Stories from the Road

Stories from the Road

September 3, 2017

Olympia, WA

Saturday I got up and began to gather my stuff together for our flight to Seattle. Everything was going smoothly except out flight, which was cancelled in the middle of the night. They were sending us north a day later at 6:20 AM.  How can that be? That is what I wondered, and I was told that the crew arrived in San Diego late, and they need required rest before they could fly again. I was struck by the fact that Alaska airlines took no ownership of the problem. They still charged us for our bags, and no one offered free snacks! It is fortunate that we didn’t need to be anywhere by a certain time. Tomorrow I will write a letter to the airline.

 

It is hot here in Washington State.  Vicki’s sister lives on a lake, so there is some breeze coming off the water. Earlier we drove to the harbour, where tug boat races were taking place. The highlight for me was watching some large Salmon waiting for the tide to rise before they made some jumps to get upstream.

Over the years I have seen Olympia transition from a blue collar/counter culture town to a place popular with tourists and local main streamers. Situated at the end of Puget Sound, it is a scenic town with lots of outdoor activities on and off the water. Towards the end of the afternoon, we walked through a farmers’ market with lots of interesting produce, food stands, and local entertainment. That is always a treat.

On the bus this morning from the parking garage to the airport an anxious woman talked non-stop. She was flying to meet her pregnant daughter, who was slated to return to San Diego. Living with an abusive man, the daughter had tried to leave before to no avail. Different family members had bought her five airline tickets, which she hadn’t used. Mother was hopeful, but I wasn’t so much. We wished her good luck as we exited the bus with our bags and golf clubs.