Fraught With Deception

For two days I looked like an "expectant father",louder grumblers were now safely tucked away in
but I was female. I shuffled from the ferry, thereserved cabins opened, finally, in the late evening.
terminal, and my car, back and forth. On May 6,It was a long first day.THIRD DECEITI became an
2005 my car sat in line jammed between a new,island hopper, but where was the island? The next
red Mercedes with black convertible top and amorning, my companion, Mutzi and I headed out
1973 beat-up International, windows curtained withto Whidbey Island over Deception Pass about
personal belongings and a blue healer pup "arf-ing"forty miles south of the Bellingham ferry terminal.
inside. This was surely a sign. I should just turnI stayed off Highway 5 taking Chuckanut road.
around and head back.Like many aboard I wasJust to show how upset I was at Burlington I
headed to Juneau, to a "new job" and along withhopped on Hwy 5 at exit 231 just to go to Exit
two hundred others, inconvenienced by the MV230 and hit State Road 20. Eighteen miles west
Colombia's "new" engine breakdown. A lot of usfrom there I saw Deception Pass. It is deceiving. I
were having breakdowns on board experiencingdrove right by Deception Park not seeing it and
many kinds of fever; "cabin", "ferry", andcontinued to the end of Whidbey Island.The islands
"terminal" (I mean, ferry terminal.).FIRSTare woven together with bridges and highways,
DECEITScuttlebutt started, "We'll get back to youfurther hidden by thick Douglas fir terrain causing
in four hours." Information bounced from personpart of the deception. If you look you'll find sand
to person, by the time I got it, it had reallydunes, shedding madrona trees, eagles overhead,
changed. The terminal PA system didn't work andclumps of kelp in the bay, many trails, and trees,
no one had answers as to what was goingtrees, and more trees.Even at first discovery in
on.During one "false alarm" that we were actually1792 Whidbey and Vancouver, master and
going to set sail a security officer was attackedCaptain seamen were deceived, so it happens to
by his own K-9. The officer found it necessary tothe best and the least of us.FOURTH
provoke the animal. The dog had sniffed theDECEITDon't be fooled by National Parks Lifetime
same bags, one too many times and lost hismembership packages. You can't get by the
focus. Our ID's were checked at least eight timesRanger station without paying a $5.00 entry and
everywhere we walked. Those most upsetparking fee even if you have one. You might get
clamored to discuss the issue with local newsit back if you drive in, use the john, and drive out
reporters. The hoopla spanned the news wire, asagain. Keep the car running and be nice to the
far as I knew, all the way to Colorado. Couldattendant.There are interpretive trails to explore,
have been further, but I have family there, soan observation deck, and lots of historical
that's as far as I really cared.SECONDinformation about the Samish Indian Nation,
DECEITFour hours after the first announcementSkagits, Haidah raids, Cranberry Lake, Rosario
another one filtered in. "We still have an oil leak inBeach, and more.The awesome bridge with
one of the sixteen pistons. The Coast Guardeight-knot currents flowing under it is 182 feet
won't let us leave." The Colombia did set off, outhigh spanning the gulf between Fidalgo and
to sea, followed by a Coast Guard cutter, goneWhidbey. Canoe Island supports the middle.
for eight hours, returned, and announced, "We'reSummer time crowds are thick according to Park
not going anywhere.""Hoopty", the vehicle behindstatistics with over two million visitors yearly, but
my car, I learned was the International's name.spring is just right. There is parking on the bridge
[Naming a car isn't unusual. I had one namedfor sightseeing and photos.I learned that around
"Betsy" once.] Robert its owner and Zip, the blue1848 Isaac Ebey claimed land in present day
healer were Oregon mountain folk. A sewingCoupeville, one of the oldest towns in the State.
machine sat in the back of Hoopty. Robert and hisEbey was killed and beheaded by the Haidah in
brother sewed leather duds, so he was expanding1857. I wondered if he was an ancestor of our
this newly organized business. Although, the jobpresent day Ebay. That Ebey led early pioneers,
he was going to in Juneau was likely to set sail, asnow this Ebay is pioneering. Nebulous, I know,
fishing boats do, before he arrived. Robert wassorry.Mutzi and I shot that day. We weren't
worried, if that boat sailed, he'd be out of job andsurprised the MV Colombia still sat at the terminal.
have to live inside Hoopty. Well, that's whatThree more times before boarding our ID's came
happened. Later he took another ferry toout. My car again was parked lost between a big,
Anchorage and headed to the Yukon with lesshonkin' Louisiana truck and a California SUV pulling
space in Hoopty, because Zip had grown.Wea U-Haul; half-full. The other half sat on the
stayed the first night, housed on the Colombia,pavement as a hunt for a propane leak continued.
offered free meals and bunked wherever. Many