Argosy Locks Cruise 2021
Another pretty big day, or at least a highly photogenic one, yesterday: Ivan and I took the Argosy Cruises Locks Tour, my first time taking an Argosy Cruise in the fall. That worked out quite well for me, as we were among only 34 people taking the cruise, and there couldn't have been more than 5 people on the boat crew, leaving tons of open space on a boat, in our case the Goodtime III, seats up to 78—which means our boat was at about 44% capacity. I actually would have guessed less than that, there was so much open, empty space, but maybe they design it for that to be at least somewhat the case even when they are at full capacity.
In any case, between it being less than half capacity, masks required in all indoor or enclosed spaces of the boat and "encouraged" in open air spaces, plus proof of vaccination required, once again I had a social outing that felt about as safe as it possibly could be. I had my physical vaccination card handy when Ivan and I arrived at the Argosy dock on South Lake Union with about ten minutes to spare, and for the first time it had three rather than two doses shown when I had to present it to someone. Ivan, on the other hand, later told me this was the first time he had to show his vaccination card to get into anything (he must not be eating out at restaurants much these days), which would explain why it took a few minutes for him to find the photo of it on his phone—although I had already warned him when we booked this excursion that they would be requiring it. Luckily the captain, who had checked us all in and checked all of our vaccination cards, was very understanding. Once we were on the boat and Ivan chose a bench to sit on, on the upper deck in the open-air section, I said, "I have a suggestion. Maybe mark that photo as a favorite, to make it easier for you to find next time." That was when he said this was the first time he had had to do this. I think he actually took my advice, though.
I also have a photo of my vaccination card, favorited for months now, although I do need to take a new photo of it to reflect the third dose. The third dose isn't currently required for getting into anywhere though. I just want it to be up to date is all. Still, I like to keep the physical card with me. I'm not sure if that's smart or dangerous; I have kept it in its plastic sleeve in an inside pocket in my light jacket, which I will be needing to switch to my pea coat for daily wear soon. I probably want to stick to the light jacket for our trip to Las Vegas at the end of the month.
Anyway! Ivan and I did a lot of walking, or at least it sure seemed like it, what with Ivan being at least two and a half inches taller than I am and his tendency to fucking power walk everywhere. He didn't want to take transit to the boat and back, which was fine, but it did mean that, in the end, we walked a total of four and a half miles yesterday. Which wouldn't have been so bad, except he really shot ahead a lot of the time, even when barreling up steep hills, really making me out of breath just attempting to keep up.
The Argosy Locks Cruise is a two-hour cruise that only goes one way, and during current, off-peak season, it only does two tours per day. The first goes from the waterfront to South Lake Union; the second does the reverse. When Shobhit and I did this for my boating themed Birth Week in 2019, we had boarded on the waterfront. With Ivan yesterday, as I said, we boarded at South Lake Union and went the opposite direction, walking the 2.2 miles there from home.
My photo album for the 2019 tour was much larger, with 86 shots. Yesterday's photo album has about half that, at 42 shots, but having done it before anyway, that was still more than enough, really. I didn't take quite as many photos of the actual process of moving through the Ballard Locks this time, although I did get what I think is a nice shot of the two of us while we were in the smaller lock comartment—we were literally the only boat traffic at that moment—but for some reason Ivan doesn't like that photo of him, so he didn't want me to include it in my social media post about it. This frankly annoys me—I mean, he looks good in the photo—but whatever, I still respect his wishes about it.
He wanted to stop at Hot Cakes for dessert after the cruise, so we walked there from the waterfront after we docked again, and so from the waterfront to Hot Cakes on Capitol Hill and then home again was another 2.3 miles. Hence, the total walking of four and a half miles. It was evidently not enough to make up for that decadent dessert; I weight in right back up to 161 lbs this morning. Shit fuck!
Anyway, the weather forecast for days had said there was between a 40% and 60% chance of rain (depending on when you looked at it; the forecast changed constantly) during the two hours we would be on the boat, from 3:30 to 5:30. The closer we got, the less likely the rain was, and I decided to go with layers, a hoodie and my new North Face rain jacket, both of which have hoods; I opted just to leave my umbrella at home. Ivan actually brought his smaller, collapsible umbrella, but never needed to use it. In fact, he stayed in that spot on the open-air bench on the upper deck for probably about 70% of the tour, until the early evening saltwater chill finally prompted him to move to the partially enclosed area of the top deck closer to the front of the boat, where at least the walls blocked the breeze.
We had the full row to ourselves in either spot, in any case. I got up and down a lot more often than Ivan did, mostly to move around and get photos. Shortly after we boarded, I went down to the bar and ordered a regular hot chocolate, which came in a far smaller cup than I was expecting and cost $4.56. Ivan said, "It's probably just Swiss Miss!" I really should have known better, as I took a sip and he was totally right. Oh, well. I just wanted a warm drink. Except, it was both not warm enough and overpriced.
