Beneath the Nightstand

The small beetle that tried to take refuge in my suitcase ought to have been the first indication that my hotel room would be less than perfect. The sheets and towels looked clean. There were fresh tissues a new roll of toilet paper, and a bed for the night. Those were the priorities of what I required, so I shrugged and thought, 'no big deal.'

I went about my normal nightly routine, freshening up, laying out my clothes for the next day, fetching ice and flipping through the TV channels. My day of travel had been far more trying than I had anticipated; the four hour drive from the airport to my hotel may have significantly contributed to this desire of wanting to tuck in ASAP. As one does these days, I started looking for an outlet near to the bed, so that my phone/alarm clock could benefit from a restful snooze. There was one conveniently located right beneath the shelf-nightstand beside my bed. 'Perfect,' I thought, as it would be in reach of my arm when in the morning I'd be drowsily seeking the button to silence the alarm.

Blindly, for what did I have to fear or to look for,?I reached to plug in the charger and to my absolute horror my unsuspecting digits were entangled in the trap of a villain most foul.

Spider.

Ripping back my hand, I immediately began to shake it as if the motion would purge my mind of the sticky sense-memory that still gives me the chills. After this ritual that was done in vain, I kneeled down to peer at the extent of her kingdom.

It was far worse than I imagined.

Three battalions of eight legged privates lie in wait for graduation day. Their queen and commander lurked in her protected cell, watching me watching her watching me.

Know that I have profound respect for spiders. I understand that they create a balance in nature and that the odds of her troops marching against me in the night were small to none. However, seeing this army and their master thriving in a hotel room implied that there was plenty to eat, enough to propagate not merely one egg sack, but three.

The milk duds beneath their fortress must have been her traps, the lure she used to draw unsuspecting crawlers to their tombs.

Not wanting any part of this war between the eight and the six legged ones, I came to a decision; it was the spider and her children or me.

With great haste, I dialed the desk and though they were less than thrilled with my complaints, they agreed to relinquish me of this post...the next day.

I'd have to endure another seven and a half hours in her lair, with no tooth brush, not that it's relevant to this drama, but it was a pertinent fact to me at the time.

In a flash, all of my scattered belongings were returned to their bags. The spider and her minions would not be throwing their grappling hooks into my trappings if I could help it! Even my shoes were artfully shoved into my suitcase with whom I have shared so many adventures. We have weathered far worse than that spider's glare and we would indeed live to travel another day, leaving our foe in peace after what was a very long night.

Until next week, dear readers,

Your humble author,
S. Faxon

PS - Don't forget to look beneath the nightstands...

Last of the Tulips

Mmmm...breakfast. While enjoying my breakfast this morning, I realized that I was sipping the last of the Tulip Festival Blend that I bought from the Skagit Valley's Fidalgo Bay Coffee Roasters. 

If you recall a few posts back this was the place where I went with my Aunties Arnie and Jan to enjoy yummy clam chowder and an enormous cinnamon bun. This is possibly some of the best drip coffee I've enjoyed and it makes me sad that it is at an end, like the tale of my trip to Seattle in March.

We enjoyed our last morning nicely and easily. It had been a great, whirlwind trip, so it was lovely to sip our coffees and watch the rain drip from the flora and fauna of their yard. The furred and feathered ones were already fed, but we had to take poor Mocha-Moch to the vet. She had a bladder infection. As we awaited our appointment, that was when Arnie and I fed the chickens, the crows, the squirrels, and Ellie Mae, the cat living on the heating pad in her retirement home under Gladys, their day traveler. 

We packed up my things and loaded up the RAV, bound to take Mocha to the vet at the bottom of their hill. It was tough to leave poor Mocha at the vet for observation. I had become quite fond of that sweet ball of fluff and love. She had slept on my luggage all morning and her brother CJ spent the night beside me on my sleeping bag (I was freezing - had numerous blankie and a sleeping bag to keep me warm.) 

Once Mocha was at the vet, we were off to Seattle. We planned our adventures around getting me to SEA/TAC - the airport - on time. I purposefully booked an afternoon flight so that we could spend as much time playing during the day as possible. Our first stop was to Jan and Arnie's church so that we could look at the beautiful photos of my aunt's that were on display. She is a nature and bird photographer and boy oh boy are her photos amazing! See for yourself here at her website.

