It is always, at least for me, a strange feeling to cross into the USA. The border people ask questions, that while they are not unreasonably invasive,are asked in a manner that is both rude and aggressive. They also frequently manage to do so in a way that suggest that they are immeasurably bored by the whole process.
Travel within the Gulf Islands can be complicated both in terms of making the various ferries as there appears to be little attempt to coordinate their schedules and the various terminals are not always located near each other. For example we needed to make a specific ferry that left Fulford Harbour on Salt Spring to go to Victoria on Vancouver Island. We then needed to drive 20 minutes to Sidney to catch the ferry to Andacortes north of Seattle.
It was in Sidney BC that we had our little chat with the Canadian and American custom people. We had rehearsed the answer to the question (which would have been a valid question for anyone who knew where we were going to ask) " why didn't you go directly to Vancouver from Salt Spring?" It would have been both faster and it would have been cheaper. There were two answers...one was that Sally for good reasons, has a firm belief that people who go to Gatherings have an increased risk of being harassed by the border people. If we took a more indirect route with a destination other than the Gathering, or harassment potential would be reduced. The other reason for taking the two ferries was that we were not going directly to the Gathering.
Somehow everyone in the van except for me, knew that we were not going directly to the southern part of Washington State. Sally has a former worker and a good friend who now lives on Orcas Island. She had arranged to visit her for two nights. So we got off at Friday Harbour, meet Sally's friend and had a very nice meal in a Chinese restaurant. The town of Friday Harbour was busy and quite alive with music, places to eat and lots of tourists.
After supper we got onto another ferry and went to Orcas Island and then to the house. It was an interesting house, or at least how it got built was interesting. There were six houses on a crescent, all of which looked similar. The couple had joined some sort of a co-operative. All of the families had bought the land and had signed agreements as to how they would build and perhaps more importantly when they would be finished. There was a not-for-profit housing agency that assisted them in all phases of the building including what materials to use, and where to get them. The agency also, I think, assisted with some of the financing. The families built their homes with the assistance of professionals (e.g. electricians) - they helped each other out and in the process became good friends. They are now officially a condo board so they will stay connected forever. It is a good system. While the houses were a bit too uniform for my taste, they were individually brightly painted. The lot sizes were good, and the interiors were all different. People who could never have afforded to buy a house, now can. And they did it themselves. There should be more such opportunities.
On the Saturday we went to the local market. It was a highly localized affair with all of the vendors and most of the customers all knowing each other. The crafts were great and generally very reasonably priced. The fresh food looked absolutely wonderful. Later we went to the local pioneer museum where we had a guided tour. Very interesting.
As nice as the house was, and as great as the island was, after a day, I was ready to leave.
Travel within the Gulf Islands can be complicated both in terms of making the various ferries as there appears to be little attempt to coordinate their schedules and the various terminals are not always located near each other. For example we needed to make a specific ferry that left Fulford Harbour on Salt Spring to go to Victoria on Vancouver Island. We then needed to drive 20 minutes to Sidney to catch the ferry to Andacortes north of Seattle.
It was in Sidney BC that we had our little chat with the Canadian and American custom people. We had rehearsed the answer to the question (which would have been a valid question for anyone who knew where we were going to ask) " why didn't you go directly to Vancouver from Salt Spring?" It would have been both faster and it would have been cheaper. There were two answers...one was that Sally for good reasons, has a firm belief that people who go to Gatherings have an increased risk of being harassed by the border people. If we took a more indirect route with a destination other than the Gathering, or harassment potential would be reduced. The other reason for taking the two ferries was that we were not going directly to the Gathering.
Somehow everyone in the van except for me, knew that we were not going directly to the southern part of Washington State. Sally has a former worker and a good friend who now lives on Orcas Island. She had arranged to visit her for two nights. So we got off at Friday Harbour, meet Sally's friend and had a very nice meal in a Chinese restaurant. The town of Friday Harbour was busy and quite alive with music, places to eat and lots of tourists.
After supper we got onto another ferry and went to Orcas Island and then to the house. It was an interesting house, or at least how it got built was interesting. There were six houses on a crescent, all of which looked similar. The couple had joined some sort of a co-operative. All of the families had bought the land and had signed agreements as to how they would build and perhaps more importantly when they would be finished. There was a not-for-profit housing agency that assisted them in all phases of the building including what materials to use, and where to get them. The agency also, I think, assisted with some of the financing. The families built their homes with the assistance of professionals (e.g. electricians) - they helped each other out and in the process became good friends. They are now officially a condo board so they will stay connected forever. It is a good system. While the houses were a bit too uniform for my taste, they were individually brightly painted. The lot sizes were good, and the interiors were all different. People who could never have afforded to buy a house, now can. And they did it themselves. There should be more such opportunities.
On the Saturday we went to the local market. It was a highly localized affair with all of the vendors and most of the customers all knowing each other. The crafts were great and generally very reasonably priced. The fresh food looked absolutely wonderful. Later we went to the local pioneer museum where we had a guided tour. Very interesting.
As nice as the house was, and as great as the island was, after a day, I was ready to leave.
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