That was cool.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I said, five hours into our quest with three trolls down. “And I can’t believe you agreed!”
“That's why we’re friends,” said Patty as we headed onto a ferry to see Oscar the Bird King, who lives on Vashon Island. “Because we both like doing crazy stuff like this.”
So it makes perfect sense that I met Patty because of an even crazier troll adventure, which 25 years later is still the craziest thing I have ever done: Not just driving to Seattle because of a troll, but moving there — where I had no job and knew no one.
Which is how I found myself starting a new life in Seattle, spending the summer of 2000 sending out job applications and buying myself a City Pass so I could see the zoo, aquarium, art museum, Space Needle and the newly built Experience Music Project while I waited to get hired. I also joined a singles group called “Restless in Seattle” that hosted lots of cool outings like hikes and kayak trips, though I was really hoping to find women to be friends with, not a man to marry. And it worked, because I met two longtime friends there, one of whom was Patty.
And I soon learned that Patty was definitely a keeper when we started walking around Green Lake. A lovely lake in the center of Seattle, Green Lake has the perfect path for strolling: flat, only about three miles, but offering plenty of nature and people watching with every step. It was also a perfect place for us to meet after work twice a week to fit in more exercise and chats.
Which we did for a whole year without fail. In the rain we wore our waterproof jackets. When it got frigidly cold, we wore more fleece. When it started getting dark before 4 p.m., we bought little flashlights. I remember thinking one day, watching the tiny snowflakes falling at our feet while Patty giggled at my bright yellow “sport” flashlight, that she was not only the first friend I made as an adult outside of work, she was the first woman who never canceled plans with me. Not once.
Patty Possible: “Peter says it will be impossible,” said our friend Lori, who joined us to see two of the five trolls, explaining that when she told a co-worker of our plan, he did not believe it could be done, especially because at least one troll visit required taking a ferry there and back.
I certainly knew how fickle ferries could be, given that my landing a newspaper job across the Puget Sound is what finally ended our Green Lake walks, since I began spending at least two, sometimes three, hours a day commuting to Kitsap County.
And I continued sailing to work for eight years: Eight years of boats I missed. Or boats that were late. Or boats that broke down. Or even boats that turned around for confused tourists.
So Patty and I could have spent the day obsessing about the ferry schedule and letting it dictate our day of trolls, just as it dictated my weekdays for years. But we never even looked at the ferry schedule.
We just drove to the docks when we needed a boat, and hoped one would be there. And it was. Every time we got in the line, there was a ferry at the dock waiting for us that we drove onto.
That was super cool. And felt like the ferry gods were smiling on our troll trek.
And so we did it, made it to all five trolls in one day. Yes, it might seem super silly, but it was super fun, and I loved every second of it. And I especially love Patty for not only sharing my crazy dream, but making it come true.
You can join us on our epic troll trek here:
