Hood Canal Bridge, by WA Dept of Transportation

The big news around here is of course the Hood Canal Bridge Closure. It begins May 1 & lasts for 6 weeks. About the same length of time as a Survivor series. Concidence? I think not.

This is how we in PT get to the other side. Why did the Port Townsender want to get to the other side? Well, a lot of our friends & relatives live there. Some of us work there, and for crying out loud, there’s no Lush on this side, let alone a Target or Nordstrom.

And then there are some folks who really DO need to get across. Like my friend K’s husband, who works for Boeing and comes home to PT on wkends. Or people getting medical treatments. Or the big semis that bring us our food and fuel!

I’m sure I’m not the only one who developed shortness of breath and started inventing crackpot schemes to get to the other side. Not that I (or most of us) go that often; it’s just the notion that it’s going to be so much harder. And smack in the middle of Tourist Season. So much for the Rhody Festival.

At any rate, there are a lot of plans in the works. Some more bizarre than others. Our little ferry to Whidbey (the PT-Keystone route) will still be open. The ferry is small & often cancelled due to tides or weather, so reservations and finger-crossing for that one.

Then, there’s a ferry from PT straight to Edmonds, once a night only, Sun-Thurs (reservations available) It leaves PT @ 10:40, so you’d be in Seattle about midnight on a Thursday evening. Perfect, right?

More Ferry info.

Or, you can do the ferry water shuttle. Every time I hear that explained, it sounds like an episode of the Amazing Race. No thanks. Big problem- yes, it can get you to the other side, but your car stays on this side. And you have to leave Seattle by 8:1o PM. If you have 2 cars, you can leave one on the other side. Or you can get very, very familiar with Seattle’s public transportation system.

Then, there’s air. You can fly on a tiny plane from “Jefferson County International Airport“  to Sea-Tac for $95 each way.

But my favorite: Kenmore Air will fly seaplanes between Port Ludlow and Lake Union. That’s so wild, it could have been my idea. (Actually my best one involved hangliders & piracy. But that’s another story.)

At any rate, we’re all whistling & repeating to ourselves “We have everything we need on this side. Lalalala…” Except the shopkeepers, who are going quietly mad.

It’s going to be a long six weeks…

Here’s the official info

I love the song “Talk of the Town” from the Curious George CD. That’s what I look for, a place where “the talk of the town is about last night, when the sun went down.”

Last June, 2008 it happened. And I knew I was in the right place. In the middle of the day, we had this incredible celestial light show over the water.

I was out on my lunch break, roaming around as per usual, when suddenly people stopped what they were doing, stepped out into the middle of the street and started pointing. Nobody knew what it was; I heard everything from jet trails to UFO’s mentioned.

But the most incredible thing was that everything STOPPED. There must have been over 100 people downtown, stopping everything else, to stand in the street and point, and talking to each other. Tourists, shopkeepers, fishermen, hippies, ladies who lunch- everybody was in awe, just sharing the moment.

Here’s what we were looking at: Rainbow Clouds

It all starts when somebody gets bored with all her clothes. In the case of the one I went to, the instigator (S) needed new clothes for a convention she had to go to, but had no dinero to get them.

So here’s how S did it:

She emailed a goodly selection of friends (nice dressers, and a variety of sizes, including hers!) a couple wks in advance.

We all showed up at her house on a wkday evening with all the clothes we no longer wanted, and some snacks.

Snacks were laid out in the kitchen & clothes were piled in the living room, which had several mirrors laid out.

We had about 1/2 an hour to mingle & paw thru the clothes. Trying them on is where the naked ladies part comes in (be sure to wear your cute undies!)

Then each of us took a number (1-15 in this case.) Starting with 1, we each got to choose an item. Anything’s fair game, including something someone else is actually trying on (but not the clothes they wore to the party- be sure to set them in the coat room or you’ll never find them again!)

After about 4 rounds, we each had a few “new” things that we loved, but then we turned it loose, and stopped taking turns. Some people ended up with a lot, and some with only a few things. By the end, we were all exhausted & happy, and there were about 7 bags of leftovers for the local thrift shop.

S has been doing this for years. She says the funniest thing is how one item of clothing makes the circuits. Certain coats or tops have made the rounds thru an entire office and circle of friends.

I guess the part I liked best (besides meeting a lot of great women & having a good time) is that with no $$ involved, it’s a chance to acquire clothing that’s totally not my ususal style. And maybe a little outside my comfort zone. And the funniest thing is that when I wear them, people say “Oh, that’s so you!”

I’m living in one now: Port Townsend, WA. Now that I’m getting ready to bid it farewell (for now), I’ve already started researching others that I might want to check out.

Well, I’ve just found a new guide along the way. 100 Best Art Towns in America. I checked out the library’s copy (that’s me, always frugal) and a quick check showed… no Port Townsend? WTF? And what about Ojai & Mendocino? I did a little more checking (I was going to see if they needed somebody to update this book… Hey, I’m available.) when I figured out, duh, that this is the 2nd edition I’m looking at. There’s an updated version coming out this yr (and there’ve been several more since this one from 1996) and rest assured, PT is in it.

But what I’d really like to find are the undiscovered gems. The NEXT Port Townsend. The ones where you or I could buy a home. So if you have any ideas, let me know. Extra points if it doesn’t (EVER) snow there. How about Estacada, OR?

It looks like a lot of my posts will have to do w/artsy little towns, so I’m creating my own acronym: ALT= Artsy Little Town.