7th Anniversary Trip - San Juan Islands

Jason and I decided to spend our 7th anniversary boating through the San Juan Islands.  We went to Sequim late Thursday night and met up with Mom and Dad S. Friday morning.  They had spent Thursday night on the boat, but we took it over on Friday.  :)  We spent a few hours with all of us, so that the boys would have a chance to ride and then the boys, Grandpa and Grandma, and Auntie Teana all disembarked, and Jason and I had two days of kidless vacation!

The boat is a beautiful cabin cruiser that was just right for this purpose.

Happy 7 years!

Brotherly love (sometimes)  

We started off about 35 miles south of the islands.  The islands are between the U.S. and Canada in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  We went north to Lopez Island, went into Fisherman Bay, then up to San Juan Island and into Friday Harbor where we had dinner and spent the night.  Then we ventured up between Shaw Island and Orcas Island, past Blakely and Decatur and south again.  You will see how much fun we had!

The first experience we had approaching Lopez Island was Cattle Pass.  It was crazy!  There were some wicked tide pools that made the water very choppy in some places, and very smooth with whirlpools in others.  I tried to capture in a picture how confused the water was as to which direction it was going!

In Fisherman Bay we anchored out (that's the boat!) and rowed the dinghy in to this beach (that's the dinghy!).  It was a beautiful beach with lots of shells!

We went on to San Juan Island and Friday Harbor.  It was awesome!  We could moor up for 4 hours for free, so we got off the boat and walked around the town.

I wish I could describe the "yacht culture" that I observed.  I definitely did not fit in, but it was so interesting to watch all of the yachters in the harbor!  I had worn a swimming suit...sure the water is 51 degrees, so there is no way I'm going in, but I'm on a boat, so I wear a swimming suit.  Wrong!  I did not see a single other person wearing one!  Also, I had put on a pair of pants, but they were totally the wrong length!  Bermuda shorts or pedal pushers were the only things worn by the women around the boats!  Also, I didn't have a glass tumbler filled with an amber colored liquid, so I was totally out of the loop!  Not to mention the lingo!  I'll have to brush up on my yachting dictionary before I go again!  :)

A small band playing in the park.

We had an excellent seafood dinner at this 3 tiered crab shack.

The view from dinner.

After we got back to the boat, we anchored out in the harbor for the night.  It was a beautiful, calm evening!  And other than pulling up a neighboring boat's anchor, went without a hitch!

We slept in and lazed around in the morning.  (No kids!)  And then headed out to explore some more islands.

This was one of Jason's favorites.  Must be nice to have your own private island!

We saw lots of seals and one porpoise (no orcas :()  

We anchored in another bay and rowed into this island that is a small state park. It can only be accessed by man-powered vessels and had 4 campsites on it.  I have dreams of coming back up here with canoes/kayaks and camping on various islands!

Beautiful view of the islands with Mt. Baker in the background.

We debated spending another night in the islands or heading back.  We were planning on getting off the boat in time to get ready and go to meeting in the morning, so we didn't want to risk getting in too late.  Also, the weather started to turn ugly which made for a rougher trip back.  We headed to Port Townsend, which is only 2 bays over from Sequim.  This was the lighthouse heading into the harbor.  I've never been to Port Townsend, but it was a real eye opener!  Made me think of Minneapolis, just tiny.

We moored the boat and passed several homeless people on our way up the dock.  Once in town we looked for a place to eat.  We smelled pizza from a block away and followed our noses to this pizza place.  We watched the employee finish his cigarette, come inside take our order, grab a chunk of dough and start making our pizza all without washing his hands!  Extra flavor I guess!  It was really good pizza!  

If this gives you any clues, this was their delivery vehicle!  :)  We anchored out in the harbor for the night and made the trek back to Sequim in the morning.  It was a wonderful trip!  Can't wait to do it again!

Our bad guys and their guns on the way home!

I grabbed Mom's camera so I could steal some pictures of "while we were gone"  Here is Wade and Grandpa in their matching hats!

The boys had a blast playing at Lake Crescent!

He sure doesn't look like he misses his momma!

Thank you for the wonderful vacation!!!!

And thank you too!!!!

Owen decked out in his new meeting clothes!

Can't wait until next year!  Where should we go????  :)