Le Crumple
19 Oct 2008Holly and I had both booked a four day weekend for this weekend to celebrate, albeit belatedly, our first anniversary. We had done a couple of small things up to this point so we were calling this “Anniversary 1.4”
One of the previous things that I had planned was to go to this little restaurant at Crescent Beach, and then walk along the beach for a while after. That beach was where we went and shared our first sunset together on our first date. That didn’t really work out as planned though since the restaurant decided to close early for the day and weather didn’t want to cooperate. So we ended up spending the day together at home and trying to make Fish & Chips from scratch ourselves. It actually turned out quite well.
This second trip, also planned by me, was a romantic weekend getaway at the Mayflower Park Hotel in Seattle. We were going to have a late lunch out one of our favourite places, and then try a late supper at somewhere we haven’t been before. The next day we were going to grab some breakfast at Lola, wander down to the market and browse/graze for a bit, and then make our way to Racha Thai on the way out of town. Which of course is our favourite thai place in the whole wide world.
None of it went exactly as planned.
We were down around north Burlington when we decided we need to grab a quick bite to eat to hold us over until our late lunch. -We pulled off the road and were following this big white truck toward Jack-in-the-Box. They started to pull into the parking lot, and we started to pull into the parking lot behind them (all clearly marked with one way arrows). They stopped, and we assumed they were just trying to pick where they were going to park, so we stopped behind them and waited. We were a good 10-15ft behind them. Then the big white truck started accelerating in reverse toward us and before we could do anything BANG! they smushed the front left of our car in. It looked pretty bad, not horrendously bad, but quite terrible. Certainly not as terrible as it ended up being.
We all pulled over out of the way. They apologized profusely, accepted full blame for it (as Holly had been laying into the horn like nobodies business), and exchanged insurance information. In a turn of what could dubiously be coined as good luck, they were also from BC, so both of the claims go through ICBC.
Soon after they left we decided to get properly out of the way and tried to drive the car to an empty hotel parking lot nearby and make all of the necessary calls. It was at this point that we realized we could only go about 2km an hour. It appears the transmission is toast; but we’ll know more after the adjusters take a look at it over the next few days. Having accidents out of country extends the whole process quite a bit, especially when it turns out to be bad enough that you can’t drive the car home.
Needless to say that at this point the romantic getaway was canceled.
We spent the next hour or so trying to sort things out. We called all of the rental companies in the nearby area and almost none o f them were open. The one that was, their computer system was down for upgrade and were unable to tell us if there would actually be a car available if we were to show up. The first towing company worked out well for us though, and they do direct billing with insurance companies which should work out in our favour long term. So with no car of our own, and no way to get a car, we were pretty much stranded in the middle of no where.
Holly called her parents and they said they would come and get us. The hotel staff offered us a friends and family discount at the hotel and we eventually took them up on it. When we decided to they actually only charged us at the agent rate. So we got a $109 room for $35. We really can’t say enough good things about those people working at that hotel. They impressed us enough that we will be looking at staying at Marriott hotels any time we need a hotel in the near future.
While we were waiting for her parents we ventured over to Bob’s Burgers and Brew; not willing to face the Jack-in-the-Box again just yet. Now, I have to say, I hate Bob’s Burgers and Brew. They have a slogan “It just tastes better!”, and I have to tell you that they are just flat out wrong. I have only been to this particular chain twice in my life. If I have my way that is the number it will stay out. They food “It just tastes better!”, well, maybe when compared to garbage. Although most of my meal made it to the garbage itself. I ate three onion rings and about 1/3 of the burger. We also had some “Cheesy Jo Jos”, which are potato wedges covered in cheese and bacon bits, they were okay. Never in my life have I gone to a sit down restaurant and come out thinking “Man, I sure could go for some McDonalds.”
After Holly’s parents showed up they offered to take us down to Seattle for supper out Racha Thai for our anniversary. So we made our way down and had a great time. We walked in and Wipa (the manager) greeted us and bumped us ahead of a few of the reserved people to give us the best table in the house. Right in the corner where you can see both of the streets and watch the world go by while you dine.
Everyone got to witness the very, very rare event of me sitting down to supper and ordering a beer right away.
After that we finally made our way home. It was a long day, an awful day, and a great day. Just one more adventure in Skagit County.