27 September 2015, Sunday

We are ready to depart Mt. Walker Inn by 8 am. The socks smell amazingly
acceptable! We stop at the Cup and Muffin for our first cups of
coffee and then get in line for the ferry. The morning is cool, but
bright and sunny. O & I are convinced this is typical northwest
weather. While we wait for the ferry, O goes off to another coffee
shop for a latte and a mocha. There is a cycling event on the
peninsula today, and we watch several hundred brightly clad cyclists
disembark as we wait to board. Once on the ferry we grab our pie boxes
and coffees and head for the passenger deck to eat breakfast. Several
fellow passengers pause to stare hungrily at our pie. Three stop to
ask, with some jealousy, where we got it. They are disappointed when
we tell them it was back in Quilcene. Ahhhh – the benefit of
planning ahead. It takes the entire ferry crossing for us to finish
our pie quarters. K saves a small portion for lunch.

We finally arrive back at Redmond. The car is unpacked and the apartment
quickly becomes a soggy mess of tarp and tents. Somehow we are able
to begin sorting equipment and laundry. The washing machine and dryer
remain very busy. The balcony is hung with soggy tents, flies,
footprints and tarp.

We make a list of supplies that need replenishing as we continue our
camping expedition and head to Grand Canyon for our last backpacking
trip of this year’s journey. I notice, when I am on-line, that there is
some danger of a government shut-down. If this should occur, the national parks will close. We have received an email from
Grand Canyon Organization that we will be refunded in full if this
occurs. O & I hope for the best.

After picking up fresh supplies, we drive to Duvall for dinner. Delicious!!
After dinner we return and study more Grand Canyon maps and info
while K bakes another batch of brownies. We also have time to view
the photos taken by S. They look great!  Before bed and photo viewing
we also have a brownie tasting to make sure they came out OK. Of
course they did!