From there we went to the University of Washington's Kayak rental facility to enjoy Mexican food overlooking one of the many waterways of Seattle. I have to admit, we ate very good Mexican food on this trip. After my YEARS of hunting for Mexican food that resembled what I knew from home in NYC, I was delightfully surprised by the Mexican yummies we enjoyed in the North West. The view from the little restaurant was superb. We got to look out on houseboats and kayaks being prepared for the spring season. 

From there we went to the Center of Wooden Boats where I was able to nerd-out on the many different vessels they had on display. (Are you noticing a theme of boats? There's a good chance that I like them, but I'll never tell! Unless you've been reading this blog for a while and then you may already know the answer to that.)

Moving on.

We stood in sight of the Space Needle, but our goal for the day was to visit another well known Seattle Institution; no, nothing to do with Bill Gates, Pike's Peak, Costco, or Starbucks (although that eventually happened). Instead, we went underground. That's right, under the very streets. 

The Old Down Town Seattle

There was ONE recommendation my friends from back home had for me on my journey to Seattle and it was to go do the underground tour. I'm SO glad I took their advice. I'm a history Nerdette and love to hear a good story, so this was the perfect adventure. I'm not going to do a spoiler of what they talk about because when you go to Seattle you have to do this tour. Disclaimer: it is not suitable for all ages - not because it's scary being underground, but because of the content. To give you an idea Seattle has the best case I've heard for being the origin city of the phrase "Skid Row." The tour was wonderfully colorful and I particularly enjoyed learning about what we on ships would call "deck prisms." If you are walking along a city street and see colorful stones in the sidewalk, those are likely crystal prisms that pour light below - it means, there's an underground passage beneath you. Most of which, you probably had no idea was even there. 

After the tour, we hopped back into the car and went to a surprise destination: 

The mother ship! 

Feel like I don't have to talk about this as you know what it is.

Alas, the adventure was over. My dear aunts drove me to SEA/TAC and with lots of hugs and kisses, I bid them fair winds for the time being. I knew I'd be seeing them again soon.

When I was in the airport, I ran into an old friend, which was a wonderful surprise. We visited and then we had to part ways as there was a plane with my name on it. My adventure to the north was wonderful. I feel very blessed to have done this weekend trip and who knows where the next adventure will take us...except...what's this??

Come back to see the adventures ahead on this, the weekly read!

Until next week!

Your humble author,

S. Faxon 

   

To Port Townsend!

Port Townsend

On my second morning in Washington, I woke up to the beautiful sounds of all the birds in the yard. The crows, the squirrels, the jays, the chickens were singing their morning songs. So precious! 

On day two of my adventures in the North West with my aunties, Arnie and Jan, we woke up early, fed and pet the furry and feathered people, then filled our thermos' with coffee and jumped in the car.

We had a ferry to catch.

Now, for my San Diegans and all non-ferry boat people, this was a big deal. For Washingtonians, this is an every day event, but the car ferry in Edmonds was amazing. We drove through the hills, admiring the dew and the footprints left behind by the rain in the night. When we came to the last high point before reaching Edmunds, this was our good morning greeting from the west:

Those white peaks in the distance are snow covered mountains. The Olympia mountains, to be exact. And yes, that blue stuff on the top, that's blue sky. It was a GORGEOUS MORNING with nothing but sunshine all day. 

We sat and awaited the ferry, our car was second in line. It was a surprisingly organized process. Perhaps it's because the people of WA have done this for so long, it's as standard a practice as starting one's car, but I was impressed.

We were on the lower deck and our car was only a few back from what in this direction was forward (it's hard to tell on ferry boats). As soon as everyone was all settled, we hopped out of the car, dawned our warm gear, and headed to the top to check out the views. And we weren't the only ones.

BUT this was Washington on the water in early March...In other words, it was FREEZING. So we hid behind the wind wall to try to keep warm.

But I love the feeling of the wind in my face, even if it's freezing, so I braved it for a while. 

At some point, we went back down into the really nice inner deck where there was a cafe, a newspaper stand, and a nice sitting area. We braved the viewing deck and realized that there was nothing but sunshine! Meanwhile, I do believe it was raining in San Diego...

Our ferry landed in Kingston and we began the drive to Port Townsend. We were headed to the tall ship Adventuress. She is a 103 year old schooner. The drive was beautiful. Learned all about the native trees and the logging industry up here. We even found where the buffalo play!

