We had a day to get it all done! Showers, mail, picking up some odds and ends, groceries, and preparing the boat.
I’m writing this the next morning, trying to fend off distraction. We left the dock at 5am today and it is just beautiful out! Gorgeous.
We were trying to leave last night and now I’m grateful we didn’t.
The morning was spent doing some math and planning out what we needed to get while in town. Bellingham is where our mail is being sent and I had recently had a few packages sent there from Amazon. I’ll have to do some posts on some items that have helped our family on the boat.
We grabbed our mail first. I have some administrative things to take care of that we’re sent there too. Over the past year now (wow that’s gone fast!) we have used a virtual service. The mailbox is essentially a file cabinet at a mailbox and shipping business. Everything that is sent to us has the address label scanned. If I want to immediately see something I can ask them to scan it, then discard. Or, if I want the letters forwarded to us I can select that they mail us a package of our mail. To receive the forwarded mail I’ve had it sent a few places now. Between my parents house, Amazon lockers, and UPS stores we’ve had it pretty easy.
After the mail we went to get the car washed. Man, it was nice driving the car! There is a car wash in Bellingham with chandeliers, sculptures, and bright colorful lights when you go through the wash. The boys and I were pretty excited to get to go through it again.
We started our cruising journey off in Bellingham. This time last year we were making arrangements to buy our boat. We had the boat in Bellingham for a couple months before moving it to Port Townsend. Then to Ballard. Each temporary home port would be our launching point to exploring surrounding areas.
The car was fresh and shiny so we were off to REI. I was mainly looking for flip flops for myself. The selection was pretty limited. Kelly had requested a yoga mat for his workouts. Wyatt agreed a mat would be nice, but for sitting. Funny guy.
We also grabbed a few more lights to use as nightlights. Plus, a mosquito contraption. It’s supposed to send out repellent over 20 feet. Shane said we might as well try it out.
Groceries were done at Haagens near REI for a quick stop off. I have my sprouts going, but we picked up more fresh vegetables and extra pantry items. We went a little lighter on the snacks this time, thank goodness! The kids were helpful in the store with only a couple requests to stop “hitting your brother” made. I saved the receipt and will record the prices when I get a chance this weekend. They were well stocked in everything!
When we got back we hurried to remove all of the packaging from our new items and loaded up the dock cart.
When we returned Shane was washing off the boat and getting his checklist taken care off. Our job was to now stow everything away. I hurriedly put the provisions into lockers, knowing I will need to reorganize when we get to our destination.
Ultimately Shane decided that leaving early the next day would be a better decision. We were all secretly relieved. We ate at a local Mexican restaurant, I did more laundry, and Kelly was able to try out the Blaine skatepark.
Happy summer!