Day 7: Errands in Seattle and Deception Pass State Park

I slept in at the AirBnB until ~9am on Friday, lounging, doing some work, and discovering free snacks in the cupboards until it was time to pick up delayed-Sara at the airport. One drive-through coffee later, I stopped by REI to pick up a couple bottles of fuel for Sara’s stove. I waited outside the airport for ~30 minutes before receiving a text from Sara: “just landed… no bags… I’m back in line… totally lost.” We immediately made a list of the essentials that would need replacing in order to have a remotely successful camping trip: sleeping pad, socks, sleeping bag, sun hat, kayaking clothes. Bridget had not yet departed Corvallis yet, so she kindly agreed to bring the extra supplies. We made another stop at REI to pick up a sleeping pad and stove (yay, now I have a functioning stove!). 

Sara testing out some cheap sleeping pads (vetoed)

After a delicious lunch in Capitol Hill, we stopped at Einstein Books (recommended as the best bookstore in Seattle) for some camp-reading material and re-stocked on food at Safeway. We picked up Sara’s excellent red kayak, swiftly named Renaldo, at Moss Bay kayaking. On our last trip Sara’s red rental call was named Fernando, so this was in keeping with the trend. We sipped Guinness and cider on a sunny patio on Moss Bay before making the 2 hour drive to Deception Pass State Park – our first campsite. The park was strategically located 20 minutes from the Anacortes Ferry Terminal where we were scheduled to depart at 6:25am the next day. We drove over Deception Pass at sunset and took in the gorgeous bridges and views for a few minutes before continuing to our expensive/tiny campsite. 

Bridge over Deception Pass

We fashioned a bed for Sara out of miscellaneous items in the car and attempted to sleep for a couple hours before Bridget and her crew arrived at midnight with the sleeping bag. All in all, a preparation day for our exciting kayaking trips ahead!

Day 6: 4 hrs Driving, 4 hrs Working, 4 hrs Drinking

After a quick cafe breakfast with Juliette and Simeon in Portland, I drove up to my company's Seattle office. The Seattle office is wonderful. There are free drinks in the glass door fridge (almost like it's Facebook! ...) and there's a view of Puget Sound from the windows. Everyone is very friendly :). I did a couple hours of work and I have to admit: I might already miss my job. Luckily I can still keep working! There is no shortage of that.

The Seattle office Birthday Barge celebration (in which the month's birthdays are celebrated with beers/snacks on a floating dock in Salmon Bay next to the office) was relocated to the conference room due to impending rain. I thought these PNW people were unphased by rain! I was ready to tough it out with my rain pants and yellow umbrella. Instead, we celebrated in the common area, and Danielle and Allisa took me down to the water for a quick barge visit and Canada goose viewing:

The Seattle office barge, on the right

After the birthday celebration was over and people started trickling out, Danielle and I drove to Capital Hill (her neighborhood) for dinner at Smith (yes, that's the name of the restaurant). Delicious cider and salmon! Now I'm perched in the top floor of my tiny AirBnB rental, ready for my first solid night of sleep in my own bed in over a week. Sara's flight from Richmond was delayed/cancelled twice, so she will no longer be arriving in Seattle tonight. This means that I am residing in our AirBnB house solo. The good news is, Sara has notoriously bad luck with flights, so we had preemptively scheduled an extra day in Seattle. It looks like I'll be doing the camping errands alone tomorrow, which means we'll probably be eating rice and beans all weekend.

Bonne nuit!