Finally we were on our way to the Gathering.
But it was such slow travelling. Part of the reason for the trip feeling as if it was taking forever taking was that Sally needs a fair amount of time to get ready in the morning. But the other part of the problem was that her workers did not feel the same sense of urgency that I did. I wanted to get to the Gathering. I knew that in spite of all the comments on the various web sites about relatively easy access, there was no guarantee that it would be easy. I did not want to get there in the dark. And while there had been no comments on the web about police harassment, I knew that there such harassment was always possible to occur at any moment especially during the set up phase. To get caught up in an incident, especially if it was getting dark would have been a nightmare. I, of course, am a bit of a worrier. I need not have bothered. Nothing I could have said would have made the young workers hurry. So we spent almost an hour in Anacortes after getting of the ferry shopping for stuff like organic fruit, toilet paper and clothespins. All stuff that could have been bought the day before. Wandering around an strange town looking for stores is not a good use of a traveller's time.
The traffic down the interstate even when we were bypassing Seattle was never that bad. Two of the workers had been down this road before and so there was little confusion as to where we were going. Three or four hours later we were off on to the secondary highway. Once again we were obligated to stop to buy food. Another 45 minutes wasted. It was hard to just sit there and not say something. But it wasn't my car and I was not driving, so I kept my mouth shut. For most of the time while the others were out shopping, I stayed with Sally, and that is always a pleasure.
Just outside the town of Cougar, Washington, we decided that we needed to stop for the night.It was too late for us to get to the Gathering. If we had not wasted those few hours shopping, we could have perhaps made it. But we didn't and in hindsight perhaps it worked out for the best.
The place that we chose (it was in fact the only choice) was great. There were a number of cabins and lots of spaces for tents and RVs. There was a small swimming pool and an equally small restaurant. And perhaps most importantly, it was cheap. For $100.00 we got a room that had a bunk bed, a single and a queen size bed. The two young female workers slept in the queen, Sally in the single, I and Sally's male worker used the bunk bed. It was a good good deal, the cabin was interestingly furnished and the owners were very nice.
There were a lot of families at the campsite. Some of them had come for a family reunion and were staying a few extra days, other groups were there because this was where people registered to climb Mount St. Helen's. There was a nice,peaceful feeling to this place. It was a good place for a shower and a good night's sleep before getting lost in that special place called the National Gathering.
But it was such slow travelling. Part of the reason for the trip feeling as if it was taking forever taking was that Sally needs a fair amount of time to get ready in the morning. But the other part of the problem was that her workers did not feel the same sense of urgency that I did. I wanted to get to the Gathering. I knew that in spite of all the comments on the various web sites about relatively easy access, there was no guarantee that it would be easy. I did not want to get there in the dark. And while there had been no comments on the web about police harassment, I knew that there such harassment was always possible to occur at any moment especially during the set up phase. To get caught up in an incident, especially if it was getting dark would have been a nightmare. I, of course, am a bit of a worrier. I need not have bothered. Nothing I could have said would have made the young workers hurry. So we spent almost an hour in Anacortes after getting of the ferry shopping for stuff like organic fruit, toilet paper and clothespins. All stuff that could have been bought the day before. Wandering around an strange town looking for stores is not a good use of a traveller's time.
The traffic down the interstate even when we were bypassing Seattle was never that bad. Two of the workers had been down this road before and so there was little confusion as to where we were going. Three or four hours later we were off on to the secondary highway. Once again we were obligated to stop to buy food. Another 45 minutes wasted. It was hard to just sit there and not say something. But it wasn't my car and I was not driving, so I kept my mouth shut. For most of the time while the others were out shopping, I stayed with Sally, and that is always a pleasure.
Just outside the town of Cougar, Washington, we decided that we needed to stop for the night.It was too late for us to get to the Gathering. If we had not wasted those few hours shopping, we could have perhaps made it. But we didn't and in hindsight perhaps it worked out for the best.
The place that we chose (it was in fact the only choice) was great. There were a number of cabins and lots of spaces for tents and RVs. There was a small swimming pool and an equally small restaurant. And perhaps most importantly, it was cheap. For $100.00 we got a room that had a bunk bed, a single and a queen size bed. The two young female workers slept in the queen, Sally in the single, I and Sally's male worker used the bunk bed. It was a good good deal, the cabin was interestingly furnished and the owners were very nice.
There were a lot of families at the campsite. Some of them had come for a family reunion and were staying a few extra days, other groups were there because this was where people registered to climb Mount St. Helen's. There was a nice,peaceful feeling to this place. It was a good place for a shower and a good night's sleep before getting lost in that special place called the National Gathering.
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