Date: March 16, 2012
Our Friday, Girls' Day Out, included...
* a stop at a cutesy girlie store called Romy's
They were having a HUGE sale...70% off! Ginger and I bought matching blouses and necklaces. Why? Because deep down, we were embracing our inner 7th grade girl-selves... :)
* Tully's Coffee -- delightful! It didn't have that Starbuck's burnt taste at the end.
While partaking of our beloved beverage, we noticed that the rain clouds had dissipated and the sun was making its way out! The day was going to turn out to be lovely... The Lord sent lovely weather...so we decided to run with Plan B for the day...a ferry ride.
Not sure which ferry to take or what to do with an outdoor adventure, we stopped and chatted with two elderly women who appeared to be enjoying lunch in the food court. (The cute ladies reminded me of Trudy and her dear mother.) We inquired of them about the ferry rides in the area. One of the ladies remarked, "If you were my daughters, I would say, 'Dears, you go to Mukileto and catch the ferry and explore Langley.'" Sooo that is exactly what we did...
However on the way, we met an exceptional character who does deserve honourable mention on my blog! We had been driving north on Route 5 for some time. Not a sign regarding ferry rides in sight. Not wanting to forge on ahead like a man, because Ging and I are sensible girls. (Just sayin'...) We stopped at Shell gas station where we met him.
When we first entered the gas station, it appeared as though there wasn't a clerk working behind the counter...but then out of the blue, up pops a rather tall gentleman wearing a teal (and I do mean TEEEEEEEE-AL!) turban with a bright (yellower than a Cheerios box yellow) t-shirt. He has a mustache -- a full mustache with the ends curled and twisted up. At this point, Ginger and I do not dare make eye contact. One of us managed to ask the way to the Mukileto ferry to which he points out to Highway 5 and says loudly and with an accent that I cannot mimic (but Ginger can superbly), "GO STRAIGHT! IT WILL DEAD END!" And with the same bravo in which he appeared into our lives, he concluded his two exclamation and waved us out the door. Technically we moved towards the door before laughter sprang forth. The remainder of the weekend whenever we had a question of any caliber, the reply was "GO STRAIGHT! IT WILL DEAD END!" whether the question merited such a response or not. :)
* Mukileto Ferry Ride...amazing! The view was breath-taking! The entire ride was 15 minutes. We did learn a valuable lesson. Since the bottom of the ferry is for automobiles, pedestrians must exit the ferry first...or if you choose to dilly-dally because maybe you are snapping pictures and laughing with your bestie, mark it down -- you will have to wait in the stairwell while all (ALL!) the cars exit the ferry. It's not a crisis...nor was it lengthy...it was just funny that we, good Christian girls, got semi-reprimanded and were forced to wait in a "time-out" fashion.
* The Bus on The Island. The bus system was free on the island. We met an interesting individual named Dennis and his grandson Isaiah. I think it safe-to-say, Dennis was a bit eccentric! He was nice and chatty...but again, eccentric.
While in the town of Langley, we scampered about and...
- saw a rooster with knitted feet warmers.
- ate lunch at bistro. We tried octopus. Not cut-up and non-recognizable octopus. Nope. It was mini purple octopus cooked in a fashion that they looked like octopus...complete with mini suction cups! I popped one in my mouth and chewed quickly...all the while telling myself inside my brain, "If you get sick and barf, that is the memory that will overshadow all other memories on this trip! Toughen up and swallow!!!!" It was dreadful. I couldn't eat anymore other than one of them. Ginger seemed to enjoy them. My favorite part of lunch was the Arugula salad (just fancy lettuce) with pistachios and dried cranberries. It had an interesting dressing. Our third plate contained smoke salmon. We split the meal...with the exception of those dreadful octopus! Our waiter was a gallant gent who convinced us to order a slice of Blood Orange Cheesecake. Dessert was worth EVERY penny!!! (sigh)
- shopped at a thrift store. While Ginger was purchasing books for the kids, I said, "I am at a thrift store and I am not buying anything. What is wrong with me? Am I sick?" She just laughed. I did manage to splurge and spend 50 cents on a copy of Willa Cather's,
A Lost Lady.
- drank coffee at a cute place (recommended by Dennis, the eccentric from the bus) called The Commons. It was a used bookstore and coffeeshop all combined into one! How cool! It had outdoor seating and a delightful patio. I could easily picture my Coffee Peeps meeting me there on a sunny Friday afternoon.
* The Lighthouse at Mukileto
After an uneventful, rule-abiding ferry ride back to the mainland, we walked along the beach and discussed life and meandered and made our way to the lighthouse where we spent a good 5 minutes trying to take a picture of the dusky sky with the lighthouse light blazing. It was tricky...but pictures were snapped!
* The Rock
At the end of a wonderful day out-of-doors in the fresh air...with happy, wind-blown hair (as my Mom would call the look), we called Eric, our ever-real-wealth-o-information to find the movie times for Journey to the Mysterious Island. 9:45. Please remember that I am still on Central Time which would be 11:45...but I threw caution to the wind because I was on vacation! We went and saw the movie which was great.
Too be continued...
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