Rhonda Bracey: At Random

One of the delights with staying with Jill and Brian (other than their company, of course!) is their location in a most beautiful part of the world. Add to that the trees in front of their house that are home to a pair of Bald Eagles, and you really can’t get much better than that.

I’ve heard the eagles a few times this trip—and they always surprise me by having such a tweetering sound, not a booming and majestic noise as you’d expect from such a magnificent bird. But this time—unlike previous visits—there are no babies.

Jill and Brian said that they haven’t had babies for a couple of years now, though they still mate and build a nest. Sad. This pair of eagles can no longer reproduce, and seeing as how few Bald Eagles there are in the wild in the world, it’s a real loss. But I guess I can take comfort that this pair has been together for at least 15 years, and both are still alive and well.

However, I do miss the early morning sounds of the babies in the nest, way up in the top of the tree just outside the guest bedroom.

The ferry trip was uneventful and smooth. And the drive up the coast from Nanaimo was equally uneventful, though I can’t tell what the speed is as the car only displays the speed in miles per hour, not kilometres (many US cars have both, but not this one). Canada is metric so all speed signs are in kph.

I arrived around 4pm, and have spent the past two days with Jill and Brian just chiling out, talking a lot, eating wonderful food, drinking great wine, and generally doing very little at a great pace! Yesterday Jill and I went over to Coombes (home of the famous ‘goats on the roof’ and butterfly gardens). We popped in to the market area there and had a look around, then went in to Qualicum Beach and had a look around what was open there too (not a lot was open, as it was Easter Sunday). Then the rain started to pour down so we raced back to the car and back to a nice warm house and some wine.

On Saturday night Jill and I watched the movie, “Mrs Potter” (starring Renee Zellwegger), then last night we watched “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” with three Aussies in it: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, and Abbie Cornish. Neither movie would make my ‘must see again’ list. I can see why “Elizabeth” only got 2 stars—you really needed to know quite a bit of the history before watching this movie, otherwise you’d have been lost with who everyone was and the intrigues of the royal court. As a result it did poorly at the box office—I just can’t see the general public being interested. “Mrs Potter” was the story of Beatrix Potter, and it was a good filler movie but nothing more.

Today was the neighbourhood Easter Egg Hunt—bunny ears and all! About 30 or so people (mostly adults) met at the next door neighbours’, were formed into groups, and were given their first clues. Then we were off! Each team had to find some 6 eggs. The first egg had a cryptic clue to the location of the next egg, and so on, until you found the final treat for your team. We ended up going up and down the street, down on to the beach, up the very steep climb from the beach to the ridge etc. It was quite energetic and a lot of fun. The Easter Egg Hunt was followed by weiners on the BBQ, and everyone bought a salad or dip or dessert. It was cold, and it rained a little (it even hailed just before we started, though the hail was very light and almost like snowflakes), and there were patches of sunshine.

We were back by 2pm, and it was time to write this blog post, read my book, and generally just have a vacation! (Easter Monday is a holiday in Canada.)

Tomorrow, Jill and I will go looking at fabric stores in Parksville and Qualicum, and then I need to pack as I have to be on the road by 5:30am to catch the 7:15am ferry back to the mainland.

Because I got to the Ferry terminal nice and early, my car was one of the first in line, which meant one of the first on to the car deck and it will be one of the first off. But even better, it meant I was one of the first people aboard and grabbed one of the few ‘business workstations’ to fire up the laptop to continue to write this, read some PDFs, upload photos from my camera, write up my receipts, get some other work done etc. There’s no internet connection, but at least there’s a desk, a chair, and a power outlet. And it’s warm.

The weather outside is fine, but with a grey/white cloudy look, so the sea is quite grey too and the air is a little hazy. While I enjoy sitting up the very front, there’s nowhere to put the laptop. Also, I’ve done this crossing several times, so unless there’s a pod of whales to see, there’s not a lot to look at that I haven’t seen before. Of course, in all the crossings I’ve done, I’ve never seen more than a few birds! So I’m working on the law of averages and assuming that there won’t be any whales to see today. No doubt if there are any, there’ll be enough chatter amongst the passengers to alert me to them.

Oh, I also left a message with Jill and Brian – my hosts for the next few days – to tell them that I would be with them around 4pm, not 7pm as I originally thought. I had to call them on the pay phone as I found that the TracFone I purchased in the US does not have anything more than emergency coverage in Canada. Bloody phones <mutter, mumble>.

Paul said that the reports from the border crossing were that it was taking up to 2 hours (Easter weekend and all that). So I left Anacortes around 8:30. I had a reservation for the 3:15pm ferry to The Island, but if the border wait time was that long, I’d be cutting it fine. As it happened, the border wait was about 3 cars, then I had to report in to the building and get my passport stamped. All up, it took maybe 15 minutes, so as it turned out, I was worried for nothing. But then, border crossings from the US in to Canada as a foreign national isn’t always as painless.

