Well, the title of this post pretty much sums up the last few weeks! Brian and I had tickets to see the Counting Crows at Chateau Ste Michelle on Sunday the 17th and had a really nice evening with Philip and Yelena. The weather was perfect, the concert was entertaining, always a good time at Chateau Ste Michelle concerts!
That week we did our best to spend as much time with Lynsey as we could knowing her departure to Edmonton for university was imminent:-(. She was very organized as she did her packing, she had this very detailed list of everything she wanted to bring and managed to fit everything into the two big suitcases we allotted her. We had bought tickets to see Steve Martin and Martin Short on Saturday the 23rd well before we knew Lynsey and Brian would be leaving on the 24th so we didn't get to spend the last Saturday night with her, but she got to hang out with her brothers. The show was really fun! They were as expected quite entertaining (I prefer Steve Martin's comedy to Martin Short's but they were both really good) and we had a delicious dinner at Mamnoon before the show. So glad we went there one last time as we just learned they are closing soon, too bad! Always a good meal there.
Sunday we went to church together and then went over to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. We all shared a piece of cheesecake for dessert, delicious and so full of calories:-/. We went back home and Lynsey finished up her packing and off her and Brian went to the airport for their 9pm flight! It was really sad to say good bye, hard to believe this time is here already. She is totally ready and we know she will do amazing, still a hard transition though. The boys are missing her already as are Brian and I of course, but it won't be long before Thanksgiving is here and we will see her again in Calgary. We have talked to her quite a bit in the last week and she is settling in really well! Meeting people, getting involved in activities on Campus, I'm confident she will be able to handle university life - and thrive at that:-).
Yesterday we decided to do a day trip to Friday Harbor as a last hurrah before school starts! We were all set with our ferry reservations and off we went to Anacortes to catch the noon ferry over to the island. We were even allowed to take Jasper into the ferry cabin because of a rule change they just implemented a few weeks ago, he behaved like a perfect gentlemen:-).
Once we got off the ferry we drove to this beach at the south end of the island and hung out there for a while. Jasper went a little crazy when I let him off leash, I really didn't think he would get wet but he did go in the water a little:-l. He only got his bottom half wet and by the time it was time to go he was pretty much dry thank goodness!
We headed into town and thought we would see about just parking our car in the ferry holding area early since it was right there downtown. When we went to do that, we found out that the 6:35 ferry that we had a reservation for had been cancelled! What! The guy said they were trying to get another ferry to cover but he didn't seem too optimistic. This ferry is the only way off the island, unless you are rich and can take a float plane but even then, what are you going to do with your car?? There was a 9:50 ferry that was still running but that was over three hours later and we really hadn't planned to stay that long. It was suggested that we try and call the Washington State Ferry customer service line and give our feedback as there was this ferry that was coming at 5:50 that COULD be repurposed into a ferry going to Anacortes. It was only scheduled to go between the other islands, but desperate times call for schedules to be moved around! Brian and I both called - the lady I talked to had absolutely no idea what was going on, and the guy Brian talked to told him that they WERE in fact going to repurpose that inter-island ferry into a ferry going to Anacortes, so yay! We were saved!
We had some time before that ferry arrived so we went to this fish n chips type place right downtown while we waited. It was delicious and our spirits were high - crisis averted! As we are finishing up, the ferry arrives. We are waiting in our car as the cars come off, waiting for them to start loading our lanes. Well, as it turned out, the guy Brian talked to was misinformed and they had NOT in fact changed this ferry at all - still just going to the small islands and not back to Anacortes:-(. At that point there was an announcement that the next ferry to Anacortes was not coming until 9:50, so basically settle in. Sigh.
We went for a walk to a park and killed some time there, Adam quite enjoyed the swing. He actually did really well with all the uncertainty, there was a time this would have been quite the disaster! We were comforted to know that we were definitely making the 9:50 ferry as there was a whole other holding area with cars that had reservations to the 9:50 ferry that would now not be making it because the 6:35 people were taking their spots! And that was the last scheduled ferry of the night - with no hotel rooms to be had on the island. Yeah, the ferry attendants were telling people to prepare to sleep in their cars. Crazy! There was some vague possibility of some ferry coming at 11 for the 9:50 people but there were no guarantees, it all had to do with staff shortages and people working too much overtime or something.
9:50 rolls around and we get on the ferry, finally! The kicker to this whole thing is that the 6:35 ferry was a direct ferry with no inter island stops so only would have taken an hour and 10 minutes. This 9:50 ferry? Stopped at all three islands - 2 hours and 15 minutes. And it actually took longer, we pulled into Anacortes at 12:15am and then still had a 90 minute drive to go until we got home. Yep, definitely not how we planned it! But we got home safely and now it's a good story, right??
As a side note, I was watching the cameras of the holding area just to see if those poor 9:50 people ever got their 11pm ferry. They finally got their ferry at 1:30am! I wrote a strongly worded complaint to WSDOT ferries over this debacle. I get that people get sick and sometimes there are staff shortages, but they actually had a ferry they could have used - it could have stopped at all the islands and THEN gone on to Anacortes so at least some of the 6:35 people could have gotten back close to on time. But they chose to prioritize inter-island traffic only for some unknown reason. I felt bad for those 9:50 people - hope none of them had to work today and they got some extra rest! I probably should have a nap myself as I didn't get a lot of sleep last night but I can probably make it with an early night.
All in all, even with the ferry drama, we had a really nice day and Friday Harbor is a great spot! Adam really surprised us with how well he coped with everything, you could tell it was hard for him at the end. He is used to being able to look out the window on the ferry which of course he couldn't do at that time of the night as it was dark outside. He is learning how to cope the best way he knows how and it's always nice to see growth in him.
Tomorrow is the first day of school for all three kids! I have told Lynsey multiple times she has to take a first day of school picture so hopefully I get one for all three kids:-). Summer is coming to a close, bring on the Fall!
