Whew! Finally made it, safe and sound to San Juan Island. We caught the ferry at Anacortes, a couple hours drive from Seattle and boarded the ferry for a one hour trip across Rosario Strait to Friday Harbor. It’s $53 bucks to board your car onto the ferry but you don’t pay for the return. The forecast was for rain, and it did all day yesterday, but never anything harder than a light drizzle.Today’s weather beat the forecast and while it was overcast, it never rained.
I found out where Norman Rockwell has been hiding all these years.
In historic Roche Harbor, here on San Juan Island. It’s an old lime production company town and it is just as beautiful as it is patriotic, with less than a week before July 4th. With its American (and Canadian) flags draped all over white picket fences, you get a sense that they are polishing the barbeques and stocking up on fireworks as I write this. It is located on the Haro Strait and if Sarah Palin were here she would we able to see Canada from her hotel room. Amidst this Americana there is a beautiful sculpture garden overlooking the harbor and another one down the road from town. There were very nice, pricey pieces like the one below, dotted along a nice walkway. “Whale Tail” can be yours for $38,000.
There are several hikes around Roche Harbor. The longest is 1.75 miles.
Tomorrow – a real treat – my first whale watching trip! We went to Lime Kiln State Park for an hour today and stared at the sea. Saw a few porpoises but apparently missed the Orcas by two hours. They track them like we in New Orleans follow Mardi Gras parades. I’ll board the float, I mean the boat, at 1:30 p.m.
