11 hours to get from Santa Cruz to Seabeck. I think that is quite amazing. It takes about the same amount of time to go from train and boat from SeaTac to Bremerton as it does to fly from San Francisco to SeaTac.
And despite being the holidays, it was all quite easy and not at all stressful. Alarm went off at 6. Rolled out of bed at 6:30. Threw my computer into my bag, and other charger cords, and off I went at around 7:15ish. I swung by Safeway and got doughnuts for breakfast. For me and for Nathan, who drove me to the airport. There was some traffic getting to Redwood City, and a bit heading out, but nothing too bad. It didn't take that long to get to the airport. And it didn't take long at all to check my bag (no line!) or go through security (very minimal line) or get to the terminal (right there!). I had about an extra hour. I'm a "plan to arrive three hours early" type, and while I was delayed by traffic, I still had an hour and 20 minutes to kill while waiting for my flight. So I read the Patrick Melrose novel collection and went on the internet and generally took it easy. On my flight were no less than five babies, and you know what? They were really calm! There was minimal crying on ascent and descent, but who can blame the babies when they can't pop their ears due to the pressure? I was seated right next to a mother holding her eight week old, Catherine, and let me tell you that was one cute baby. Big chubby cheeks. Big blue eyes. Just sweet. It fed and then napped and generally was mild. The mom, whose name I did not learn, was really nice. I was sympathetic to her plight of flying as a mother with a baby, and talked about how I traveled a lot while younger. The baby was a champ. The flight was pretty smooth too, a bit bumpy but not bad.
The chill seeped in almost as soon as I was off the plane. Bah!
My bag was on the conveyor belt waiting for me in baggage claim. So I claimed it and off I went to the rail. I talked to ma and let her know I arrived. Got on the train and it left right away. The heaters were on, and it was quite cozy inside. I got off at the University stop and carried my bag down the harbor steps. Didn't want to jostle it too much, what with all the frames inside. The ferry for Bremerton didn't depart till 4:20, so I had some time to get some McDonald's. Totally healthy. On the ride over I read, and napped, and listened to ladies talk about tattoos and body mods, but in a reasonable manner. About how tattoos hurt, and how one woman was made fun of and called a gypsy just because she had pierced ears.
Ma and Pa were waiting for me when we got off the ferry, and we drove back to Seabeck. The snow started to accumulate the farther out we got, and pretty soon it was ankle deep.
At home we had a quinuoa, salmon, bean dinner and watched Police Academy 2. Now we are hanging out by the fire. The cat is currently Cosmic Creepers. I put some audiobooks on Dad's mp3 player and he is polishing silver while listening to Hitchhiker's Guide. Ma is reading NOT Eyre Affair or Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Ah oh well.
It's good to be home. Have to figure out what is happening when. I still have art to make!
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