Day 5: Homeward Bound

Day Five: Homeward Bound

We awoke to the sound of rain tapping on the skylights and windows - an empathetic response to our own feelings about leaving perhaps.

Another gourmet breakfast of sorbet, whole grain cereal and pancakes in the company of some familiar faces, Dick and Carol, and some new Diane and Peter. Ben never made it down to breakfast while we were there. The conversation turned to politics this time and our shared incomprehension over a variety of issues from health care to gun control.

Immediately after breakfast we bid "adieu"  to our hosts and headed back to the terminal to catch the noon ferry to Anacortes. We had the routine down by now: check in, park the car, wander about for an hour and then load. As we meandered about the little village of "Orcas" we came across a resident population of  cottontails nibbling on the hillside overlooking the ferry terminal, apparently provided for by the Orcas Hotel to entertain the guests.

Soon enough we were again aboard a Washington Ferry which after a brief stop at Shaw Island, transported us between the grey skies and the grey water to Anacortes and the roads home.

We made two official stops on the journey - one in Anacortes for lunch, and a second in Seattle where we stopped for a walk around Pikes Market. The many unscheduled stops involved the always over-loaded freeway between Seattle and Tacoma which on this occasion stretched all the way south to Olympia. Our slow progress down I-5 was relieved by our parallel continuation of Cleopatra's remarkable life-journey.  

Orcas Island Bunnies...

We made two official stops on the journey - one in Anacortes for lunch, and a second in Seattle where we stopped for a walk around Pikes Market. The many unscheduled stops involved the always over-loaded freeway between Seattle and Tacoma which on this occasion stretched all the way south to Olympia. Our slow progress down I-5 was relieved by our parallel continuation of Cleopatra's remarkable life-journey.  

Seattle ... Christ Our Hope Catholic Church by Pikes Market

We arrived after dark from whence we had come only five days earlier, tired, grateful and full of wonder - at the experiences we'd shared and about where our next travels might take us...