We woke up to cold and pouring rain. We had about twelve hours before boarding the
ferry, and had originally planned to fill it with hiking and sightseeing, since
the hotel checkout was at 11. The weather apparently had other plans. What would we do for a whole day in this one-whale town?
I went down and talked to the front desk and explained
our situation. The wonderfully understanding manager allows us to stay in our
nice big suite until the ferry left, at a fraction of the price! Praise God! I could've hugged her.
We did head out briefly in the rain to go to the ferry
office and check in and get information on where to go to board later. Then we went to Swiftwater Seafood Cafe, a
little fish and chips shack on the harbor where we had had the best fried
shrimp and halibut of our lives two years ago (and the girls had never stopped
talking about it and asking to go back). Even in the rain, it did not
disappoint! We had a wonderful lunch and
then headed back to the Inn to warm up by the fire and relax.
After a lazy day at the hotel, we checked out and headed
to the ferry office at around 8:15 pm.
We had been told we couldn't check in until 8:45pm, so we thought we'd
park at the ferry office and grab some dinner. To our surprise, when we arrived
many people were checked in and parked in line already! So, we checked in and got parked inside the
locked ferry lot. Now, what about dinner??
I was able to sneak out through the ferry office and found the one snack
shack on the harbor that was still open...barely. I got some very expensive
microwave hotdogs and made my way back to the car.
We ate and waited. And waited. And waited. Keeping in
mind that it was already past the kids' bedtime when we got it in line, they
got sillier and sillier. Finally after 10 pm we started to get on the boat. We
drove right through the big opening in the side, and then had to turn around
and get carefully parked. The cars were end to end and side to side like
sardines, and once we stopped four men ran and put brackets on our tires that
were winched to the floor and the other cars so they wouldn't move during the
voyage. We got as much luggage as we
could all carry and headed for the purser's desk to find out our cabin number
and get keys. The line was a mile long.
The kids and I parked with the luggage in an open area while Hubby got in
line. It was a long 45+ minutes waiting,
and the kids passed "slap happy" and became utterly delirious. BS and
LS just stared at each other and giggled until tears were running down their
faces. LB kept offering me "magic
tickles."
Finally we got our cabin -- a tiny narrow space with
bunks on one side and a couch like thing on the other side that turned into a
bunk. Another one folded out from the
wall above it. It was about half the size of the cabin we had on our northbound
ferry three years ago. It was after 11
pm and we still had a lot to get from the car before the car deck was secured
at 11:45. The kids stayed in the room while Hubby and I ran back and forth. It
only took us two more trips.
We cleared some space and managed to find everyone's
jammies. Hubby and I took the top bunks
and BS got one bottom bunk to herself and LS and LB slept feet to feet in the
other bunk. By the time we all went to sleep at 12:30 am, the boat was
underway. We could definitely feel some
gentle rocking, but it was nice and quiet -- a big improvement over our last
ferry ride, where our room sat right on top of the engine.
We made it! We
were finally on our way.
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