Tue, 23:20: Well! No Victoria Clipper for the return trip this evening after all: due to “unforeseen mechanical issues beyond our control,” all sailings today were cancelled! There were many alternative options, none of them ideal; one was to reschedule the trip to another day—on the day before Christmas Eve?? Not a chance.
So, we took the option of the 4 p.m. Black Ball Ferry to Port Angeles, a 90-minute crossing; then riding a shuttle bus from Port Angeles to Seattle, a roughly 2.5-hour ride. The direct route via the Clipper boat had been scheduled to depart at 5:00 and arrive in Seattle at 7:50; the Black Ball ferry was scheduled an hour earlier than that but left roughly 20 minutes delayed; our bus got us to Seattle at 9:20—a good 90 minutes delayed. What should have been a three-hour boat ride turned into a five-hour boat and bus journey (which also included time taken to get buses loaded, and going through customs).
But! We still got home tonight, and it wasn’t really that bad, except the stupid bus’s reader lights wouldn’t come on so I couldn’t read my book in the dark. But we’re home now, the trip was a joy and a blast (we did way more than Butchart Gardens, I just never had time to post about all the other stuff), making it totally worth evening the return trip inconvenience. Onward now to Christmas Eve! https://t.co/3flsOToh5D
