Different Strokes

I love the call I just got from Ian. He was on his way to the ferry in Anacortes, to meet up with some friends and camp for the weekend in the San Juans. He was running late--by only about ten minutes, and called me to commiserate. Rather heartlessly, I told him I was very glad that this was a lesson he was learning twice without me. The next boat was in almost three hours, his three friends were in line and going to sail without him. Ian's plan all along was to park his car in Anacortes for the weekend and load some goods into S's truck. He asked me, here in Jerome Creek, about the ferry schedule, and of course I had one. Why wouldn't one always carry an up-to-date schedule for the Washington State Ferries. We determined that he could either wait in Anacortes for three hours, or ride a different boat to Friday Harbor, wait there for about 45 minutes, then ride to Orcas. He thought this sounded a lot more fun, but worried about what to do with his stuff in Friday Harbor. "Well, there are lockers by the ferry dock," I said.
"Yes," he replied, "but can I fit trees in them?"
"You brought trees?"
"Well, to plant on Orcas. And my new cooler. And I decided to bring my bike as well," he said.
"!" I said.
He went on to explain that the trees were small, the cooler has wheels, and his bike he can push, probably with one hand, and his clothes are in a backpack, so he thought he could probably manage to tie everything together and get it onto a ferry. Full of holiday-makers and their cars, going to the islands for the long weekend.

While I'd like to see this weekend-trip hurdy-gurdy of supplies, I'm rather glad I'm not a part of it.