Monday - Anacortes to Friday Harbor

They say it rained a lot overnight, but when we looked, the sun was out and it was only a bit windy. But that brutal wind storm that had been forecast seems to have blown over! On the way to the ferry terminal, we stopped to check out the Army Corps of Engineers W. T. Preston Snagboat. Very interesting!

So, off we went to the ferry and got in line for the 10:30 trip. No problem! The trip over was a bit bumpy in the main channel but otherwise smooth as can be. It was too cold and windy to be out on the deck! We got to Friday Harbor on time, about noon. The weather is on and off - sun, then rain, then more sun. Temps in the mid 40s. Gusty winds but not too bad. We had a nice lunch at the Blue Fish (more clam chowda). We found our room at the Tucker House and met Susan and Glen, the Inn keepers. (Note: our room was on the second floor with a treacherous twisting staircase. Only young people should have this otherwise very nice room)

On the advice of the Innkeeper we went across the street to the San Juan Brewery to watch the NCAA final (Kansas beat N.C.), while eating pizza and Greek salad.

Stop at Lopez Island

Getting on the ferry

On display at Anacortes

 

Tuesday on San Juan Island

We spent today driving the length and breadth of San Juan Island (its only 18 miles). The weather has cleared, although still coolish and quite windy.  First stop, at the southern end, was part of the San Juan Islands National Historical Park and the Cattle Point Lighthouse. In The Pig War of 1859 the Americans dug in here to protect against British Warships off the coast. (Weird story - Google It!).

Continuing on, we headed north on the west side of the island to Lime Kiln State Park and Lighthouse. This is a great park with easy trails and views of the ocean and lighthouse. Historically, many tons of Lime were mined on this little island.

Next stop, at the north end of the island is the resort town and marina of Roche Harbor. After a nice lunch at the Lime Kiln Cafe on the pier, we hiked around the pier oggling at the incredible array of yachts. $$$. We enjoyed a welcome surprise when a retired couple we met gave us a tour of their "Rebozo". They had retired from teaching years ago and now called Roche Harbor their home. Their boat is like a big motor home; all the features of home.

Dinner tonight at Haley's Sports Bar.

Lime Kilns

Wednesday - La Conner and Tulips

 We woke to a spectacular, sunny, windless morning! After another nice delivered-to-our-room breakfast, we made our way to the ferry terminal, just one block from our B&B, for the 10:30 sailing. The YAKIMA is a pretty big boat and took on cars, trucks and passengers no where near its capacity.

It was a beautiful crossing! Great views of the islands and snow capped mountains in the distance. We arrived back in Anacortes about noon and headed off to a little town called La Conner. A few days ago we had been considering a Plan B in the event our sailing got cancelled due to wind. The question was: if we get "stuck" in Anacortes, what would we do? The young lady at the hotel desk said, "have you been to La Conner? No? Well that's what you have to do!"

La Conner is a little town, not far from Anacortes, on the Swinomish Channel. We'd check it out before we headed over to the tulip fields.  Its a single main street of quaint restaurants, coffee shops and craft/souvenir shops. The length of the street features a wonderful boardwalk along the Channel with tie-ups for some pretty snazzy boats. We enjoyed our lunch on the deck at the Seafood and Prime Rib House, while watching bald eagles and ospreys! (See the impossible photo of eagle in flight!)

It was just a few miles to get over to "Tulip Town". Unfortunately, it was a bit of a bust. First of all, we were about 2 weeks early. The weather had been cold and rainy so only the early bulbs were in bloom. Secondly, apparently last fall there had been heavy rains and flooding which destroyed many acres of tulip bulbs. So, it wasn't much to see for us. There are also impressive fields of daffodils in the area. They bloom earlier than tulips so they were in full glory!

Our hotel for the night is an old Quality Inn in Mount Vernon. Decent dinner at the Blue Taco. Tomorrow on to Wenatchee.

Friday Harbor

La Conner

Tulip Town

Thursday - on to Wenatchee

Beautiful Spring day - would be close to 70 by afternoon! We left Mt Vernon about 9:30 and took Rt 9 south rather than I-5. Interesting country ride past some smallish lakes with vacation homes. We picked up US 2 in Snohomish and continued up through Stevens Pass (elev 4000). I don't care for this road! The road is fine, but always surrounded by forest so you can't see out. And there are some spectacular mountain peaks to be seen!

After Stevens Pass, you come down to the "dry side" and its completely different. We stopped at Leavenworth for walk around this unique German themed tourist town.

As you approach Wenatchee you begin to see thousands of acres of apple orchards. We wondered why it appeared that the trees had not started to "leaf out"; and why they looked so "white". Turns out its because they spray all the trees with this white, fuzzy insecticide. Apples is (are) a huge industry here.

We met our Oneonta friend Nancy Hulse at McGlinn's for dinner. Great place!

(Note: at some point today we happened to see a TV piece about a major fire in Friday Harbor. We were just there yesterday! So sad, looks like it engulfed an entire block downtown).

Friday - to The Dalles

Nothing much on the agenda for today as we head for home. Wenatchee is a very nice looking town with oodles of orchards and beautiful mountains to the north. We continued south on Rt 97. Just south of Ellensburg we took an interesting "scenic route" on Rt 821 winding through the Yakima River Canyon. Then through not very nice Yakima city. Very flat and generally uninviting around here.

Continuing toward the Columbia River Gorge we stopped for a nice lunch at The Town Cafe in Goldendale. Then down, down to the Mighty Columbia with a quick stop at Maryhill to check out the view - spectacular as always.

The weather today was not very nice. It was supposed to get warm, but it only made it to the mid 50s and although the sun shone most of the time, it was VERY windy.

Hotel tonight is the Comfort Inn, where we have stayed before. Dinner at the Portage Grill in the Shiloh - nothing rememberable. Dodged rain. Home tomorrow.