Sinking in

My first full day in Port Townsend was Sunday. I woke feeling very disoriented, my body felt as though I'd just stepped off a treadmill and when standing still, I still felt like I was moving and I was staying in this strange trailer far away from home, loved ones, etc. After a mini pep talk from my mom, I used the shower, which works pretty good, put on fresh clothing and ventured out to explore the near surroundings. I quickly found the Marine Science Center which is composed of two buildings - the Aquarium Bldg and the Natural History Bldg. I was quite impressed by the size and appeal of the two buildings. You can guess, one is on land and one on a pier over the water. I met one of four Americorps crew that I'll be working closely with - Julie. She was very welcoming and I also met a few volunteers who were entertaining visitors. The building is reminiscent of the Assateague SP Nature Center but on a larger scale, probably 3 times the size but the same concept. There are at least 5 containments that house marine life. I'm sure I'll go into more detail about this in future posts so I'll just move on. Moe one of the volunteers was also very friendly and launched into some of his famous stories. I picked up some books to start studying up on Pacific NW marine life then set off for the Natural History bldg. There I met Sally and AJ who run the gift shop and Heather who is the 2nd of 4 Americorps workers. She made me feel right at home since she's a west coaster from Virginia and closer to me in age. She had also driven cross country solo so we swapped some stories and then...I met Ted. He's a volunteer and has been helping out there for 3 years after his retirement from running a drug store downtown. He's been a PT resident for over 40 years. He took me to every exhibit in the bldg and explained in grave detail how they all worked, etc. I asked him if he had a recommendation for some place for me to grab a nice cheap lunch and he said "well, I'm going to leave here, why don't i drop you off at your car and you can follow me into town?" I accepted Ted's generous offer and followed him to an intersection downtown where he hopped out of his car and came back to mine and said, this is the place but follow me for parking. Once we stopped, he said, "this is my house, let's go see if Pat has some left over soup," and to that I was so taken aback I was trying to tell him that was okay but he wasn't having any of it. Come on!, he said. Pat (his wife) was on the phone, I should also mention they live in a house that was built around 1880, he is 76, has 7 children with Pat and 18 grandchildren. Pat was rushing around preparing for her students' violin recital that evening. She has 40 students or so, some that come as far as a 50min drive to practice with her or even do lessons over the phone! I suggested that Ted and I just go across the street to the small grocer/deli. He generously treated me to lunch of split pea soup and we sat in the upstairs tables where he told me about his kids, grandkids and stories of his life. What a welcome! I had been feeling so lonely and Ted brightened it all up. He is quite a character but I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the afternoon. He invited me to Pat's recital that evening so after a nap back at the trailer, I went to my first violin recital. The students were mostly high school or middle school age but there were a handful of young kids and even a 90 year old. The evening concluded with two lovely songs where Pat and two of her friends played together the violin, recorder and harp. I've attached some pictures of the Marine Science Center buildings and my walk down to them.