Friday Harbor

July 29, 2015

Friday Harbor

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Friday Harbor

San Juan Island, WA

I woke up this morning feeling a little antsy. I don’t know why I’m like this. I just always feel a need to be going, going, going. Especially in a new place where I can explore and see more of this beautiful world Heavenly Father has created. And especially now that my kids are older and can handle more adventure, I want to show them all the things I did here as a kid. You know… cram a whole childhood into the 10 days we are visiting Washington! ;)

So this morning on a whim, I reserved us a spot on the 10:55am ferry to Friday Harbor. We had a little time to get ready. We talked Nana into coming with us and we all piled in the suburban and headed for the ferry landing. $120 later we were on our way to San Juan Island (wow it’s expensive!) But it is so fun to drive your car onto the ferry and laugh as the nav system in the rental car tells you “Caution! Road Ends.” We played cards and ate a picnic lunch of baguettes from the Breadfarm in Edison and salami and cheese. We drove out to Roche Harbor and stopped at English camp and learned about the Pig War between the British and the Americans that almost happened, but didn’t. Kaiser Wilhem I eventually settled the territory dispute by giving the San Juan Islands to the Americans. We stopped by an alpaca farm and watched baby alpacas nursing. They were so cute and the farm was beautiful and immaculate. We wound our way to Egg Lake (which is right by Bacon Lake. I’m serious,) and swam and jumped off the dock. Then we dried off and headed out to Lime Kiln Point to look for Orca whales. We hiked down on the rocks and scanned the horizon for whales. We didn’t have to wait too long when we could see them in the distance heading our way. They surfaced and breached right off Lime Kiln Point for over an hour. It was so awesome. Kate was in heaven! I was so happy that all the kids got to see the killer whales. And it was such a good show! We saw at least a half dozen breaches!

We headed back towards town and stopped by the little cemetery where my sister, Jessicca, was buried in 1972. She was only 5 months old. Her little headstone is beautiful. I wished there was some wildflowers we could have picked to put on the grave.

We finished the day with a delicious outdoor dinner at VanGo Pizza near the ferry landing. Our booth was outside, enveloped by a trellis, vines and café bulb lights hanging above us. I read riddles and everyone tried to solve them while we waited for our food. We laughed and laughed when Jeff asked Mikey if he could finish off the pizza on his plate and Mikey said, “Sure Dad.” And then just as Jeff was about to take a bite he added nonchalantly, “But watch out for the bite marks Dad. That’s the part I chewed up and spit back out.”

And of course we couldn’t spend the day in Friday Harbor without a stop at Friday Harbor Ice Cream for a quick cone before boarding the ferry at 10pm. I don’t know what it is about Jeff and ice cream on vacation. He doesn’t even really like ice cream at home but when we are on vacation, he becomes obsessed with it. Finding the best, biggest and most unique places to try an ice cream cone. Every single day! It’s quite hilarious! It totally reminds me of Jim Gaffigan: “Isn’t that all a vacation is? Eating in a place we’ve never been before?” Yes. Yes it is.

The ferry ride home was late: we caught the ferry in Friday Harbor at 10pm and arrived in Anacortes at midnight. We played more cards, read and I slept for a few minutes. I read the kids Treasure Island in the car on the way home and we carried the littlest ones in asleep at 12:30am.

Playing "garbage" on the ferry ride.

On the ferry car deck.

Washington State ferries are so iconic and nostalgic to me. I love them!

Watching the ferry's wake from the back of the car deck.

Just before we reached Friday Harbor.

This is the house my parents' rented when I was ages 1-3 or 4 when we lived in Friday Harbor. My few memories of this house are the really steep stairs, sitting on my bed on top of my yellow blanket that my Mom made and doing "preschool" with my Mom during "quiet time." I remember that she made matching curtains that coordinated with my yellow bedspread. I also remember making a fort under my Dad's drafting table in the back room. I remember an old wooden boat laid on its side in the backyard and being fascinated by the mosquito larvae wiggling around in the puddles on the boat. I also remember a rock pile that had tons of garter snakes in it and chickens and a mean rooster that we had in the yard.

Calvin drawing on the drive around the island. He's a great little artist!

A tourist map of San Juan Island.

Visiting "English Camp" on the NW end of the island.

This Alpaca farm was immaculate and picturesque with the dry, rolling hills, flowers and evergreen trees. This is probably the driest I've ever seen it in Washington!

Swimming in Egg Lake.

A few homemade school bus stops we found around the island. It's always raining in Washington, so a lot of neighborhoods or families will put up a covered bus stop for the kids to wait in. These were some of the best I've seen!