In the caboose last night I had the best sleep I've had in months.Ten hours, with just one bathroom visit in the middle. I think it was the combination of an amazingly comfortable bed and pillow, the perfect temperature and humidity level, complete silence, and a fitful sleep the previous night. And then, as we woke up, we got an extra treasure when we started hearing Les' favorite bird. It's the Eurasian collared dove, which he first encountered ten years ago in Scotland. We heard it in Europe for several weeks before we finally saw one. Its call is an exact rendition of the letter "R" in Morse Code, which signifies OK. Les loved it so much that he made it the ringtone on his phone. The only time we've encountered it in the US was in Gig Harbor a few years ago. This morning several collared doves were calling to each other -- a most pleasant way to wake up.
We decided to walk the two miles to the Sequim transit center. We stopped at Carrie Blake Park on the way, where I was impressed that there were eight pickleball courts being used, with a large group of people waiting their turn. We also passed a wonderful city-run peapatch. While Les had a mocha, I checked out all the stores in downtown Sequim. I was surprised to find an excellent quilt shop. I haven't quilted for ten years; otherwise, I'd have been tempted to stock up on some of the pretty fabrics.
The bus we took from Sequim to Bainbridge, called The Strait Shot, was definitely the fanciest of the whole trip. The seats were super comfortable, there was storage underneath for suitcases, and apparently there was a restroom aboard. The bus is timed to meet the ferry in Bainbridge, but it was running 15 minutes late. When it stopped, we made a mad dash for the ferry, running about a tenth of a mile, with wheeled suitcase in tow. I didn't realize that we could run that fast! We got on the ferry, huffing and puffing, followed by one or two other quick people from our bus, and the gate was closed behind us, and the ferry left the dock.
Back in Seattle, we took a bus home. That was the eleventh bus of the trip. The entire transportation cost for each of us was $7. That's $1 to get from Seattle to Lakewood, $5 for the bus from Sequim to Bainbridge, and $1 for the ride home from the ferry dock; the other eight buses and the ferry -- since it was east-bound -- were all free. (It would be more like $16 for a non-senior.) BTW the Strait Shot express goes between Bainbridge and Port Angeles (it takes two hours), which would make it handy for a car-free trip to Victoria; you could take the ferry to Bainbridge, Strait Shot to Port Angeles, and Black Ball Ferry to Victoria. Also, in the summer there's an almost-free hourly shuttle bus from Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge.
Google Maps was a huge help in planning our trip. On the other hand, it wasn't always 100 percent reliable, sometimes giving inconsistent and suboptimal routes. We found it was important to cross-check its recommendations against online bus schedules.
Judy B had offered to rescue us if we became stranded. Fortunately, we didn't need to take her up on her kind offer. I wonder whether anybody else has done a circumnavigation of the Olympic Peninsula, starting and ending in Seattle, completely by public transportation. After all, who would even think of doing such a thing, much less actually want to do it? Les feels we were a bit like the early explorers who undertook challenging expeditions, just to prove they could be done.
Sign on the bathroom door of our caboose!
