A little over a month ago, I went to visit my daughter, daughter-in-law and grandson in the Seattle area. My daughter works during the week so we spent the first and last weekend of my 10 day vacation being a family. On Sunday of the first weekend, my daughter dropped me at the Seattle dock to catch a boat to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, WA. It was a quaint but tiny town and I enjoyed an afternoon strolling about, a wonderful dinner overlooking the harbor, excellent night’s sleep at The Earthbox Inn and Spa, and a delicious breakfast at Rocky Bay Cafe. I needed to catch a ferry to Sydney, B.C. at 9:40 am. I walked to the tiny harbor and waited with a group of people for the ferry to arrive. When it arrived, we loaded in and all found a seat. Within minutes we were on our way. While looking at the shrinking image of the harbor, I happened to look at my watch. Wait a minute! It’s only 8:45. How could the boat leave early? Weren’t there others who would want to take the 9:40 boat? Then it hit me. I was on the wrong boat.

Settling into a mild panic, I waved down an attendant and asked where is this boat going? He says, “Shaw, Orcas, Lopez and Anacortis Islands”. NO, NO, NO, I shrieked inside my head. I took a deep breath, and even though I was freaked out, I calmly asked, “Is there anyway to get to Sydney, BC on this boat?” He says, “No, oh this is bad”.

I am in suspended disbelief. I am always early for flights, buses, boats, etc. but this time I was too early! This nice attendant immediately called the captain to see if they could turn around. I mean, we could still plainly see Friday Harbor. No answer from the captain as I am sure he and his crew were on the floor laughing.

Another attendant wanders over and together they figure out that after I visit these three other islands in the San Juan Archipelego, They instructed me to get off at Lopez Island and catch a different ferry to Anacortis, where I would then catch yet another ferry to Sydney arriving at 5pm instead of 11:00 am if I had boarded the correct boat. I breathed a sigh of relief.

As the attendants leave, I notice a woman approaching me with a knowing look on her face. She said, “My mom and I did the same thing. We are also headed to Sydney and got on the wrong ferry.” I said, “Well, let’s keep each other company for this afternoon adventure. I’ll come sit with you two.”

I sit down with them and we begin to chat. They ask me where I’m from and I say Houston, because most people in the US or Europe know where Houston is. Nobody would know where Crosby is, so I never say that when I travel. Just makes it easier. So, the woman says, “Wow, we’re from Texas too.” “Have you ever heard of Crosby?” I am amazed and say, “That’s really where I live, too.” Turns out that they live just a few miles from me. What are the chances of traveling in the Canadian Northwest that you would run into people from your tiny home town?”

We made fast friends. The woman and her mom were absolutely delightful and the time spent together as a result of taking the wrong boat were incredibly fun.

As we talked, we discovered that we had been on the same flight from Houston to Seattle, the same ferry to Friday Harbor, and stayed in the same hotel, The Earthbox Inn and Spa!

I have to say that this sort of thing happens to me all the time. I could tell you many stories of serendipitous synchronicity I have experienced around the world. All equally as amazing as this one. Does it find me, or do I find it?

All I can say about this encounter is that I don’t think it was the wrong boat after all.