Matt Meets La Conner

The drive was rainy and gloomy, but we made good time.

FRIDAY
Matt got to see the views of the valley as we drove through Conway to La Conner. I was a little nervous about how he'd mix with my family and friends. We are Crazy. I introduced him to my Old Man and crazy Great Aunt Mary. Then I took him on a walking tour of La Conner. It rained like a bastard. We were wet, miserable, cold, and hungry. This led to getting some power muffins and bagels at Pioneer Market. Matt discovered his bagel had mold in it. Not a good start. Matt enjoyed the channel and named of a bunch of birds (he could say any name of a bird and I would believe him). He also fantisized about fishing. Had some Mexican food at El Gintano. After our bellies were filled we went to my old working place the Gull Station, I was a gas hop there, it's old school like that. It's also the local video store. We picked out the 5 for 5 for 5 deal: Rocky Balboa, Kevin Smith, Waiting, The Host, and Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.

We watched Rocky and waited for Donovan to get off work (Safeway). Donovan is one best friend from La Conner and the driving force behind many of the shinanigans we get into. He gets to LC at 10ish and we head out for some urban exploring. We decide to reclaim The Cannery! The Cannery is old, condemned, dark, scary, dangerous, haunted and most importantly abandoned. To much frustration we can't find a way in. Donovan is trying one last attempt and I'm getting that feeling our luck is running out. I see head lights. "Car!" I yell. Donovan and I scramble to the back of a more modern marine building, Matt is having difficulty reacting, I grab him and bring him behind the structure. I take a peak, It's a sheriff car and it pulls up behind my parked Volvo. I tell Donovan, he doesn't believe me at first, but soon trust me upon hearing the panic in my voice. He immediatly disbands his B&E tools. "Oh fuck, oh fuck, I'm screwed." Donovan takes hold of the situation. "Come on lets think this through, walk this way." We move away from the building ninja like. "Okay, lets just say we went for a walk to Hole in the Wall." I reason. "Yeah! Perfect." says Donovan. "You just tell him that you're showing your friend from out of town around. Which is the truth." We loop around and casually walk to the car. To our luck the cop car is driving away. No ticket on my car either, weird. We take it as a sign and head back home to brainstorm our next adventure. We ended up eating cereal and watching TV.

SATURDAY
My Dad woke us up. "There's a bunch of kayaks racing in the channel! Wanna come watch?" We stumble out of bed and walk to the channel where the kayaks are, only a couple yards from the cannery where we were last night. The only requirement in the race was muscle power. One guy used his arms to paddle, another guy had one leg! It was epic.

Next was the caucus. It was held in my old high school. Each area of La Conner was split up in groups according to where you live. Mine was in the gym. My Old Man, Matt, and I sat in the back like cool kids, Tom Robbins took a seat by us, obviously gravitated by our coolness. The leader opened the floor to anyone to speak for Hilary Clinton......nothing. Now for Obama. I looked around, then shot my hand up. I went down in front of the bleachers and explained why I support Obama. "I support Obama for a few simple reasons, I believe in his policy on the Iraq War, I do not believe in this war, my next concerns are health care and education. I come from a working class family and it would be nice to see some health care." I broke the ice, I was followed by a bunch of Obama supporters and a few Clinton ones. The delegate break down came to 7 Obama, 1 Clinton. We split up and nominated people as delegates. My Dad nominated me. All the nominees went up together said there name and what they wanted. I didn't know what the hell I was getting myself into. Anyway I got elected, I looked at the paper, 59 votes more than anybody else. That's pretty cool. So now I'm Delegate for Barack Obama of La Conner, WA. So on April 12th I go back to the County Caucus or something. I'm excited about this, I want to kick ass at it. I was joking with my Dad about starting a career in politics, become mayor of La Conner, then a senator, finally a run for president. Well I can dream can't I.

That night, when Donovan got off work we went back to The Cannery to find his stuff. We were found it without any close calls. Then Donovan had to get a paycheck at the Fire Dept. which is next to a sea cave. The tide happened to be out, our next adventure was upon us. We charged across the beach through the slippery seaweed and sharp barnacles. Matt was falling behind, he's used to his soft sandy beaches in California. He mentioned his worry of "Rouge Waves!" To that I explained our geographic location to ease his fear. We found the cave. Next came the tradition of going to the sea cave, once you get to the end of it you take a pee in it. All three of us made our marks then left the stormy seaside. Anacortes was next on the list. We went to the Donut House, they have French Curlers with pick icing there! The best thing the French ever did. We finished the night off driving around and going to a park by the marina, where Matt found a mysterious can of beer (Coors Light) unopened. Matt and Donovan shared the gift form the heavens. Donovan also managed to hit on a statue that night.

SUNDAY
The Old Man and I stressfully filled out my FAFSA. Lets hope it went through smoothly. Sometimes it pays to be poor. I hope I get the same help I did this year. I also plan to live off campus which will be tougher money wise.
We drove back.