water still comes from the sky

I chose to take the ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen to the mainland, rather than the same ferry I took coming in (Victoria to Port Angeles, WA) for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that it appears that Seattle (my next stop) is on the other side of some random water from Port Angeles, which seems to involve another ferry or something.

I got to the ferry terminal in plenty of time, and got a ticket for an "undersized vehicle" and one adult. There was not much of a lineup when I got there, but I was an hour or more early. By the time we boarded, the waiting area seemed almost full.

Unlike the ferry into Victoria, this ferry did not have anybody making sure that one pulled all the way forward to minimize space between cars. I wonder if they do have someone when the ferry is more full?

This was a big boat. There were restaurants, a food court-ish place, kids' play areas, a VIP lounge, several decks... craziniess. Even though it was near lunchtime, I don't really understand why so many people immediately lined up at the food areas - the boat ride was less than two hours, and the food was kind of expensive (plus there was a long lineup, though maybe it's really tasty?). I took some time to walk around the boat.

It was really cold outside, so after a quick walk around the outside of the boat, I spent most of the time inside. Though the weather was pretty overcast, the mist and clouds made the ride over quite scenic, as our route took us between a lot of islands. I can only imagine how much more beautiful the ride would have been in better weather.

On the crossing, we passed a couple of large flocks of gulls flying around in large, disorganized circles over what appeared to me to be a random patch of ocean. While semi-intrigued by this behavior, the highlight of the trip was probably the bald eagle that I think I saw in one of those groups of gulls. Presumably there were fish or something near the surface in these spots.

Other than raining pretty hard, the drive to the border was pretty easy, though I did wonder if I was on the right track at the beginning. Off the boat, there was just one sign pointing me in the direction of the road to Seattle, and I wasn't convinced I'd taken the correct turnoff for several minutes (though there hadn't been many choices). The border crossing itself was super easy - waited in line for a bit, handed my ID over to the customs guy, who asked like, two questions, and went on my merry way.

It rained.

A lot.

A lot a lot.

As in, it was really, really wet.

Then it cleared up for a bit, and was really pretty. And then it got dark. I don't think it rained too much after that. I made it into Seattle, found the university bookstore without too much trouble, and picked up a copy of Tamora Pierce's latest book. I then proceeded across the street to the book signing.

Tamora Pierce is quite an entertaining speaker. The session was a pretty informal Q-and-A type session, followed by everyone standing in line to get their books signed. Since I somehow ended up near the end of the line, it took a while to get to the front, at which point I was tongue-tied and was unable to say much more than to tell Ms Pierce that I've enjoyed her books for a long time (which is true, though hardly original or entertaining). Ah well. I now have a couple of books signed by her :)

I then proceeded to get lost on the way to my hotel - there is some construction going on in downtown Seattle and it was dark in an unfamiliar city. I found a different hotel, went in, got directions to the hotel I had a reservation at (turned out I was less than 5 blocks away) and checked in.

I got a pretty good sized room, with a reasonably comfortable bed, and a spectacular view of the Space Needle. I slept.

Lining up for the boat

Boarding the Spirit of British Columbia

Window in one of the kids' areas

Islands and water being scenic

More scenery, with another ferry.

Lots of gulls

Waiting to de-boat.

The obligatory Peace Arch photograph

Water coming from the sky.

No more water coming from the sky.

Yay, booksigning!

I believe this photo does not require a caption.
View from my hotel window.