August 13th 1981

Up late, me at 11 or so, Val even later.  First of all called Steve + Chickie, to tell them we’d be there Saturday morning, then a light breakfast.  It was good to get the gums around some Rice Krispies again.  Rick was the only one around, and he drove us down to collect his wife + son (Carol + Dean) from their respective jobs, and showed us the town centre.  Then back for lunch, before ferrying everyone back to work again.  On the way back we visited, first of all, Rick’s parents, and then his sister.  Back at his house, I foolishly challenged Rick to a game of snooker, and he pasted me twice.  He was good, but not quite as good as I made him appear.  By this time, we had to pack up our gear ready to go.  We had arranged with Rick to leave the car there, and catch the bus out to Prince Rupert, where the ferry went from.  Rick drove us out to the bus stop + we caught the Greyhound.  We both thought Rick had acted a bit strange, but not having known him that well in England, we couldn’t be sure whether it was usual for him.  Val thought he was something of a male chauvinist, and was out to tease her – there may be something to that.

The bus journey was uneventful and unloaded us in Prince Rupert at about 7.  Only then did we discover that it was 2 miles from the bus terminal to the ferry.  We bought ourselves some provisions for the journey, and then set off.  Val stuck out her thumb as we went along, and by luck we got a lift. There was very little room for our bags at the back, and only the front seat for both of us, so Val had to sit on my lap, but fortunately it was only for a mile or two.  The Alaska Marine Highway office was shut tho’, so we sat down outside, and ate, and read.  It got to be late, so we wandered over to a patch of waste ground, built a good fire, then laid down our sleeping bags in the dirt, crawled in and went to sleep.

“Get the gums around…?”  Oh dear.  And one of an increasing series of snap psychological judgments of the people we met.