I made the Tsawassen Ferry terminal just after 10am, and was able to secure passage on the 12:45 ferry to Duke Point, Nanaimo. They’ve upgraded the facilities at the terminal, so there are now quite a few places to eat and drink – and buy stuff! I bought a fleece vest for $10 and had a Doner Kebab/Gyro type thing. Then I found that outside there were some power points, so I fired up the laptop out in the cold to write this. My fingers are FREEZING, so I’m going to finish now and perhaps continue on board the ferry if I can find a power outlet. The battery should be OK, but I’m more comfortable if the laptop is connected to real power. The day is fine (otherwise I sure wouldn’t be sitting outside!!), but it’s VERY cold. I’m in my polar fleece and have my scarf wrapped tightly around my neck, but as I said, my fingers are FREEZING. So that’s it for now. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to load these posts up as there are no wireless access points here and I doubt there are any on the ferry. At least the ferry will be warm…

I left the charming little town of Gig Harbor for the Seattle-Tacoma Airport (SeaTac) where I was scheduled to change the car over at noon. I’d called Hertz yesterday to confirm that I could drop off earlier – no problem there.

But when I got to the Hertz counter they whacked on another full day’s charge (US$51) on top of the prepaid amount as I was 2 hours over the 14 days! Not happy about that, as, had I known, I could’ve returned the car earlier. I’ll take it up with my travel agent when I get home as the prepay was until 12 noon.

SeaTac Airport is a mess of construction! So I was glad that I’d left enough time to get there and do the changeover. Other than the extra day’s charge, the swap was painless and helped by the fact that I was the only one at the Hertz counter.

I couldn’t get another Mazda6, but I needed a car that had a trunk to conceal my luggage when I was in parking lots, and one that was suitable for taking in to Canada (i.e. Canadian or Washington licensed). So the trainee clerk upgraded me to a Chevy Malibu.

I negotiated the Seattle freeways to the Pike Place Markets without a map! If you’ve ever been to Seattle, you’ll know that’s no mean feat. I had copied down the basic directions from Google Maps the night before, but it was not really enough to deal with the maze of roads near the markets. After looking for – and not finding – the public parking garage that I had the address of, I eventually found a open air parking lot about 3 blocks from the markets. That was close enough so I paid the exhorbitant parking charge and got out of the car. By God it was cold!! Fortunately I knew where my trusty old wool Freo Dockers scarf was, so I got it out of the luggage and wrapped my neck with it. I already had a polar fleece jacket on, but it wasn’t going to be enough.

The Pike Place Markets were buzzing – LOTS of people, despite it being a Friday, out of tourist season, and very cold (like about 42F, maybe less). I was about two hours early for my lunch meeting with some local tech writers so I wandered around the Markets for that time. Lots of little stalls selling trinkets etc. as well fresh produce stalls for fruit and vegetables, flowers, meat, and, of course, the famous fish stalls (with the famous fish-tossing guys!). Some of the fish were AMAZING – the picture below is of an Alaskan King Salmon.

I was due to meet the tech writers at the bronze pig in front of the fish tossers. We all found each other – the little Aussie flag on my daypack was a giveawsay for the first one! There ended up being three of us and we had lunch overlooking Puget Sound. Lots of chat about our respective jobs and how we all work.

After lunch, one of the lunch buddies drove with me far enough to point me in the direction of the I-5 North, and off I drove, heading to Anacortes for the evening.

I made the pretty little town of Anacortes around 5pm, and navigated my way to Emily and Paul’s house. They’re a lovely couple with two gorgeous little girls. Emily and I talked about her getting back in to the job market now that the girls are getting a little older. Then we went out to dinner at “Adrift” while Paul minded the kids. Emily and I both had the “Happy Halibut” and it was delicious! Grilled fresh Alaskan halibut with bok choy, mashed potatoes and crumbled crunchy honey pecans on top with a butter sauce. Very yummy, but no photos as I didn’t take my camera.

After meeting up with one of the people on the Lone Writers list this morning, I packed my bags, checked out of the hotel, got back into the car, and headed north out of Portland.

The weather was grey and dry for the I-5 section to Olympia and for part of the 101 beyond. But then the rain set in… right at the time the views started to appear! And it rained, and rained, and rained a little more. I went up the west side of the Hood Canal which I’m sure is very pretty in the sunshine, but is very grey and bleak and isolated in the rain. I looped around on Highway 104, then Highway 3 back to the Tacoma area, finding a place to stay in the charming Gig Harbor, which is where I am now.

So some 5-6 hours of driving and NOT ONE PICTURE of a view! Oh well, if tomorrow is clear, you’re meant to be able to see Mt Hood from here…

Update: The rain cleared a little late in the afternoon, so I took a walk on the main street of Gig Harbor, stopping off at the Tides Tavern for a meal of NW Coho Salmon (what a surprise!). So I did get a few photos.

