Road Trip :: San Juan Island

The San Juan Islands are a small group of islands off the coast of Washington, about halfway between Seattle and the Canadian border. The only way to get there is by ferry and we have been talking about visiting them since we learned they exist {which wasn't until we actually moved to Oregon...apparently my geography skills aren't as good as I thought}. Amazingly, the New York Times 2011 top destination list IN THE WORLD includes these islands at Number 2! If you like to get away from it all and relax, then this is the place for you.

Unfortunately Mark and I found it all a bit too relaxed. We didn't really have anything to do and at one point found ourselves wandering around the town grocery store as an afternoon activity. While it wasn't necessarily our cup of tea, I could appreciate why other people love it there, especially since it's usually sunny {just not the two days we were there} and their seafood is absolutely delicious.




From the southern tip of San Juan Island {which is only about 5 miles wide and 9 miles long}, you can see the Olympic Mountains across the straight.

The town of Roche Harbor, which is really a resort community where the West Coast's wealthy elite park their boats, was completely decked out for the Fourth of July. There were several boats for sale in their harbor, each costing around four million dollars.

We also found ourselves at the one place you never want to be while on vacation {No worries, just a little misfire. Twenty dollars later we were on our way}.

Our San Juan highlight came on Day Two when we found ourselves awake at 430 in the morning, sitting near the shore, waiting for a group of Orca whales to come by and eat breakfast. The day before we had met a couple who have been vacationing here for the past 17 years. They told us the secret of where the whales like to eat breakfast...and although they said the whales don't usually arrive until seven, if at all, we didn't want to risk missing them.

However, for over two hours, it was just Mark, me, and this fat, little harbor seal...

And this ridiculously huge overripe banana slug...

But then, around nine {they were late!}, the whales showed up and it was amazing! There are three pods that live in the area and we saw between 15 and 20 whales. They lingered for a little while, playing in the water, and it was all I could do to just watch in amazement.

The rest of that day, minus a quick stop at the local alpaca farm, was spent at our camp site relaxing {aka, being a bit bored}. We read, played cards, went out on a paddle boat, and then spent a fair amount of time lighting marshmallows on fire.

The following morning we caught the ferry back to the mainland and headed north into Canada. More to follow...