beginning to see some light
around all this darkness.Day 16....

feeling soooo much better.  and Vancouver helped out quite a bit.

1. didn't sleep great, but still slept in.  today was a day to get out finally.  i felt better, lighter.  ate in the hotel diner: a bacon cheeseburger and a blue buck beer.  so disgusting and so delicious.  did a little more window shopping.  then it was time to wait for the shuttle to come pick me up and go.....

2. WHALE WATCHING.  the shuttle took me down to the docks where tons of boat tours etc. take off from.  not to mention the adorable little neighborhood that is settled amongst the docks.  people actually live there and it's awesome.  the boat was running a little late so we had time to kill.  i had a $3 scoop of ice cream and walked the docks.  a really drunk guy (in the middle of the day, classy) asked me if i had a boyfriend, shook my hand, told me his name and then told me to have a nice day and went back inside his little water floaty home. 
Cape Fear makes this place look like Disneyland.
3. there were several pups around the dock.  one little aussie shepard looking puppy.  one little old jack russel terrier that was a lover.  and 4 wild harbor seals that were hanging out around the deck.  they were the cutest things ever!  i love seals.  otters are my favorites.  but these guys made me miss my puppy back home.  she'd also eat raw fish if she could.

i can haz attention?


so ugly that it's cute.
like, horrendously cute.







4. went back to the whale watching floaty thing and a bunch of us suited up: windbreaker jackets and pants, and some gloves.  about 25 of us loaded up onto a boat and we headed out.  it took about an hour or so to get out to where the whales were going to be, so i took some pics of the view and of my face. 

we saw one killer whale.  he got super close, then all of a sudden super far.  it was like Grover.  then he disappeared.  i think the captain was afraid he had failed us.

near.......FARRRR!!!!!!then the guy took us way far away where a ton of whales were.  now, my parents camera sucks up battery power like you wouldn't believe.  but this entire trip i've only replaced the batteries twice.  to be safe, i brought along two extra sets of batteries.  by the time we reached the first lone whale, i had to change the batteries.  by the time we got to the big group, the last set was running out.  so, i'm sorry to say that i didn't get any really good pictures because A. batteries and B. the whales were all over the place and not in a pack, so they'd be on one side of the boat, then the other, then the other again, then the back, then the first side, then right in front of the boat, you get the picture (well, the figurative one, anyways). 

about as good as i could get.  still it's pretty awesome.HOWEVER, being out there, standing on my seat and holding onto the frame of the boat while speeding through the open water of the middle of the Puget Sound with Canadian mountains surrounding us all around in the distance was very therapeutic.  we were going about 40 mph (or blah blah blah kilometers) above 50 degree (or blah blah blah celsius) water with killer whales all around us.  we went about 175 miles (or blah blah blah meters), all the way over to Vancouver.    this was the type of adventure i was hoping for.  the wind, the sun, the speed.  it was awesome. 
i like my bangth.5. since the boat was already running late, it ended up running later.  which meant we took off an hour late.  we didn't dock until after 8.  didn't get back to the hotel until almost 9.  hadn't eaten since 12:30 and my doozy of a headache was back.  so i went walking around.  i'm sure my folks will cringe at that.  but it was fine.  a nice night, lots of people walking around, people here are nice and not very violent.

but it was about 9:15 and everything was closed.  shit.  then i turned a corner hoping to lead me back to that pizza place i went to yesterday as a last ditch resort, and saw a beacon of hope: Indian food.  i love indian food.  and this place was great.  an authentic fresh indian meal.  the owner was there and he was talking to everybody.  the place was quite busy for a late sunday evening.  the waitress and busboy were so nice.  i had a newcastle with my paneer tikka masala.  it was last-night-in-a-different-country heaven.  walked back to the hotel in the cool air.  now City Slickers is on.
well, if i go swimming, sure.  stupid canada.
6. still trying to raise funds for Jeff and Sarah.  i can't collect the money unless i reach my goal of $3500 and i'm only up to $2055.  i'm so happy that the fund is raising up but we need more.  please, if you haven't already, go there and donate whatever you can.  $5, $25, it doesn't matter.  every little bit helps.  and share the link with your friends!  PLEASE!

https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/fMKP7?...

i'm sorry for the dark posts the last few days.  i've had a lot of emotional shit to get through.  it's been a tough year.  but part of this trip was to force a catharsis and try to enjoy the sights while i went through it.  it's working. 

part of this trip was to audition potential cities to which i'd move.  i can't really say if i've found any place i'd be happy with, at least not yet.  Lake Samish has moved to my goal list though.  a nice little home on the waterfront, and it ain't that expensive, surprisingly enough. 

way to be poignant, Canada. 

another part of this trip was to do it just because i can.  this isn't something i would've been able to do a couple years ago.  and with the ex, i never would have gone because he wouldn't have.  this isn't the last time i do something like this.  it might be for a little while, we'll see. 
but for now, it's pretty.  freakin.  awesome.





week two, done.  the trip home begins tomorrow.  i'm sorry to be halfway done.  i'm sorry to have to go home.  but i'm happy i've gone this far.  i'm happy to see my family again.  i'm happy to feel better.  i'm excited to see what's changed in my head when i get back. 


and by the way, buy my book.  please?

http://www.amazon.com/Girly-Stories-C...