minute I realized that there was no way I would make it to
Spokane by nightfall — so I texted my friend Heather (from dinner last week) to
see if I could Couch Surf at her place. She (adorably) sounded excited, and a
few hours later I was in Tacoma.
When I got there, her kids were wanting to watch a movie —
and since I’d never seen it, I was game. I’d stopped and grabbed dinner on my
way to her house (since they’d just been to dinner at Grandma’s) — so I was
just going to eat during the movie, but WARM BODIES isn’t exactly a Dinner type
of a movie. (It’s a very satirical Zombie movie — and, yes, there is
brain-eating in it.) But mostly it was fun to just hang out with her and her
family for the evening.
The movie ended about bedtime, so we all crashed for the
night — and I literally slept on her sofa, which was just fine with me. Sure, I
could have grabbed a hotel — but I loved the chance to get to see her again,
even if just briefly. It’s certainly not the first couch I’ve slept on (not
that I sleep much anyway) — and hopefully she’ll come stay with me next summer
when she is in Utah.
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