san juan island

the weather held out for our san juan island adventure! considering we had 3 boat trips in 3 days, i'm very pleased we missed the stormy waters. we took a ferry from anacortes (about 1.5 hours northwest of seattle on fidalgo island) to friday harbor of san juan island. of the san juan islands (san juan, shaw, lopez, orcas), san juan is the furthest from seattle and is actually right next victoria, b.c. it also is the most populated and has the largest town- friday harbor. (photo of friday harbor by joan holmes.) we drove off the ferry and four blocks to our bed and breakfast, harrison house suites. this was a great place to stay as it was right in town and an easy walk to many places.

after checking in and unloading we headed state for lime kiln state park. we went to see the lighthouse, but ended up catching the whales! the lighthouse is actually the whale research center and naturalists/marine biologists are there all day long tracking the various pods and transients. (photo of lime kiln lighthouse by joan holmes.) it was pretty exciting to catch a glimpse of them before our boating excursion. (i actually caught this pic of mom cookie and juvenile offspring oreo just as my camera ran out of batteries.) 

the next morning we walked into town and took a tour through the whale museum. all the guides call this place a "must-see," but i thought it was pretty grim. the museum has several fetuses in jars and is mainly focused on educating visitors about the species that have gone extinct and which are endangered. they even have a plaster cast of a baby whale that washed up on shore after starving to death. really glad i paid $6 to see that. after the museum we had a fantastic lunch at the bluff, which overlooks friday harbor. (photo from our lunch spot!) and then, we were off for some whale-watching with san juan safaris. i was extremely nervous about getting motion sick, but 3 dramamine and all the excitement kept my stomach and brain pretty well tricked. i didn't even bring my camera on the boat, because i knew it would be impossible to get any decent pictures. however, the "whales" (we learned that orcas are actually porpoises) did get VERY close to the boat. it was incredible. there have been 7 orca births this year, and we probably saw 2 or 3 of the new babies. the several hours on a boat were definitely worth it, and this is a must if you make it out to the san juans. our final morning on the island was spent at pelindaba lavender farm. now this was an educational experience! apparently lavender is an excellent cleaning product and is antibacterial. you can use it on your pets to deter fleas, on your plants to kill aphids, on skin burns, as a bathroom and kitchen disinfectant, and on and on. it was pretty incredible to learn about all of the qualities and uses of lavender. (photo of lavender fields from joan holmes.)

next we had planned on visiting san juan vineyards, but we had already tasted their wine at one of our dinners (it was a great cab franc!) and didn't feel like tasting at 10am. so, instead we headed to the little road bee farm. now this place was pretty creepy, but we mustered up the courage to walk around. still, it was interesting to see the hives. they also have very vocal chickens and an incredible orchard. we bought some honey, but i haven't gotten a chance to open it yet. and then we ferried back to anacortes and arrived just in time for a stormy drive back to seattle. oh summer, why must you evade us?

next we're headed to portland for the independence weekend. we're also thinking about going to the olympic peninsula for some rainforest hiking. i'll be starting summer school in about a month, and shortly after my term we'll be back in denver for a quick visit. and by the time we get back, summer will be over and i'll be back in school! wowza!