Sunday – Sequim to Victoria, BC!
Hello!
I have always tried to get the blogging done the same day I’m
talking about things, but last night I was way too exhausted…sorry…so I just
went to bed, instead! So…to continue…
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Up fairly early at our Holiday Inn Express Sequim, and down
for breakfast. Not bad, although, unlike
the Silver Cloud, it was plastic
only. I did try one of their cinnamon
rolls, and it was very good! Out of the
hotel about 9, and only about 14 miles to go to Port Angeles, the rather “commercial”
port (as compared to the lovely and charming Port Townsend). As our boat wasn’t leaving until 12:45 p.m.,
it should come as no surprise that we were – yes! – the first ones in
line! We left Mom and her book to guard
the car, and strolled around town for a bit.
It has changed for the better since the l-o-n-g wait we spent here years
ago, wondering if we would be able to make the next boat. (They didn’t take reservations in those days,
which made for a real hassle, let me tell you!
Now, with a click of a mouse, you can guarantee your place…what an
improvement!)
About 11 a.m. we all headed out for lunch, which we had
right next door to the pier in a small little café. It didn’t look like much, but the food was
surprisingly good! Mom had a quesadilla;
Robert had a cup of clam chowder and what he said was an excellent ham and Swiss
on rye sandwich. I had a cup of clam
chowder and an excellent salad; fancy lettuces, sprinkled all over with a great
feta cheese! Certainly surprising! Then we headed back to the car, to be ready
to go by 12:15 p.m.
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We were the first car on (surprise!) – and right up to the
front of the ship…did wonder how we were going to get out, as the opening is at
the side, however, R assured me that they have done this before…out of the car
and up onto the passenger deck, where we found two nice benches to occupy. One of the most interesting things was that
the entire time we were in port, as far as we could see, there was a U.S. Coast
Guard zodiac about 20 feet long parked along side of us – complete with a
machine gun and gunner at the front!! R
did take a photograph…thought we would share…
It took about an hour and a half to reach Victoria, and the
nice thing about the Black Ball is that, unlike some of the other ferry
services, they come right into the inner harbor at Victoria, so voila! We had arrived! We ended up having to back out of the ship,
but the man gave good directions, so no problem. Customs was very easy, and we were out onto
the local streets.
We had the instructions from Deidre, our landlady, so headed
first to a drop box behind the Empress Hotel to pick up the keys. As it turned out, the young lady who does the
cleaning here, was also at the lock box at the same time, and was able to
explain the keys to Robert; how convenient!
Then just around the block, and there was our apartment building! Very, very convenient; right in the middle of
town! It took us a few minutes to find
the parking area – it is underground, and to the rear of the property, and we
had to hunt a bit to find space #73, but there it was! And what a TERRIFIC apartment!
We are on the 8th floor of a very high-tech
building – it is amazingly secure, with video cameras and things like, the
elevator won’t move until you flash your key at the keypad. The apartment itself has walls of windows –
in both bedrooms, as well as the living room.
And, there is a small balcony which accommodates two chairs and a
table. All the blinds were pulled up,
and with all that sunlight coming in – it was great, as well as cool with lots
of cross breezes from the open windows.
The apartment has two bedrooms and one bath, a nice sized living room,
dining area and full kitchen. Everything
looks great!
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It took us several trips to the car to finally empty the
car, but everything now in and in its place.
Robert got the computer set up, but found that his cell phone wouldn’t
work! Mom’s phone and my phone were
fine! Our plan had been to get to a
Costco first-thing, and to stock up on wine.
So, out to the local Costco, as it closes at 5 p.m. But – guess what? They don’t carry wine here! Gosh – foiled again!! Headed then to the local Walmart, where we
got Robert a small bag to carry on the plane today. Our next stop was to a Safeway – but we ran
into a liquor store first. (I had been
thinking that maybe we couldn’t get wine at all on Sunday, but that didn’t
prove to be the case.) Not much of a
selection, but we were able to get two bottles of Sauvignon Blanc and a
Merlot. Then hit the Safeway – which was
good, as it turns out the Safeway closes at 6 p.m. on Sunday! Boy, we are REALLY spoiled after having lived
in Southern California (open 24 hours) and Tucson (open until midnight)…
Picked up the necessities – milk, cereal, cold cuts, cheese,
bread, etc. Then back to the
apartment. Robert called AT&T about
his phone, and found that the remedy was easy – turn it off and then turn it
back on! Why didn’t we think of
that? So now we all have working cell
phones, which is good, as I didn’t want him leaving today with his phone not
working. I had put a load of laundry
into the lovely washer (stackable; really nice!) before we left, and came home
to clean clothes! Always nice!
Finally, with all of us starving, we headed out to look for
dinner. Fortunately, as I say, this
location is wonderful and we didn’t have to walk very far to find food. We picked Noodle Box, and in we went. Rather like the place we liked so much in
Berlin – rather modern and shiny, and partially self-service. You go to the counter and order, and then
they call your name when your food is ready.
We all ordered different things, with variations on the types of
noodles, the protein (beef, chicken, pork, tofu) and the sauce, but we all
really enjoyed what we had ordered.
Oh! Also a whole menu of “hot”
translated into local terms. R and I
both selected medium, which was plenty hot; Mom went with mild, which she said
was hot enough for her. We also ordered
a starter (which ended up arriving at the same time as the rest of the food) of
shrimp and veggies to be wrapped in lettuce with a great and spicy sauce. That was definitely my favorite! Everything washed down with a white wine, a
Gewurstztraminer,
Back to the apartment to get R packed for his trip to
Chicago. I’ve given him the larger of
the two suitcases we had (but still a small case) – but with what he is taking,
it feels practically empty! However, his
suit and dress shoes are scheduled to arrive in Chicago tomorrow, so this will
actually enable him to bring them back with him, and not have to pay for
shipping – which was REALLY expensive!
(And thank you again, Bob & Stew!)
R plans on catching the 5:45 a.m. shuttle service to the Vancouver
airport. That should get him there about
9:45 a.m. with plenty of time to get to his plane! (Knock wood!!)
By this time, I had had enough, and was off to bed without
blogging…hopefully better today!
Lots of love,
m
xxx
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