Tripsicle (what I’d come to call the road trip with my dad… whom I sometimes refer to as Popsicle) continued west…
Sunday
We arrived in Seattle with enough time to walk around and have a great dinner at a place with a name I can’t quite recall… Cirque something… maybe with the word “Terre” in it? Jose was our server, but the entire staff loved my dad and our story and talked to us every chance they had. Hartley took to getting our hopes up about seeing orcas in the Salish Sea, but I forgive him because I’m totally stealing the name “Hartley” for a future character in a future novel.
Monday
My dad: “Hey, doesn’t that guy look like that guy from that movie?”
Me: “He doesn’t look like him. That is him.”
I told him not to bother him, but my dad dismissed me: “He’s the kind of guy who’d appreciate being recognized because he’s not that known.”
What’s funny is the shooter symbol was Christopher McDonald’s idea. He thought we recognized him from Happy Gilmore. Which. Okay, sure. But we really recognized him from Lemonade Mouth.
Tuesday
No whales on day one. In fact, we wouldn’t end up seeing any at all because humans suck and have completely decimated the salmon population in the Salish Sea. The residential pods are emaciated and have had to go up and down the coast in search of food.
It’s incredibly sad. Was I tearing up while kayaking across the ocean as I listened to our guide explain this?
Yes.
But, still, no regrets about driving across the country for this. Fist of all, it was about the journey, not the destination. Secondly, I would do this excursion again in a heartbeat even without the promise of whales. I loved being on the ocean, kayaking channels, meeting the other people, camping on the islands… And of course: seals. There were also almost one hundred and fifty pairs of Bald Eagles flying about.
Wednesday
And one baby seal that beached itself on the rocks by our kayaks to get warm in the sun. We loved him and named him after a land mass our guide, Gabby, taught us about. Of course, we’re all a little worried about him, too. He was a little thin, and he was up on the rocks all night. Gabby said she’d update us all via Facebook, since Tombolo (Tommy for short) was still there in the morning.
If only he knew he had the power to completely silence about fifteen drunk adults from a neighboring camp, along with the eleven of us, who sat as still as possible when the mother came to check on him.
Thursday
From left to right: Gabby, Taku, Jason, Popsicle, me, Ted, Julie, Matt, Reagan, Lulu, and Larry.
I love these people.
Gabby: The 22-year-old guide with a degree in environmental science, the ability to whip up French friggin’ toast on an island with nothing but gear we carted in our kayaks, and a laugh that literally sounded like “ha ha.”
Taku and Jason: The friends who somehow both simultaneously bring down the other’s cool factor, but in an adorable way that made me like them more. Taku is the pensive guy— slightly awkward when he tries to be cool, born in Japan and still retaining his sense of wonder. Jason is the combination of two of my favorite people (Ben Daley and Brad Lucy). He wore a floppy sunhat on the water with sides that came down to shield his neck from getting sunburnt. He looked painfully unathletic, but actually wasn’t, and had a quick wit and a sense of humor that appreciated a good dad joke.
Ted and Julie: The know-it-alls. They’ve been everywhere and done everything and can one-up the hell out of you. But still manage to be kind of nice people who are totally tolerable. Especially when I tell Ted and Jason about my dad’s Oreo story and Ted says, “I’m so glad he’s your dad. I’m so happy you two are doing this together.” Because, yah know what? So am I.
Matt and Reagan: The adorable couple in their twenties. Dorky. In love. Kind.
Larry and Lulu: My favorite couple ever. Lulu, with her heavily accented English, and Larry, with his attempts at Spanish translations for her… I loved that Lulu had little idea ahead of time what this experience was going to be like or the amount of work it involved, but was ready to take it all on simply because Larry thought it would be fun. And I loved seeing Larry’s complete adoration of Lulu and gratitude for their partnership. Add in Lulu’s sweetness and Larry’s dry humor and you get a combination I just loved.
Friday
Friday was for long lost friends and relatives. After stopping in Tacoma to see an old friend of my brother’s, we went on to Portland and stayed with my cousin and his family. Technically, Michael is my mom’s cousin, but he’s slightly closer in age to me, and when we met as adults, we hit it off.
They took us out to some Portland food trucks and then to Powell’s City of Books! I fell in love with that building.
Saturday
We got breakfast with Michael and co. in the morning at Multnomah Falls and then…
It was time for my dad and I to head back east.