Mutiny

I am going to tell you something about my wife. First of all, I love her dearly. Brenda is an amazing woman and I am lucky to have her. Now that I have said that, I can tell you something else. She has the feet of an Amazon jungle woman. They have to be about a size 16. They must be that big because they are able to carry her and any cargo that needs to be hauled for an ungodly amount of distance. She loves to walk. I can handle about 10 miles in a day and then I'm done. Since we have left on this trip, we have walked an average of 7.9 miles per day. I know this because I carry a gps everywhere. I love gadgets and this little gadget helps to reinforce my complaining. I can say to Brenda, “we have gone far enough!” And she can say, “but we just got started!” And because of my little gadget, I can say, “we have walked 17 miles today and here is the proof!”. So today, because of all of this walking, my dogs are barking and I'm ready for a long nap. I have protested and there is a mutiny aboard out boat. I am not moving today. My butt is anchored to our couch.

This mutiny is partly because we haven't actually slowed down since we left Seattle. It's a hard thing to do when adventure awaits every day. We have put some miles on our feet. But mainly this mutiny is because of our last few days of torture/fun. You may have read the last post about our “storm of epic proportions”. If not, read it because that is where this mutiny really comes from.

Dodd Narrows...Piece of cake!

After going through Dodd Narrows, we landed in Nanaimo on Saturday night shortly after the “storm”. We anchored in front of the city just as the sun was setting. Beautiful. Sunday morning we found some wifi and located the carpet store in town because, thanks to the “storm”, we ripped out all of our carpet. The carpet store is closed until Monday so we decide to get some other things taken care of and play tourists for a day.

Nanaimo at Sunset

First we walk to the marine store to get some new and heavier stern tie line (read “things that go bump in the night”) as well as some various other boat bits. Its only about 3 miles round trip but the trip back includes about 50 pounds of stuff on my back (I need to remember to bring 2 backpacks). While walking back to the boat we notice some stuff going on in town. Might as well walk over and check it out (still with the backpack...add a couple more miles). “Brenda, we need to drop off the back pack before we check out more of the town!” Back to the boat we go and the back pack gets dropped off...whew! Lunch and it's time to really check out the town.

For Brenda, a walking tour means walking like mad to see everything possible in as short of a time span as possible. Off we go. Uptown...check. Downtown...check. The city park...check. The boardwalk...check. We stop for coffee at some point along the way because a mutiny is brewing. On a side note, I had one of the best cups of coffee in my life at this little place..mmmmmmmm. Add 8 miles to the tally.

The city park is off the hook!

Break time

Back to the boat and we grab 2 backpacks (I was thinking this time). We head to the grocery store for a load of stuff. We load up. About 100 pounds of stuff between us both and add a few more miles.

Then to the laundromat (thanks again to the storm). Add a couple more miles.

After all that, right before it's beddy-bye time Brenda says “lets go for a little walk”. Holy crap! I'm done but whatever. Another little stroll around the marina. Daily tally...17 miles.

I'm feeling it on Monday morning but we still need to get carpet. The store is about 4 miles away. We walk about 1 ½ miles and we decide to take a bus the rest of the way. We like riding buses when we are in a new place. You will quickly find out what is really going on in a place if you hop on a bus. Apparently Nanaimo has a lot of loony-toons. This bus is teeming with crazy. I can't tell if people are talking to me or if they are talking to their imaginary friends. I just smile and nod and pretend to talk to my imaginary friend. Brenda used to work with the mentally ill and is as tough as nails when it comes to this stuff so she is calm and collected. I am freaking out. Somebody on the bus decides it would be a good idea to poop in their pants. It's time to get off the bus. We finish walking to the carpet store.

I have to say that the majority of Canadians that we have met have been exceptionally friendly. This little carpet store has the most friendly and helpful staff. We ended up hanging out for a little while and chatting with them. Great people. I tell them that I am going to carry the roll of carpet back to the boat. It's not super heavy, maybe 50 pounds, but it's awkward, and its about 4 miles back to the boat. They insist on calling us a van-taxi and we hang out a little more to chat.

I'm not sure what it is about taxi driver's but every time I have ridden in a taxi, I have feared for my life a little. This guy was apparently a race car driver in Yugoslavia before he moved to Canada to take up driving a cab. He didn't speak much English but he sure knew how to put his right foot on the floor. Zoom up...slam on the brakes...curse in Yugoslavian at the old lady trying to cross the street...swerve...foot on the floor.

We make it back to the boat alive and work on installing the carpet for a couple hours. We ended up not buying enough of the double-sided carpet tape thanks to all of our chit-chatting at the store. The carpet store is closed now but there is another store that is a mere 6 miles away. Brenda says “Great! I love a little walk! This will be fun!!!”. I say “Crap on a stick!!!” Off we go. I almost pass out. My dogs are barking profusely. I think about taking another bus but I remember how scary that the last one was. We eventually make it back to the boat not without lots of complaining by me. My dogs are seriously barking and I am ready for bed.

So today, as we are anchored in front of Newcastle Island (a new adventure), I am refusing to move. Brenda says “let's go for a little walk.” I say “mutiny.”