great day

I was a little nervous this morning when I checked on the weather report for Friday Harbor and it said there was a 50% chance of rain. Knowing that the flight was supposed to be an hour both ways, I packed my bag with lots of things to do, extra socks, an umbrella, and my jacket. Yuki had sent me an email letting me know there was no bus route to Lake Union, so I called her about 7 AM and let her know I would arrange for a Taxi. I went into work to print out my vocabulary and then met Yuki and Yuko at Yuki’s place, where the cab was waiting. Everything went very smooth. We arrived at Kenmore air with about 15 minutes to spare, and Yuki and I went over my new vocabulary. The three of us were the only passengers on our small seaplane, so I was able to sit in the front next to the pilot and look at all the controls. The weather was fabulous and the flight was as smooth as possible. We were given earplugs so the noise didn’t bother us. Besides watching the scenery and the pilot, I practiced my latest vocabulary. The pilot’s landing was so smooth that I couldn’t even feel it. We arrived in Friday Harbor about 9:30, and it was quite deserted. However, we found a coffee shop where we only had to wait a few minutes for a table. The coffee, muffin, and conversation ended up lasting about two hours (which surprised the three of us) and filled the space nicely. We decided to go on a whale sighting expedition and had to walk briskly to get some lunch to go before boarding the boat. Everything went smoothly, with the boat departing as soon as we arrived. We ate our lunch as the boat left the harbor and enjoyed the weather. We were able to see a bald eagle, many seals, a few sea lions, and lots of orcas! It was great for sight-seeing and the girls were quite happy. On the trip back, we all dozed off (as it seemed much longer returning than going). Back in Friday Harbor, we only had enough time to eat some ice cream and visit the restroom before it was time to catch our flight back. Again the plane left as soon as we arrived (although this time there were 8 people on board, including us, so I didn’t ride in the co-pilot’s spot). I took a short nap on what was again a very smooth flight and only took about 30 minutes. A cab was waiting for us when we arrived and immediately took us back to Queen Anne, with a stowaway in tow. The gentleman exited the cab before us and ended up paying for the entire cab! How nice. Next the three of us went to an Italian restaraunt that I had never been to before and enjoyed four entrees, a bottle of wine, a complimentary desert, and coffee. Two and half hours and lots of great conversation later, I walked up the hill to my abode. The day couldn’t have worked out better.