At Our Orcas Island Home

We made it our home on Orcas Island about two hours ago. Spent an hour making beds, bringing in luggage, and reading to the kids. The next hour was spent napping, for I, at least, was feeling incredibly tired. We woke to find unexpected neighbors across the street: three deer, grazing in among the dandilions near a patch of woods.

We’re enjoying a snack of gelato before taking a short walk down to see the beach. We can see the water from our back deck. It’s wonderful.

By the way, I found our location on Google Maps but it unfortunately falls within a low-resolution area of the maps. If you’re still curious, you can see it here. Oh, and pictures to follow later this evening.

Waiting for the Ferry

We’re in line for the ferry to Orcas Island. There is no internet access here (though a few closed access points are apparently nearby) but I thought I’d spend the time waiting in the car by writing a post.

Our Dutch breakfast was enjoyable. Once we were done with that, we headed over to the Anacortes Safeway to pick up most of our groceries for the week. All that’s left to buy is the perishable items, which we will get at the island grocery stores.

The weather in Seattle yesterday was phenomenal! It was partly sunny with a nice breeze and a temperature of 70F. Today in Anacortes we have overcast skies (ceiling around 2000 ft, in my estimation) and 59F. I’m now wishing I hadn’t forgotten to pack my jacket, though now I have a great excuse to buy a nice souvenir jacket! On the other hand, most of my clothes I brought are for cool weather, so overall I’m in good shape.

The sound is beautiful, just like I remember it. Even when its cloudy there is a certain peacefulness about it. In fact, the clouds add a bit of mystery, which I think appropriate for this area. There is a certain magic to the place. Its a place man will never completely tame.

In a few minutes we’ll drive onto the ferry, then climb up into the passenger areas. We’ve talked up the ferry ride to the kids so much that I hope it doesn’t disappoint it. I’m sure they’ll love it.

More when I get time to write. By the time you read this, we may be settled in our house.

In Anacortes

We made it to Seattle and Anacortes yesterday afternoon. The flight went smoothly: our kids are outstanding travelers. The only thing that drove Kelly and me crazy was Travis’s non-napping on the flights. We specifically took his carseat on the plane with the expectation that he’d be more comfortable in it and fall asleep. Wouldn’t you know it, we were on final approach to Seattle-Tacoma when Travis’s eyelids began to flutter!

It was tough gathering 10 days of bags together to get them into our rental car, but we somehow did it. After a detour to the Trader Joe’s near the University of Washington, we were soon in Anacortes and checking into our motel room.

Dinner was a disaster. What we needed was quick and easy and we got neither. We went to a place suggested by the hotel staff, Randy’s Pier 61. It was a bit overpriced for us, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was the service, which was absolutely horrible. We waited on an outside patio for close to an hour, all for soup, salads, and two kids meals (fish and chips). The food was actually pretty good. Once we got it, that is. By the time we left, Travis had rubbed lemon juice in his eye and was bawling and Hallie was whining, too. We were all obviously tired from our very long day.

The place we stayed last night, the Islands Inn on Commercial Avenue, is something straight out of the 1950s but is charming in its own way. It is no thing of beauty, but did have beds in two rooms, complimentary breakfast, and free Internet in the lobby (yay). We were so knackered, we were all in bed by 7PM, Pacific. Despite a little noise from neighboring rooms, we slept amazingly well. I think we slept close to 12 hours!

We’re going to shop in Anacortes for groceries before trying to catch a 10 AM ferry to Orcas Island. We check into our cabin at 3PM, before which we should have plenty of time to explore the sights around Eastsound.

Now a nice, complimentary Dutch breakfast is in front of us (the inn owners are Hollanders. Hi, Guus!). I need to put the laptop down and enjoy it!

In Phoenix

Our vacation began in earnest this morning as we took Southwest Flight 1017 from Raleigh to Phoenix. Our longest leg of the trip is behind us now.

The plane was completely full, so we shared our two rows with other passengers (though they were friendly). The kids enjoyed looking out the window and were great travelers, as always. A unexpected tailwind put us in 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

We’ve got about a half-hour before our next leg begins boarding. Then its three hours up to Seattle, where we’ll pick up our rental car and head even farther north to Anacortes for the night.

By the way, I’m posting this using the Phoenix airport’s complimentary wireless internet. If only all airports made their WiFi free!

On the Warpath with AT&T

Bellsouth (now AT&T) has crossed a line with me. They have mistakenly attached my name and social security number to an account to which I have no connection: an account which is now apparently overdue. At no time did I ever provide my social security number to them in reference to this account. I believe (and AT&T denies) that someone at AT&T looked up my residential account information and fraudulently placed my social security number on the overdue account.

I am currently seeking legal recourse against AT&T, starting with a complaint to the North Carolina Public Utilities Commission Public Staff. If AT&T won’t take my word for it (and they apparently will not), its time to gather up a posse.

in Rant | 125 Words

5Min – Video How-tos for Just About Anything!

I’ve always thought that the video craze that Youtube and others started would be great for teaching people things. You know, stuff that might not be flashy enough for regular TV. Looks like I found just such a resource this morning in 5min.

5min bills itself as a “life videopedia,” offering Flash videos showing you how to do almost anything. From guitar lessons to skiing to fixing your computer, you can find it on 5min.

I wish I’d thought of it done it myself!

Where to Buy Computer Books?

I walked into my nearby, multi-storied, big-chain bookstore looking for computer and technology books. To my surprise, their section was put behind the escalators and left a lot to be desired.

So, where do y’all buy your computer books? Is their a local bookstore (or chain) you recommend? I know I can get just about anything online. I’m looking for a place I can browse.

Overnighting It

In case my last post didn’t covey it, I became $250 wealthier when I offered to give up my seat on my flight home tonight. I would just now be getting into Raleigh, so I figured I might as well take the money and show up in the morning.
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Cheap Thoughts: Oversold Roadways

Wouldn’t it be great if the next time you were stuck in a highway traffic jam, the highway patrol came out and announced:

“We’re sorry, ladies and gentlemen. We’re overbooked: we just have too many travelers on our road today. We’re now looking for volunteers to give up their space and travel first thing in the morning. You’ll get a $200 trip voucher and a complimentary stay in a local hotel.”

Yeah, that’d be great.