what is wrong with people? who else is sensitive to HORRIBLE smells?

Sunset view from the ferry
boat after a LONG day.

We witnessed a beautiful sunset just before the ferry took off to bring us back to Vancouver.  The three little kids explored the ship while the rest of us collapsed and charged our devices.  

Little did I know that I was about to embrace the worst part of the entire trip.  (pictures are from better moments) 

A few of the boys napped during the
 whale watching.  Guessing it beat the
 trampoline room at the airbnb.

More from the whale boat - windy hair personified!

We arrived back to the port in Vancouver at like 10:45.  We were EXHAUSTED.  I thought Coach and I were on the same page:  no waiting for a bus, let’s hop in a cab and get back to our jail-cell sized airbnb asap.  That same-page mentality ended up being a page that someone put through a shredder, because the next thing I know Coach was buying bus passes for all of us.  He kind of shrugged at me when I nodded towards the number of cabs waiting for customers as in what-the-EF? 

We boarded the bus.  Unfortunately, approximately 400 other people boarded that same bus first, so it was a tad crowded.  We had to stand.  Coach estimated that we were about 40 minutes from the downtown area which is where we were staying.

Next issue:  the bus was not set to depart for maybe another 20 or 25 minutes.  AND (as in how can this get worse?), the bus driver could not turn the bus on until that time so oxygen was absent.  You know what wasn’t absent?  Horrible, God-awful, gag-a-maggot odors.  

Let's imagine better fragrances
 like, oh - look, more flowers!

Coach was positioned next to the driver at the front of the bus with most of the boys.  Mini was between us, surrounded by strangers.  Curly and I were clinging to a pole in front of the first row of seats that faced front - there were about 6 seats lining the sides of the bus that faced the center of the bus between Coach and I.  

The stench was INSANE.  It is hard to describe, and I whiled away my time identifying possible culprits.  There was a young woman perched on her suitcase with multiple face piercings, died blue hair, and a thick layer of grit and grease smeared across her face.  I do not mean that she had smudged her makeup, I mean that her natural unclean state had produced said grossness on her skin.  

Oh, look - more flowers!  Breathe it in girls, because little did
 we know we are about to gag ourselves silly!

Curly was breathing in the air inches away from this chick’s face.  I rotated Curly so that she was not facing this person.  Still the smell persisted.  It was more than just unbathed people, although there was certainly enough of that to go around.  It was an overly intense perfume.  Damn it.  Minutes ticked by SLOWLY as I tried to keep myself from screaming or sobbing.  From the window I could still see the line of taxis.  Waiting.  This was one of those occasions when I felt damned for having such a strong sense of smell, and for living on a budget.