Tuesday morning was an early morning -- earlier than we would have all preferred. However, we had reservations for the ferry, so we had to head up to Anacortes and hop on so we could make it to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Our ferry reservation was around 9:10am, but we needed to be there 30 minutes in advance. We cut it a littler closer than we would have liked, but we had no problem. This was the first time we "reserved" a ferry slot and it worked out quite nicely. We loaded up onto the ferry and we arrived at Friday Harbor approximately 65 minutes later. Here are some shots from the ferry.
As you can see, it was a nice day. The skies were mostly clear and the sun was nice a bright. It was a nice little ride to Friday Harbor.
Once in Friday Harbor, we headed to the main street and found a parking spot. From there we went the docks and checked things out...mainly yachts that we all couldn't imagine owning. We looked in the water for wildlife and just soaked up the sights.
After the docks, we headed to the Whale Museum. This was a very cool museum and very informative as well. We saw things and learned things about whales that we had no idea. After checking the Whale Museum out, we headed out to find a place for lunch.
Cask and Schooner was our choice for lunch. Jared and Kristina had eaten there once before and thought it was decent, so we headed in for our lunch. Lunch wasn't too fancy; we had burgers, salads, and sandwiches. After we filled up, we headed out to drive around the entire Island. The path we roughly followed can be found here. We roughly followed it and started by heading to South Beach.
South Beach is for day use only and there were plenty of people using it. However, it was large enough that it didn't seem crowded or that we didn't have any space. We walked along the beach and spent quite a bit of time just checking things out.
Da-Da asked a good question...why don't they clean up all of the the wood on the beach and have a big bonfire so that the beach isn't so cluttered? Jared and Kristina didn't know, but thought he had a good point. Jared thought it might be cost prohibitive and a constant battle that no one wanted to wage.
As usual, Da-Da immediately made a comfortable place to sit so he could soak up some sun. He has a knack for doing that sort a thing -- getting comfortable.
Rhett and Jared immediately went to the water to check things out.
And before you know it, they were skipping rocks in the ocean. They did this for a while, but Rhett decided he wanted more, so...
He decided to remove his socks and shoes and go for a dip. It was fairly cold, but we give him props for being the only one brave enough to do it. Water was too cold for the rest of us.
Rhett had to get his shoes back on, so Da-Da stayed back while the rest of us walked down the beach. Here the two of them are catching up with the rest of us.
It was low tide, so Kristina, Jared, and Maisie were checking out the tide pools to see if there were any critters. This is one of Jared's favorite past times.
After a while, Rhett, Da-Da, and Kristina headed toward the big rock to check things out. Rhett and Da-Da climbed to the top while Kristina found a large log to stretch her back.
It was nice just to sit and sock up the sun, as Maisie does. You can see she is creating her own hot stone massage.
After South Beach, we headed all the way down to Cattle Point. There were some very nice views at Cattle Point, but we didn't go too far. We had more to see.
What a great shot of the McPherson Edmonsons with the ocean in the background!
After Cattle Point, the next stop was Pelindaba Lavender Farm. Most of the lavender was past its prime, but it was still cool to go take a look at all of the fields and check out the little shop. Kristina did some shopping and lots of sniffing!
We headed to Lime Kiln Point State Park next with hopes of seeing some whales. We had heard that there had been some sightings that day. No luck on the whale sighting, but as expected, the view was stupendous! So we hung out for a while and soaked up some more sun!
Rhett wanted to check out the Alpaca Farm so that was next on the agenda. It was feeding time for the Alpacas so they were busy eating, but they were fun to watch. Interesting animals to say the very least.
After the Alpaca farm, we hit Roche Harbor, but it wasn't immediately obvious where to go. Getting tired after a long day and driving and needing to head back to Friday Harbor to catch the ferry, we just drove through and headed back to Friday Harbor. After arriving at Friday Harbor, we got a snack and then we waiting to board the ferry and head back to Anacortes.
Since we didn't have dinner yet, we stopped in Anacortes for dinner before heading back to Woodinville. We stopped at Village Pizza and watched some tennis while we ate our dinner. It was a good meal and we would definitely go back. As is typical for Jared and Kristina, the place filled up after we arrived. Luckily we were at the front of the line and got in and out before everyone else.
It was a good day, but busy. We headed back to Woodinville to recover for the next day! Thanks to Jared for doing all of the driving and thanks to Stephanie and Jared for taking photos!
