Home again

August 12, 2012

I woke up at 8 and there was no Jeff next to me.  He was already up and showered.  Turns out the alarm clock had gone off at 6:30 (evidently set by some early riser before us) and he couldn't get back to sleep.  I didn't even hear the ruckus so deep was my sleep. He told me of his adventures of the night before and he sounded none too pleased.  I guess I was glad to have slept through it.  Anyway, he went on down to breakfast and I took a quick shower and joined him.....along with everyone else in the hotel.  But they did have eggs and bacon and biscuits and gravy and yogurt and a bunch of other good stuff.  Including coffee.  Lots of coffee.

After breakfast, Jeff went to talk to the manager about his disturbed sleep from the night before.  He came back with the news that they had given us the night free.  Free is good, but poor Jeff was really exhausted.  He drove through Seattle and then I took over to Portland. 

The Seattle skyline

We stopped at the Jantzen Beach exit to get some lunch and by mutual agreement we avoided the obvious (McDonalds) and went to the obscure (a bar and grill called Bradleys).  We had the best meal there.  Jeff's taco salad could have filled two plates and I could only eat half of my burger.  MUCH better than McD!  We watched this year's dream team beat Spain and took off down the hiway much refreshed.

It sure was good to get home after all those miles on land and sea.  Max had taken good care of the homestead and was busy plotting revenge against the moles that were digging giant volcanos in the yard.  Ahhhh, the joys of the bouncy chairs and our own bed. 

On the way down 1-5 we discussed how we would rate this vacation.  We gave our ratings separately, but we both agreed it was an 8.  The positives were the beautiful scenery and fun things to do, the amazing friendly people we met, the great weather and the (mostly) great places we stayed.  And as usual the big positive of being out on the road traveling to wherever we want and doing lots of things on the spur of the moment.  The negatives were that it costs a lot to vacation in Canada and the ferries, while a fun way to travel, were slow and expensive.  We spent almost $200 on ferry tickets alone.  Overall, we had a great time and are eager to go and explore that part of the world again and in more detail.