Here are the photos of the trip so far. Some are without captions (coming…), but all those I’ve taken so far are there. Except the people ones, of course.  

Link to photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/sandgroper7

Postings specifically related to the WritersUA Conference are over at the CyberText Newsletter blog. More personal stuff is here, but they will be light on until I get on the road again, though I may add some food descriptions and photos 😉

Brunch today at Oliver’s where I had their delicious Eggs Benedict. The chef used a lot of lemon in the Hollandaise sauce which made it delightfully tangy. Those there were Char, Dave, Sue, Frank, Chris, and Chuck.

Dinner was at Porta Terra (?), where I had the wild salmon special. Those there were Sue, Dave, Frank, Rich, and Jack.

Because I can’t get fresh Pacific Northwest salmon where I live in Australia, I think I’ll be having it every meal I can! It is SO much better than the farmed Atlantic salmon we get in Australia.

After checking in to the conference hotel, unpacking, and settling in, we met up with Sue, Dave, Frank, and Bonnie in the foyer. Lots of hugs and shrieks all round! And miles of chatter as we walked to the nearby restaurant…

While some people in our little group see or chat to each other regularly, others don’t. For example, I hadn’t seen Bonnie since a conference in 2004, Frank since 2006, Sue and Dave since 2006 (though I email and chat with them fairly often).

On Sue and Dave’s recommendation, we went to “Oliver’s” which is REALLY close to the hotel. I had a Washington Apple cocktail (apple liqueur, whiskey, and cranberry juice) and Blackened Salmon with mashed potato and asparagus. The cocktail had almost no apple taste that I could discern, but was OK. And the salmon was a little overcooked and dry, which was a shame as Pacific Northwest Salmon is an absolute favourite of mine. I don’t like salmon half cooked, which is how some restaurants do it (i.e. still raw in the middle), but equally, overcooking something as delicate as salmon is also a no-no. The blackened spices were nice and hot, which suited me down to the ground.

Our poor waiter – Brody – has to be congratulated on serving such a rowdy and over the top mob! After starting to take our orders, I asked if we could have separate billing and he obliged graciously. Of course, separate billing gives him a bigger tip load at the end, but he deserved it.

It’s really interesting how a group of 6 people who haven’t seen each other in person for some weeks, months, or, in my case, years, morphs and changes the groupings over the course of the evening. When we were walking to and from the restaurant, at the restaurant itself, then to the local Rite-Aid and ATM, the pairings and conversations danced around like some strange bee ritual. I’m sure a sociologist or human behaviourist would be fascinated by the combinations, breakaways, joinings, etc.

Oh. My. God. Oregon is such a DANGEROUS place!! Seriously.

We left Brookings at 7:40am and headed north. At 7:44am there was a 5.9 earthquake off the coast of Oregon out from Port Orford which we went through less than an hour later. We didn’t feel anything as we were in the car (or out taking pictures of the very scenic views), but we heard it on the radio news. This is AFTER we’d passed through Gold Beach where we saw the “Entering Tsunami Zone” and “Tsunami Evacuation Route” signs for the first time. Obviously California is immune from tsunamis as there are no such signs there, but there are in Oregon.

Add to these the signs for elk and deer, and trucks. BTW, the elk here are very bright – they know which 2.5 mile section they’re allowed to cross! e.g., ‘ELK 2 1/2 miles”. Clever elk. But the trucks aren’t so bright – we saw many signs for ‘Slow Trucks’ 😉 And the wind is fickle too – we saw several signs for ‘Wind Gust’. Just one wind gust, presumably. We didn’t know if we got it or not. Later we saw a sign for ‘Abrupt edges’, when the ‘edge’ was about 2″ deep… this is after driving along Highway 101 where one section had no shoulders and about a 4 foot (or more) direct drop off. No signs there!

While the views were scenic, the rain wasn’t. It rained on and off all through the 6 to 7 hour trip, and once we were on the I-5 (we cut in from Florence to Eugene), there were some phenomenal downpours and purple skies. Fortunately, most of the traffic slowed to a crawl for the worst of them.

So, with the bright elk, the deer, the slow trucks, the earthquakes, and the potential tsunamis, along with the torrential rain, we’ve come to the conclusion that Oregon is indeed a dangerous place to visit!

Just kidding, Oregon’s actually very beautiful, and we made Portland by 4pm after stopping for a bite to eat in Reedsport late in the morning. I finally got to have clam chowder in a sourdough bun, with melted cheese on top. Terrible for the cholesterol, but it sure tasted good!

So now we’re settled in to the hotel for the next 4-5 days. Typically, the more you pay for a hotel room, the less you get. There’s no free internet here, or wireless – you pay $10 a day, or $45 for a week, plus $25 a day to park the car (which is cheaper than San Francisco, but still a hefty price). The conference registration is tomorrow afternoon, and then it starts.