We made it to Port Townsend and bought some local cheese to enjoy while we watched the morning's light grow. Port Townsend is an interesting artist town that has had several of its buildings from the 1800s preserved. 

We skipped around until our appointment with the Special Projects/Development Coordinator of Adventuress, the sailing ship of Sound Experience. My aunts had been galley crew on Adventuress on many adventures past. They wanted to share with me the sailing boat that had brought much joy, laughter, and stories into their life. I'm a bit of a tall-ship person, so this was something I was really looking forward to. It was great fun getting to meet the former Pilot boat of San Francisco and hearing about the youth programs the organization promotes and hosts, which instill confidence, leadership, team building, and the passion of ship-wright skills in youth.

Adventuress

We walked all over this sweet little port town, enjoying Mexican food (yes, Mexican food and it was wonderful), delicious ice cream, and some yummy coffees. The ice cream parlor server told us to come back again, so we did. Our round two was for cold pressed coffee, which was very tasty and satisfying on such a cold day! The ice cream, was really good too. I enjoyed espresso ice cream and vanilla. Soooooooooooooooo good. (We had to follow up the ice cream with the coffee as we had chilled ourselves a bit too much.)

Eventually, we hopped back in the car and drove to to the Fort Warden State Park and looked out at the light house and Mt. Baker.

The mountains today were INCREDIBLE! We were surrounded by white peaks. The Cascades and the Olympias showed their beautiful majestic selves proudly and we enjoyed quite the load of Sunshine.

The day was starting to wind down, so we three adventurers hopped back in the car and headed east. We returned to our ferry and missed it by one car length! So while Arnie napped in the car, Jan and I explored the little port town, looking at all of the mom and pop businesses. 

Once the next ferry arrived, we were the first car on board, which was really neat as we enjoyed front row seats of what was coming. It was fun to watch the lights of the houses and businesses in Edmonds twinkle to life on the far coast while we approached. It started to drizzle on us once we landed and headed up the hill, back to the Coldesac Farm. Once we made it back, we fed the furry and feathered ones and enjoyed our Thai leftovers. I bonded with my new furry friends, Mocha Moch, who took claim of my suitcase and her brother Colby Jack. 

Colby jack was hogging the blankets

We soon settled for the evening and then it was off to bed! We had a big day ahead. We were to travel into the north to play with the Canuks!

If you have no idea what a Canuk is, you'll just have to wait until next week for our next post of the Weekly Read! If you do know, come on back anyway to learn about the adventures of my aunties and me!

Until then,

Your humble author,

S. Faxon

PS - Can't figure out why the background is white. Ugh. Sorry if that's annoying. If you have any suggestions on how to avoid/fix this, please leave your comments below. 

A Year Ago

It is insane to think that it was a year ago when I was in Turkey. Can you believe it's been that long? Life has taken me on some incredible adventures and every moment that I spent in that fascinating country was rich, beautiful, and full of intrigue. But there is one memory to which I return frequently. 

It was the day we spent at the Christian Caves in Cappadocia. There was a moment when I went ahead of my group and did some exploring and hiking on my own. There were all sorts of enormous bolders and caves stacked upon one another. It was late in the afternoon, the sun was starting to go down and I climbed atop a tall rock. There was at least 15 feet between the top of the ledge I settled upon to the paths below. The sprawling, white and golden sand landscape littered with the towers of stone lay out before me. There were no visible human settlements, no signs of condos, cars, or industrialization. It could have been 1500BC and yet here we were in 2014. It was a land untouched by time and human hands, though it was a highly popular tourist destination.

A beautiful and powerful emotion filled me. I remember thanking God for all of the blessings in my life, for giving me the opportunity to see another corner of the world, and for the awe-inspiring beauty of our planet. I could have sat in that spot for hours, watching the sunset roll over the earth paving the way for the starts to emerge. That spot, those hours of twilight that my companions and I spent in that place those are feelings and images that will live forever in my mind as bright and as real as the present. 

Again, my dear readers, I could not have made that trip without YOUR help and support. I know I haven't written as much as I used to, but please know that I'm not giving up on this blog and I hope that you don't either. I write to share a moment of peace or two with you. I hope that you are able to glean a little smile or to escape from the troubles of your day with the little blurbs of mine.

Until next time.

Your humblle author,

S. Faxon