Day 45: Travel Day
Welcome
Yesterday we travelled from Albiquiu, New Mexico, to Port Townsend, Washington.
We woke to find that as expected our lodgings were atop a hill that provided a magnificent view out across the open desert, and to the mountains beyond. Julio was waiting with the van to take us to the airport, and we set off down a winding gravel road that took us down through the ranch and back to the highway. It was hard saying goodbye to this beautiful spot, and we had to use every ounce of our professionalism to keep from ordering Julio to turn around and leave us at the ranch.
The Bodes General Store is an iconic spot, located in the village of Abiquiu and providing hot food, coffee, groceries, petrol, souvenirs, and huge knives to anyone passing along Highway 84. We pulled in there to fill up the tank and grab a bite of food and I found myself at a warmer filled with burritos, for the first time having to answer the New Mexico state question – red or green? I ordered myself a Bode’s Sausage Green Breakfast Burrito which came with eggs, potato, cheese, sausage, and green chili on a flour tortilla.
A couple of hours later we were back in Albuquerque where we said goodbye to Julio who was first heading to drop off the rental van and then on to do a roofing repair quote. The airport was pleasantly empty of travellers so check in happened quickly and we ended up at our gate with ninety minutes up our sleeves. I found the airport’s observation deck which had a fabulous view of the main runway and out across the desert beyond. Passenger jets were coming and going on a regular basis and in between these take-offs and landings a tiny single engine Cessna was doing go-arounds, coming into land on this runway, which was far too large for them, and then taking straight off again to circle around for another attempt.
Today in art corner we see a celebration of the dangerous pursuit of flying illustrated in this chaotic scene. Poor air traffic control has led to a large number of aircraft arriving over the airport simultaneously and only by the individual skill of these pilots is an enormous airborne disaster averted.
Our flight boarded right on time which was a pleasant change. I had a window seat and as we took off, I saw an interesting structure just outside the airport which I later found out was Atlas 1, a device used during the Cold War to test the effects of electromagnetic pulses on military aircraft. Two powerful Marx Generators form the tall steel structure seen on the left and these could discharge a 200-gigawatt pulse of electromagnetic flux directed at the aircraft sitting on the platform. The platform was supported by a trestle structure constructed completely from glue and laminated wood, materials which wouldn’t skew the results of the EMP tests.
It was a short hop to Denver where we had a one-hour layover and then boarded another slightly longer flight to SeaTac International Airport, landing with a couple of hours of daylight still remaining. We were about to have another run in with a Ford Transit van and this one would be the worst of the three we’ve had this tour. The seats went all the way to the back door and there wasn’t even room in the back for a single suitcase let alone our huge equipment cases. A great deal of consternation was experienced as we tried to figure out how to remove the seats and stack them upside down on top of one another. In all fairness it wasn’t the fault of the Ford Motor Company. The rental company’s decision to choose the 15-seat configuration for a 550cm van was always going to be a compromise and, in this case, we compromised both leg room and cargo capacity without any concessions in our favour.
The view from one of the three back seats that wasn’t covered in luggage.
The evening got better after this. We drove twenty minutes to downtown Seattle and embarked our vehicle onto the Bainbridge Island ferry which pulled away from the dock a few minutes later and set out into the calm waters of the Puget Sound. The apricot sun was just dipping behind the Olympic Mountains as we began our crossing and it left behind a gentle inferno of pinks and yellows along the horizon for us to enjoy. Yachts and other small craft were out enjoying the last rays of light, and it was easy to see why this part of the country is so popular for sailing and boating.
Leaving downtown Seattle.
After thirty minutes out on the water we were approaching Eagle Harbour and the captain of our vessel skilfully brought us into the dock and we were able to drive straight into Winslow, the downtown area of Bainbridge Island. It was 9’oclock by this point and we were happy to find that there was still a restaurant open in this sleepy town, a cosy Tapas bar with a nice wine list and an even nicer painting of a bottle of wine.
We left feeling very satisfied and began the final leg of our journey, an hour drive north which took us up Bainbridge Island, across the Kitsap Peninsula, and then up to Port Townsend, at the mouth of the Puget Sound. Our motel was right on the beach, only a few metres from the high tide line and hearing the lapping of the waves coming through our open balcony door was a comforting sound to fall asleep to at the end of this long travel day.