Ferries, Jackals, and Coffee.

On the 15th I flew back to Puyallup from Towanda to spend some more time with Angela. After a good dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory (29 different cheesecakes to choose from,) the two of us spent the night in Mount Vernon. The next morning we took the ferry from Anacortes to San Juan Island.

The ride was really nice and it was clear weather. Surprisingly the ferry is now equipped with Wi-Fi. Now if we can only get buses and trains to - Oh, they already have that on some in Seattle... Anyway, the view was great from the boat. You could see all the boats sliding by in the water and homes of the rich hidden on smaller islands in the trees.

A view of another ferry

We stayed in the Orca Inn, which doesn't show you pictures of the rooms for a reason. The place was basically 8 double-wides with small rooms partitioned inside. Our room was as big as a bed is, and we had a room with a sink and one with a toilet and shower. It was reasonably priced and close to the airport though...

The town was nice and had quite a few good restaurants to go to, shops to browse, and coffee shops to relax in. Other than that, you have beaches to walk on, you can rent mopeds and scooters, rent kayaks, go whale-watching, or drive around.

We mostly walked about town, did a lot of reading in coffee shops, and visited the beaches. Across from Jackal's Lagoon there was another beach, which seemed to have had the jackals. We spotted some ears in the tall grass and then a head. They disappeared and after a flash of a tail the ears moved closer. Eventually a jackal came right up to our car. It left after inspecting us and another one came up. Further down the road we saw another car throwing food at two other black jackals. We got a lot of good pictures of them, and then walked along the driftwood at the beach we were headed for; I kept a stick to fend them off should they attack.

A lighthouse we found

The first jackal

The second jackal (my favorite)

Driftwood on the beach

Our last dinner there we ate at an open restaurant and watched the ferry collect vehicles from the fair that was closing the day we got there. It was fun seeing the Corn Dog Shack and the elephant ride going onto the boat. The next morning we had a good breakfast in a packed cafe, so you know the food is good. We enjoyed the scenery on the boat ride back to Anacortes and drove back to Puyallup.

The view from the restaurant

Aside from the great vacation I've been passing my time sleeping and stuying Japanese through translating my Earthbound manga. I've though that I've gotten halfway through it but now it looks like I'm maybe a quarter through. Translating is good, and so is understanding the comics, but I don't think it's that great for learning vocabulary at the rate I'm going. I should probably try memorizing some lines or studying useful words; I have learned a few though.

I wonder if I should be studying grammar for the entrance exam once I get to Kansai, but I'm not too worried. I have the next week to do this since Angela left for Denmark yesterday and I have lots of free time to spend in coffee shops. I have two that I'll bounce between, Central Perk and Forza. No more Coffee Bar since they forgot to pay taxes...

I may stay at Forza though since I encountered two old Japanese ladies there and was eavesdropping on them. I think one of them owned the cafe since she went behind the counter at one point, but she did remark to her friend at one point that the barista was a nice, smart girl. I told her after they left and she thought it quite funny.

Here's to the new blog, and studying Japanese with coffee!