We actually didn't talk a whole lot during the cruise, but that was still fine. I mean, we live together so it's not like we have any shortage of things to talk about. And in one way or another, I kind of spent the whole day with Ivan yesterday, as I had suggested we watch this week's episode of American Crime Story: Impeachment—which aired on Tuesday—before we left for the day cruise. And then, while we were on the boat, Ivan suggested we watch something later in the evening, and asked if I had any ideas. I suggested my DVD copy of Terms of Endearment, which I thought he would like since he had enjoyed On Golden Pond. Of course, once we were home and actually watching the movie, as is typical of him, Ivan spent the majority of the time just looking at his phone. I think sometimes he suggests watching something together so he has an official reason to hang out with us in the living room and not lock himself in his bedroom.
Shobhit was into the movie though, and even noted on how well written it was. I had forgotten that it won five Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress for Shirley MacLaine, Best Supporting Actor for Jack Nicholson, and Best Adapted Screenplay) and was nominated for six others. I hadn't watched it in several years and I really like that movie, so it was fun to watch regardless.
Given that I already posted yesterday about going to Volunteer Park with Shobhit on Saturday for the "All Together Now" Seattle Pride In-Person event (34-shot photo album for that, meaning the 42-shot album for the Argosy Cruise made yesterday apparently 24% more photogenic), all I still need to tell you about is my return to Virtual Happy Hour with Laney, which I did on Friday right after work, starting at 5:30.
She only stayed on for about an hour, doing Facebook Video instead of Skype because that seems to work better from her, from Waldport, Oregon on that state's coast, maybe a third of the way down from the Washington State Line, but that was still fine. It was great getting to talk to her, and we both expressed gratitude in our insistence on keeping our "Happy Hours" going even when they have to be virtual nine months out of the year.
But, we did discover something amazing! And this was doubly amazing, after discovering Tracy was going to be in Las Vegas the same days Shobhit and I will be there. Less than a month later, Shobhit and I are visiting Faith in Palm Springs from Tuesday November 23 through Saturday November 27. And guess what? Laney will be there from Wednesday November 24 through Tuesday November 30! I could not believe it.
Now, to be more specific, we'll both be in the Palm Springs area but not specifically in Palm Springs. Faith actually lives in Desert Hot Springs, and Laney will be staying with her sister and brother-in-law, Lorri and Richard, at Thousand Trails in Palm Desert. We'll be just about a half-hour drive apart. But of course, we have decided we should all meet for an in-person Happy Hour in Palm Springs proper, which Lorrie and Richard are also very excited about; we did a Happy Hour with them once before, at Maggie Bluffs in Magnolia in September 2019.
Speaking of amazing coincidences like that, there was yet a third one I learned from Ivan yesterday. Not that he will be in the same place we'll be at the same time, but just by coincidence, he's taking a weekend trip to Portland in two weeks, and he booked a room at the Royal Sonesta Portland Hotel, which just happens to be where Shobhit and I stayed for our anniversary trip there that year. I asked if maybe Ivan had seen us staying there when I posted about it and decided to look it up; his position is that "maybe I did subconsciously," but he did not book it with the knowledge or memory that Shobhit and I had stayed there.
We've just had incredible coincidences galore this month.
All of that aside, I am now looking forward to the rest of fall 2021 far more than I initially thought I would. I mean, I had long hoped we could take a trip to visit Faith for Thanksgiving for the first time in six years (and just seeing her for the first time in five), but had no idea until just a week or two ago that we'd also be going to Las Vegas for Shobhit's birthday and Halloween. We already got a rescheduled fall Pride event, which was quite nice even if it was significantly scaled down from Pride events in the past that were in June; yesterday's day cruise was lovely. Many movies I'm really looking forward to are coming out, and it looks like I may be helping Kwanteria plan a return to an in-person Thankgsiving Feast at work in mid-November. Also the days we'll be in Palm Springs mean I won't have to do "volunteer shifts" at a store during Thanksgiving Week, hooray!
Christmas does still remain a bit of a question. I'm less concerned about unvaccinated people; my vocally anti-vaccine niece has already broken down and gotten her first dose. I'm just hoping to stay the night in Olympia Christmas Eve which I have traditionally done for years, but Shobhit never wants to do. He always complains of it being freezing in Dad and Sherri's guest room. I wonder if there might be space for us at Gina and Beth's new house? They do have their own friends and family who could be staying over, so who knows. If I can make it happen I still want to go down Christmas Eve, since it wasn't possible last year. In previous years I just took the bus down and Shobhit worked a later Christmas Eve shift and met up in Olympia later or even on Christmas Morning, which I suppose is still a possibility now. At least now he isn't working at Big 5 so his holiday obligations are no longer so severe—it's really the main reason we're even able to go to Palm Springs for Thanksgiving again for once, as in the past he was always required to work his retail job on Black Friday. Well, fuck that! He finally quit that job.
I still don't know if they'll bring back the Space Needle fireworks for New Year's Eve. I guess we'll cross the bridge of planning that evening when we come to it. Whatever the case, even with some restrictions still in place, I think the holidays this year are going to be way, way better than they were last year. Barring yet another, even worse COVID variant, anyway. Here's hoping for the best.
[posted 12:43 pm]