Home Depot Trip

One of the things about being on the islands is that you take certain things for granted,  like a "simple" trip to Home Depot.  There isn't a Home Depot on the Islands,  so you have to go to the "mainland".  Sounds simple,  but it is really an all day trip.   Like any trip we started with our list:  Kitchen Cabinets,  Counter tops, Kitchen sink, Bathroom vanity, Bathroom Cabinets, Flooring, faucets, bead board  etc.... you have to make the most of these trips.  

To start the trip, we needed to be in line at the Ferry landing about 1 hour before the 8:00 am ferry, park the truck in line and go find a place to have some breakfast.  If you don't get in line an hour before, you might have to wait for the next ferry.   The trip is about 1 hour 30 minutes to the mainland.   What was interesting about this ferry trip was that it was Saturday morning,  which meant that it manly contained local's leaving the island for the weekend (all the tourists are coming the other way towards the islands....) 

We found our place to sit for the trip and noticed this one guy kept walking by every couple of minutes  (sorry I didn't get a pic).  After a couple passes,  I decided to time him,  every lap took exactly 2 minutes and 8 seconds.  He was so precise,  I would count down until he walked through the door.  One time,  he did not make it exactly on time,  so I peaked out to see where he was  (McKenna was laughing at me...),  He was slowed down by a couple teenagers.  He passed them and continued on at the exact pace for over 30 minutes.  I know...  why would I time some guy walking... but it was rainy out and not much to see out the windows,  so I found something else to pass the time......

We land and make our 30 minute drive to Home Depot.  We get our whole list with some great help from some of the Home Depot staff,  we fill 1 shopping cart and 5 flatbed carts and then try to load it all into the Tundra for the trip back to the islands.  We looked like something from the Beverly Hillbillies.  We also stopped by Lowes for a couple of items (but I am going to be nice and not talk about Lowes...)

We gabbed some lunch and head back to catch the ferry.   We arrive at 4:35 for the 4:45pm ferry.  This is the 3rd time in a row we have made the ferry line with less than 10 minutes to go and were lucky enough to make the boat.  I do not recommend this,  If you want make the ferry, usually you need to be in line at least 1 hour before the boat sails... (longer on weekends...)

Summary,  Trip to Home Depot takes about 12 hours and the ferry ride with 2 people is about $70... better plan wisely....