New Year Wayfinding

The RantWomen greeted the new year most festively.

RantWoman and RantMom IGNORED college football on television.

RantWoman and RantMom...took a ferry ride.

It was a bright sunny day. RantMom is still pretty low energy after some minor surgery in December. RantWoman was not the best guide ever about minimizing bot h distance walked and steepness of descent from Third Avenue to the ferry terminal but we allowed plenty of time.

RantWoman has not ridden the ferry in awhile and is glad RantMom insisted that we check in at the ticket counter. Last time RantWoman rode the ferry, she paid outof her ORCA wallet right at the turnstile. This time, the pay out of the ORCA wallet worked; but it needed to happen at the ticket counter. RantWoman actually likes this plan better. Last time she rode the ferry she got charged twice for the same ride. A stop at the ticket counter is worth the improvement.

All aboard.

RantMom prefers not to sit on the sunny side of the boat and prefers facing forward. Okay.

The RantWomen had a mission: tourist flyers, to plan an upcoming Family Gathering. Collecting and reviewing flyers took up all of the outbound ride.
--Destination / lodging / Base of operations constraint: must be accessible to public transit and a wheelchair user. Noted.
--Tourist flyers: check.
--Minor geography lesson: check.
--First pass discussion of excursion options: check.
    Garlic, lavender, gardens: almost certainly.
     Wine or beer tasting: possibly
     Casino: maybe
     Tours of things technological and / or military: of interest maybe to some...

Off the boat and then back on: TIME TO COME HOME.

Conversational navigation moment: RantWoman ran into someone who MAY have been having as many conversations about blind people and the bus as RantWoman has. But no, skip that. She's not at work.

Off the boat.
RantWoman in one corner of her brain knows there is construction all over the place near the ferry terminal. Another corner of RantWoman's brain still expected the bus to come all the way to the ferry terminal.

ASK DIRECTIONS. Ah yes. The ever popular "Ask a Human" algorithm. Overpass to First Avenue, bus to Third Avenue. Southbound 7.

Thank you RantMom, another crack at the blind couple on the bus:
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/12/blind-couple-barred-from-bus-in-seattle-metro-apologizes/

How many conversations that?
--Actually SOME blind people DO need seats but many can and do either sit behind the courtesy section or stand.
--Decisions about when to stay put and when to move...
--Lots of bus drivers do REALLY well about different accessibility needs. Many do tolerably and getthe job done most of the time. A few have a terrible day. A few are truly awful all the time. Glad Metro is on the training issue.
--The often overflowing Courtesy Section or ADA Section.
--The perfectly fine able-bodied folks who will not move?
And lo, the New Year arrived and RantWoman's chronicle is only now catching up.