Friday Harbor

Friday Harbor:

yesterday i spent most of the day up in friday harbor on san juan island.

if you've seen my tagline on any of a few sites you might have noticed the line 'driving a 24ft truck to the san juans (via ferry) just for the float plane home'. well, that's exactly what i was doing!

we got a call from santana cycles on saturday morning. something happened and their truck driver was a no-go for yesterday, and bill asked us if either of us wanted to do it. we'd get 100$, ferry reimbursed, and a ticket home on the sea plane. if we both wanted to go we'd be booked on the victoria clipper (not the hydrofoil) which takes 3-4 hours. luckily for me matt's busiest day of work is monday so he couldn't get away. but it would've been so much nicer if he'd been able to join me. so i'm driving the truck up on my own.

so when you go to rent a truck and they say it's a '24 foot truck' the rental place is 99% referring to the length of hte box of hte truck. this dimension would not take into account the liftgate or cab and engine. turns out i was driving a 35ft truck! that's the official measurementfrom the ferry dude. 13ft and change is what i needed for vertical clearance. it was easy enough to drive - but man, there were some spots where it was VERY bumpy! like the stutter of a student in a standard where the car lurches several times? only this was an automatic transmission. and the 'lurching' didn't stop unless i dropped my speed and then increased it a few times.

while we were loading up the truck at the hotel nicole and michael from italy were there and we chatted very briefly. on the phone when i was getting all the details bill wanted me there by 4.30 so i could leave by 5. ok, so i have to get up before the crack of dawn. but it was all for the sea plane! anyway, i get there and find the truck, and low and behold no one's around. turns out bill meant 5.30! oh well.

he drive up to anacortes (~100 miles) was uneventful. i didn't curb the truck, i stayed in my lane, i hit no branches... and following bill's last words of instruction "whatever you do don't back up!" i obeyed. i got to the ferry about 8am and made it onto the 8.45 sailing. while i was waiting some guy walks up and asks me 'if by chance i'm loaded up with a bunch of tandems'. 'uh...yeah. as a matter of fact i am'. turns out he and his wife from vancouver were also in italy with us! se we chatted while waiting for the ferry.

once i got to FH i found the hotel and the bike guy was already there. i had actually gone past the front parking lot and pulled over to parallel park on the sidestreet since i had no idea where the unload would take place. i'm just getting out when he tells me they want the truck at the front door! so i get to back the truck up! but he helps me, so it was ok. he works at the bike shop on orcas island. truck gets unloaded i hand over the keys and then off to lunch with the 2 canadians. it was fun. then they went back to the hotel to put their bike together and i was off to mosey around the shops and galleries. 2 hours is more than enough time to see friday harbor. i was able to sit and read for about an hour before heading back up ot the hotel to get paid/reimbursed and say goodby to jan and bill. then i still had 2 hours to sit and watch the boats coming and going from the marina.

the flight back was great! turns out i was on the beaver. the majority of kenmore's fleet are de havillands, but they only have 1 beaver. a couple otters and some otehrs. when we had stowed all our luggage - briefcases and backpacks - the pilot asks 'who wants to be copilot?' if there had been an olympic sport for 'me first' i'd've won it. i don't think any of the other passengers had even processed what he said and i had already shot my hand into the air and shouted "ME!" i laughed and told them i wasnt' going to be shy, that i wanted to sit up there. so if any of them had wanted it, oh well. you couldn't wipe the smile off my face if you'd tried. you know that stupidly silly smile from childhood? that's what i wore from takeoff to beyond landing. it was so awesome! i think it was the smoothest takeoff and landing i've ever experienced. i've watched and sometimes they bounce a little on landing, but i had to look twice to confirm we had actually touched down!

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