San Juan Islands Weekend, Part 4

 Day four arrived, a Monday, and Jake went back to work. We had ferry reservations for 4:15 and we had a day to fill.

We took our time getting going, ate the last of our breakfast provisions that we had brought along, I made and packed my peanut butter sandwich, Tom had half of his Roche Harbor sandwich left from the day before, our apples and chocolate, for our mid day lunch, wherever we might be, packed our gear and set off for one unexplored part of San Juan Island we had not visited yet. 

Jackson's Beach is only a mile from Friday Harbor and it's where Jake had gone paddle boarding the day before. Monday morning was cloudy but fine for beach walking. 

My walking stability has deteriorated - I hope to get some answers next week - but Tom got me over and through the driftwood to join him for a walk down the beach.

I loved this idea. I am always looking for a good walking stick on the beach at Whidbey Island. 

We drove the long way back to Friday Harbor and saw more interesting sights. Then we decided to see what was open along the tourist shopping street. Tom bought a tee shirt, and then we found this wonderful Northwest Coastal Indian Art gallery. We looked at everything, and I did finally select an Orca print. I love all of this but it is way beyond my price bracket. 

Some dark clouds brought rain briefly but did send us to Jake's porch to eat our lunch. Then we bought lattes from a nearby coffee shop and enjoyed them in a nearby park. 

In the afternoon, under a bright blue sky, we strolled the docks.

Then we settled in at this table to relax and read for a while.

At 3:00 Tom could park the car in the ferry holding lot. We read some more, and walked over to get some ice cream at the shop by the ferry dock. At 4:15, as our ferry arrived only 15 minutes late, quite lucky for island time,  we settled in our car, ready to depart. 

It was a wonderful four days and posting these blogs has allowed me to enjoy it even longer and appreciate it even deeper. 

Thanks for being my audience. 

San Juan Weekend, Part 3

 We're coming back around to another weekend, but the visions of our island weekend keep floating through my head, prolonging the pleasure.

On Sunday we took the around the island tour. In preparation I had found a little map of the highlights. The introduction read:

San Juan Island is the most diverse island in the county. Explore quiet valley roads, find a beach for yourself, visit one of the popular resorts, or enjoy Friday Harbor's art galleries, boutiques, museums and water view restaurants.

We did all of those things. It did take us two days. 

In the interior valleys of the southern part of the island we found farms and cows and ponds and Pelindaba Lavender Farm. The lavender wasn't in bloom yet but the setting was lovely and the shop was full of lavender delights. We bought a few.

Then we were back on the Westside Highway, where we had watched the sunset the night before and our first stop was Lime Kiln Point State Park.

Falling isn't funny, but I thought this sign was. 

I know they are hard to see, but this rock was covered with colorful succulents. 

Lime Kiln Point Light House is a well known whale watching spot, but nobody was home this day and we heard the whales were up north in the Canadian waters. 

Traveling north, our next stop was San Juan County Park, where we did find a beach all for ourselves. 

Further north we came to English Camp, San Juan Island National Historical Park, where the British were encamped during the "Pig War" troubles of the years before and after 1859. 

You might notice that I like trees . There were some wonderful old trees and remnants of trees here.

We did drive into Snug Harbor just to check it out and then on to the northwest tip of the island at Roche Harbor. Both of these places are boating resorts with lots of big fancy boats. We planned our day around having lunch at Roche Harbor, not at the fancy hotel, but at the Lime Kiln Cafe out on the docks.

After a leisurely lunch we completed our drive around the island and back to Friday Harbor. No highlights there and thankfully no more pictures for this day. After we got back we made plans to meet up with Jake at his place to watch a Sounders soccer match on TV. We ate take out pizza and urged our lads on, but alas, they lost. It was a very good day anyway. 

San Juan Weekend, Part 2

 Saturday was a this and that day. It seems we were here, there, and everywhere.

Sitting on a bench in town we found Edward Warbass (1825-1906) and Bob. Warbass was an adventurer, prospector, miner, trader, promoter, soldier, public official, island pioneer, and the founder of Friday Harbor. 

Jake wanted a slow start. We wanted to go to the Saturday Farmer's Market. The market was at the Brick Yard, where bricks were once made, and where this pig now represented the former product. 

We enjoyed the market and talking to vendors. Then we moved on and met up with Jake. We set out to do some plant shopping but first we stopped by his office to drop off his work boots. 

Tom had raised some tomatoes for Jake and a Brugmansia. We needed pots and potting soil. ACE Hardware had what we needed. 

Jake also wanted to check out the open house at Friday Harbor Labs, an extension of the University of Washington Marine Biology Department. We went back to our room to have lunch and then perhaps meet up with him there. 

We never did see Jake but we prowled around, talked to people, learned a few things, and enjoyed the scenery.

Wild Nootka Rose. 

Native Pacific Coast Iris. 

Then we checked out the Whale Museum. 

Orcas, Killer Whales, dwell in the waters of the Salish Sea.

Then we needed ice cream, which was conveniently sold right by the ferry dock, so we sat, ate ice cream, and watched the ferries come and go. 

We still had plenty of time before we were to meet Jake for dinner so we began our island excursions. We went south first to Fourth of July Beach. The area we were exploring is all part of American Camp, where the American Army set up to protect the USA interest in the San Juan Islands when it was in dispute with the British. A pig died in what became known as the Pig War, but no other blood was shed, and the dispute was settled peacefully when the British departed. This is now San Juan Island National Historical Park. 

South Beach, in the national park, has wonderful views across the strait to the Olympic Mountains,

Next we drove further south to Cattle Point and the light house.

I was having a lot of trouble walking, but I pushed myself because I didn't want to miss anything. 

A small wedding party was just finishing up out on the cliff overlooking the sea, and then the bride and groom hiked to the lighthouse. 

On the way back to the car we had to detour around this fox family. The kits were having a great time frolicking about and Mom wasn't the least bit worried. Jake says he sees foxes all over the island. 

We met up at the San Juan Island Brewery for dinner.

Then Jake was ready to just go and sit on his porch and read and watch the sunset. He suggested we drive over to the Westside Preserve to watch the sunset, so we did. We toured more of the island, especially the farming part of it, as we drove across. There were parking places along the Westside Highway, and lots of folks were doing just what we were doing. It had been a while since they had weather as nice as this was. 

Day is done, gone the sun, but plenty more daylight to get us back home. It was another great day.