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Today we shall see if we can get the de-watering tank
installed. It’s supposed to go on slides so you can pull it out
to fill it. Let’s see what happens today.
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Was it last week around this time that Chris said that
we’ll be out of here by the end of the week?
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Another day of Steve having to work.
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Another day of us having to leave the bus, all day.
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I have read about Bainbridge island in two of my
guidebooks and decided it might be a nice trip to take with the
children. They always love a ferry ride and so I am poised to
catch the bus two blocks north when Chris has an opinion as to
where we should go instead. He says Bainbridge is not much of a
place to go especially w/o a car and says to go to Bremerton
instead. “That’s the longest ferry ride so at least you’ll have
that” he says with a finality not to be argued with. I am
thinking he is the native, who am I to argue with that? It’s
only that my two books have never mentioned Bremerton at all?! I
am a little mystified …but not enough to override the hometown
advantage of a native! That’s another fact you learn from a
guidebook, if you have someone who can show you around, why
that’s, of course, much better than relying on possibly outdated
facts from that same guidebook. So we trot off toward the
Bremerton outing. The bus brings us within two blocks of pier
52, which is where the state of the art ferry terminal is to be
found. Julia says, “It looks like an airport, Mommy” and she is
right. You can tell this is the nations busiest ferry system,
they don’t kid around. There are restaurants and magazine
stands, information booths, and waiting areas that look like
terminal gates. With 4 minutes to spare we pay $11.25 (the
Starbucks coffee on the way cost me more than that) for all of
us and are on our way! I don’t really know what there is to see
what we’re seeing it!
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As the girls are counting boats I am trying to tell them
that it’s too expensive to buy snacks on the ferry…long faces;
they love nothing more than get food at different places…but I
brought snacks so they should be able to deal…
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On a different note: Chris’ Suburban was stolen
presumably yesterday. I feel a little guilty because he says he
keeps it inside the shop usually and it was only on the street
because we had dropped it off there on Friday night.
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Chris was surprisingly cool about it…
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He said that Stefanie is going to be really sad if we
ever leave…what does he mean by “if”?
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So off to Bremerton we are.
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Steve is supposed to finish the panels for the controls
today and hopefully the rest of the dewatering tank will make it
in today. I don’t know what else is left then…It’s Chris’
birthday in a couple of weeks and he said what he wants for his
birthday is us to be gone! Funny man!
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So we arrive in Bremerton and there is absolutely nothing
here…? It’s worse than boring, it feels unsafe…
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We took the bus to go to a park. It wasn’t obvious on the
map what kind of part of town this would be…
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The bus driver lets us out and points to the direction we
have to walk to get to this park…I scramble to get out with all
the kids, and backpacks, and bears, and the stroller. As we
assemble on the sidewalk and get our bearings, the bus drives
off. It’s like a scene from a movie in which the protagonist
gets out on dusty road somewhere all alone the bus symbolically
driving away, taking all hope and civilization with it.
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In this case, of course, there are four of us and we are
in the middle of deserted looking, dilapidated apartment
buildings. I realize quickly that I have no idea where I have
brought my children or how I will get back…if anything were to
happen to us right now I would be all alone. I rummage in my
backpack for my cell phone, just to be sure. I move it to a more
easily accessible pouch and put on my isn’t-this-an-adventure
smile on my face. We trot off down the hill and I am beginning
to be convinced that this whole thing was a very big mistake.
The street looks mysteriously uninhabited. There has to be
someone home somewhere…? The sidewalks are cracked and
crumbling, the front yards are littered with long forgotten
bicycles, a skinny tabby cat scurries across the street and into
an opening somewhere. Another one, sleeping in the midday heat,
lazily lifts her head, her eyes following us, before she licks
her paw and settles herself back down, satisfied that we have no
plans to disturb her further. I am not sure that we are headed
in the right direction and don’t want to be responsible for
taking the kids down to some questionable waterfront hang-out.
It’s too far down for me to see anything of value, but nothing
looks promising. I am scared. With 3 little children dependent
on me alone, I am scared.
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I make everybody turn around and walk back up that hill.
I want to get out of here and hope that we can just catch the
next bus back to the ferry terminal. Arriving at he bus stop I a
crushed to find no bus schedule anywhere…in effect I don’t know
how long we might have to sit and wait next to the street in the
hot sun. So I can either sit here for an indefinite length of
time, or try to find that verstunken park, hopefully cool off a
little, rest a bit in the shade, and then come back and work on
catching the next bus back to civilization. The kids vote to
find the park and again we march off, convinced by necessity to
persevere this time. My resolve and the kid’s spirits are
evaporating inch by inch in the summer heat, however, and I am
about to turn the crew around, again. It is Lilli who reminds me
of our obvious transportation impasse and so I gather what’s
left of my appetite for adventure and drag the brood along
pointing out the lack of alternatives as well as the prospect of
rest at the park…
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Happily, we do find the park a few blocks away and it
turns out to be very green, with lots of trees, a fountain, a
bathroom, and a playground! Yeah! I am still uneasy but the park
looks friendly enough so we’ll stay and play awhile.
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Somehow the feel is different here than at the other
parks in Seattle. For one, there are actually some men here with
their kids as opposed to only moms. And then, people smoke here,
also very different. For some strange reason the children seem
to be only boys, is that possible? At the fountain one of them
splashes water on Jonah, so that he is soaked…not just a little
bit…
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The other strange thing is that there are a lot of fat
people here…
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It seems the girls have gotten into a fight with a bunch
of boys…what next?
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The name of this park is Evergreen Park, which is why I
thought it might be nice with such highfalutin name, invoking
the state motto, you’d think it be something. There is a “beach”
but no one is swimming, looks sort of grimy and pebbly.
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I don’t really know why we are here, other than not to be
in the Elbee. I am really getting sick of this trip...yes, I am
really tired, of this trip and otherwise. I need some sleep in a
comfortable bed, without the sheet flopping off in the middle of
the night. Some place where it’s not either too hot or too cold.
A place where you can flush the toilet, or shave your legs
without guilty bangs for using more than your share of water…I
miss my dishwasher, my washing machine, or at least the
convenience of doing laundry when needed. I miss my mop and my
radio station. I miss getting my paper in the morning and play
dates for the kids. I miss knowing where I am going to spend the
night. I miss my stove, lavishly cooking on 4 burners. I miss
space. I miss a quiet minute to myself. |
