Day 17: Journey to the San Juan Islands, WA

We woke up very early this morning to pack up the car and leave the Coleman’s home to explore the San Juan Islands, which are in the Salish Sea (a geographic term for the Strait of Georgia-Puget Sound-Strait of Juan de Fuca region). We had a bit of driving to do in order to catch the 11:50 ferry leaving Anacortes. Getting through the small towns near the ferry dock took a little longer than we had anticipated; we ended up sprinting up the boarding ramp with our tickets in hand as the final boarding horn sounded. Wide-eyed and out of breath, we hustled up the stairs to find a seat on the outer deck of the ferry. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and we knew we had a beautiful day ahead of us.

The ferry ride was about an hour long, and docked in Friday Harbor, which cradles a picturesque sea town in its arms of conifers and pine needles. The town had almost a sort of Mediterranean feeling to it with people zipping around on scooters and bicycles. Cafés and eateries hugged the shoreline and booths were set up all along the streets offering kayaking, scooter and bicycles rentals. We learned that the waters around the small island are regular routes for orca whales, and that there are three well-known pods in the area nicknamed “J,” “K” and “L.” Kayaking is a great way to get around the island and appreciate the landscape, so we signed up with a small company called “Discovery Kayaking,” for a half-day tour of part of the coastline. Our friends, the Kunzs, recommended them and we’re so glad we took the suggestion! We had a great tour guide who grew up around the San Juan Islands, and she was really able to cue us in to all the different types wildlife in the water and on land. There was only one other couple in the group so we were really able to pick our guide’s brain with random island inquiries. We were as amused by this awkward couple as we were with our non-Illinois surroundings. Every so often we stopped to admire harbor seals, jellyfish, bald eagles, and to nibble on sea kelp. We learned that there are many, many types of edible seaweeds and kelp.

After returning slightly burned, in spite of our sunscreen efforts, we grabbed a quick meal of island burgers before catching the return ferry to Anacortes. This time we caught the sunset over the islands – it was gorgeous. Mt. Rainier was visible in the distance too.

We rested for the night close to the Canadian border at Birch Bay campground. The sky that glowed above us was absolutely magical.

We arrived late at night and had to check ourselves in and pay via a metal deposit box anchored to the ground. We were exhausted from the day’s activities, and the only thing on our mind was our cozy blow up mattress that was currently deflated and packed up tightly in the cold trunk. We started a stopwatch, jumped out of the car, and threw our home for the night together in about seventeen minutes. Three minutes later we were snuggled up in our goodwill blankets and drifted to sleep, thinking of the orca pods we unfortunately never saw.