My plan was to catch the 11:45 ferry to Vashon. Apparently, in order to do that, I would need to leave my house at 8:30. I left at 9:00. Yeah, I didn't make the 11:45 ferry. BUT, that turned out to be a good thing because that meant I had time to check out the Point Defiance Botanical Gardens and also ride the path to Owens Beach--two things that I have never done at Point Defiance! I also rode by The Boathouse (still in use). I didn't even know such a facility existed there (kind of behind Anthony's restaurant). I don't know how many boats they can store in the boathouse, but it looks like quite a lot. I also stopped in at the Tackle Shop. Guess what they sell there? Surprise! They sell TACKLE (and a few other odds and ends, but mostly TACKLE)!
As I was slowly making my way over to the ferry ticket office, I stopped to take a photo of the ferry for boat ride number 1 of this Bike and Boat Tour. There were two couples, one older couple (from Allyn) and one not-as-old older couple (from California--I thanked them for bringing the nice weather with them). They were taking photos. I asked if they would like a photo of the four of them together. The older gentleman handed me a nice camera. I took two photos. Then the not-as-old gentleman handed me his iPhone (and took the nice camera). I told him I was familiar with iPhones. When I went to take the photo, I noticed he had it set to video. I told him so, then I switched it to camera. Apparently, he does that a lot. I imagine he has a collection of very short videos. When I gave the not-as-old guy his phone back, he tried to give me the nice camera back. I told him thanks, but I think that was the other guy's camera.
At the ferry dock, the same gal was working that was there the last time I was there (she's the obsessive dock cleaner). I asked her if she was keeping the dock clean. She told me she was fed up. Some workers have been doing some maintenance work on the ferry dock. They have repaved a section. On the side where they sealed the edge, the tar is very sticky. They don't want to put sand on it because they are going to paint it. The gal is all mad because they haven't painted it yet. The dock was getting all dusty and dirty while she's been waiting for them to paint. She said she finally had to clean it because she couldn't stand it anymore. Then she said she is retiring in 198 days so she won't have to deal with it anymore. I'm thinking once she retires, she will go crazy because you can only clean your house so much. Maybe I should have her come clean MY house! She would have a field day with that. I'd keep her busy until the end of her days!
I boarded the ferry and then went up to watch the rest of the traffic load. There were two double dump trucks with loads of gravel. Once the second truck was loaded, there was just enough space for the cars to continue to load to the side. The ferry guy directed all the small cars to squeeze through. Then there was one more 36' truck (how do I know it was 36'? Because I heard them as they were trying to see if they had room for it). It squeezed in behind the first dump truck. There were about 7 cars that didn't make it on the ferry. Double dump trucks take up a lot of space.
Once on the island, I sweated my way over the usual route to the "downtown" area. I stopped at Thriftway to get something for lunch tomorrow and an apple for tonight (I packed lots of dinner stuff, but no lunch stuff). I got a Killer Dave's Sin Dog. I love the Sin Dog! It is a roll of bread filled with cinnamon and raisins and then coated in all kinds of seeds. Yum yum DELISH!
After Thriftway, I went to Subway for a very late lunch (I did have a snack at noon). I can now check the Vashon Island Subway off the list. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo. I suppose it's not that big of a deal...
Now I am back at the Vashon Hostel for the third time. There are actually a few people here! I've met Ashley and Ryan who are on their honeymoon from Wisconsin. Ashley is an 8th grade science teacher and Ryan is finishing his degree in Physical Therapy. Very nice couple. There is also a gal named Maxine. She is originally from Minnesota, but now lives outside of Denver. She has had a fascinating life with the Forest Service.
The bad news is that this hostel is going to be closing at the end of summer. It is not in compliance with King County Health Dept. That's too bad because this is a pretty decent place and it's also the only camping place on Vashon. It doesn't seem to get much use during the week, but I've heard there can be upwards of 100 people here on the weekends.
I've got an early morning tomorrow (got to get up at 4:45 to make the 6:10 water taxi) so I'm hitting the sack early.
Here's a few photos from my not so boring day.
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