Here are the photos I was going to post the other day after my ferry ride but they wouldn’t upload. Now they will.
Top: Just leaving Active Pass, Vancouver side, with Mt. Baker in the back- ground. I love this lighthouse and take a picture of it nearly everytime I take the ferry and have my camera out.
Middle: Mt. Baker in all its glory with a sailboat in front. I’ll never forget the first time I saw Mt. Baker from the water – it was one of my first SALTS trips. There was some cloud cover, but none of it as high as the peak so it looked like Baker was emerging from some unearthly fog. Kind of creepy.
Bottom: Fraser River outflow. This time it made it almost to the edge of Active Pass. It is kind amazing the amount of silt in that river. Mind you, the Fraser is at peak outflow right now.

And for a story I can’t believe I neglected to write about! Monday on the way over to Victoria on the ferry, I put my hand in my pocket and felt a sharp stinging-feeling on one of my fingers. So I pulled my hand out of my pocket and saw a wasp still attached to it. Lovely. I had a bright purple dot on my finger for about 45 min. That went away and the finger swelled a bit then got really hot. Now it is still a bit swollen and it it crazy itchy. I can’t stop itching it actually. It seems like I am destined to get one crazy wasp sting a year: last year was the bee flying up my shorts while I was biking (almost was enough to get me to buy some of those tight biker shorts) and this year it was a wasp in my pocket. I don’t want to contemplate next year.

Well, I was trying to post some photos from my recent ferry trips to and from the Island, but, for some reason, it doesn’t want to let me, so you’ll have to wait. Sorry. But I felt the need to say hi anyway since it has been a few days since I posted last. I’m now back in Vancouver until Friday when we jet off to China for 6 weeks. Crazy times! I’ll keep you posted on how things go and am planning one last post before I leave (more if the mood strikes me).
But, while I’m here, I’ll describe some of my goings on for the last couple of days. The ferry over to Vancouver Friday night was quite fantastic. I love the ferry later at night during the summer because the lighting is quite dramatic. Just as we left Active Pass, the officer of the watch got on the PA to alert us to Orcas ahead, port side. So the entire passenger component of the ship leaped up and rushed port side. Two minutes later, there were orcas ahead starboard side. I had been sitting starboard side the whole trip and hadn’t moved, so I had a fantastic view of the whole thing (and ended up trying to help 6 middle-aged Greek women infront of me locate them. It was quite amusing). It must have been feeding time because that is the only time I ever see the whales out when I’m on the ferry. In any case, they were having a bit of fun, flapping tails all over the place. We ended up with a postcard-perfect view because all of this was going on with Mt Baker in all its glory looming in the background.
In a slightly more amusing and less picturesque anecdote, I was coming over again this afternoon Victoria to Vancouver and there were a [large] number of tourists on the ferry. One couple had the nautical look down to an art – blue and navy striped shirts, 3/4 length pants, and scarves wrapped around their necks with anchors on them… then the woman proceeded to tie another anchor scarf around the man’s head like a bandana… oh dear.

Thats right… and we saw them all at the Bug Zoo last night. Happy Birthday Robyn!!!
For your viewing pleasure:

“Robyn, meet stick bug. Stick bug, meet Robyn!”

“Whatever this thing is, I’m not sure why it is on my hand”

“Ummm, so I’m smiling cause I think that’s what you do when they are taking your picture, but I have a stinkin’ big bug on my hand right now, so I’m not really sure what to do”

“Okay, so its a tarantula… if I close my eyes maybe it can’t see me either”

“Okay, you take it back now please”

And now we are sitting, waiting for Robyn to finish looking at all of the chocolate bugs…