9/9- The Sibling Pick Up

Lawrence helped me figure out the bus system the next morning as Wend and I coordinated how she was going to get me. Port Townsend, where they live, is on the other side of the Sound and about an hour and a half up from where the Bainbridge ferry drops off. As it turned out, though, Daniel had business in Sedro-Wooley, due north of Seattle on this side of the Sound, and could scoop me up if I could get to Everett. All very complex.

He and I went out for coffee and chatted a bit more, then I helped him unpack his Burning Man stuff a bit and settle into his house again. We exchanged numbers and I figured I'd give him a call when I came back through town for my real Seattle visit of all my other friends there. From there, I walked downtown to my old coffee shop in search of my friend, Trish, before jumping on the bus north.

I was barely able to catch her. She no longer works at the shop, but I spotted her boyfriend across the street and he lead me over to the Merchant Cafe where she works now. I got a quick hug and a brief visit before I had to run off to catch my bus to Everett. I was quite glad I got to see her though before running off.

For the next two hours I sat in the Everett bus station. I did get a little entertainment when I noticed two very cute European girls, Sonja and Maria, who turned out to be Finnish, trying to figure something out with Greyhound. Being quite a Greyhound aficionado I struck up a conversation with them for a bit and gave them some travel tips while they too jaunt about the US. After a little while, though, the girls were long gone and Wendie and Daniel showed up to get me.

Wendie had complained to me, via text, that I should be warned because she was tired and cranky. When she showed up, however, they were both full of life. I'm not sure what she was talking about. We drove off and took the ferry to Whidbey Island, then got in line for the ferry to Port Townsend out of there while holing up for the wait in a burger joint nearby. Of course we visited the whole way in, snapped pictures, the whole deal, but by the time we got to town we had decided on having a relaxing night to a movie and conking out after that. That's pretty much exactly what we did.

Wrapping up the night, however, Wendie had asked me if I'd be fine with camping out on their lawn before I'd arrived due to the lack of space in the apartment. I was totally fine with that, but when it came down to me heading outside to go to sleep the reality of it all suddenly hit her. She had envisioned me nesting in a tent with my back pack explosion in there giving me a sense of my own space. Instead, I had my bivy and had neatly tucked my pack away in the garage. Seeing me settle down out in a bivy with no back pack explosion set her feeling like a poor host thinking she'd cast out her brother after his sojourn to see her. I was totally happy down there, but suddenly she was asking if I wanted to stay on the couch, etc., but with Daniel's sleeping pad, and a nice big pillow complimenting my usual entourage of sleeping gear I was quite content out under the stars. Eventually it all worked itself out and the house fell quiet with slumber soon enough.