San Juan Island

We got packed up, showered, ate breakfast, and headed down to the bus stop. We were excited when we could get on one of the very first buses that came by, and it was a double decker bus at that = ). So we loaded the bikes on the front and went to the top of the bus. It was a great view of the country side from up there. Once we were back in Sidney we discovered we had a little time before our ferry left. So we went in search of coffee = ). We passed a couple of very busy café’s and decided to keep searching. We came to a little place called Lunn’s. Inside we could see that there were beautiful pastries and choclates, but very few people inside. We parked our bikes and went inside. Sandy grabbed us some coffee and a pastry and we sat down. It did not take us long to notice that we were getting stares, and that we were the only ones in the whole place under the age of 70. = ) Once on the ferry we both took a short nap before reaching San Juan/Friday Harbor. Friday Harbor is another cute little island town. Once we got our bearings we were off on our bikes. It was several miles of hilly winding roads, but it was AMAZING! All along the roads were blackberry bushes with the most delicious blackberries I have ever tasted. We stopped at one point and filled up one of the water bottles on our bike. Then continued towards the water. It’s one thing to ride the coast line in an enclosed vehicle, but to breath in the air that deep as you work your way around the coast line on a bike or on foot…well again there are no words. We stopped several times to take in the view and rest. The last mile of our ride was all down hill right into our campground at San Juan Island park. There was only one other campsite being used there. We assumed the campground office was closed, but as we were looking at the self-registration forms on the door, a man opened it. We soon found out his name is Eugene, he is a park ranger, and he lives there. He was such a great guy. He gave us some of his own firewood and told us the best place to pitch our tent. We headed up to our site and saw a beautiful view of the mountains in the distance and the water below. As we walked around the rocks by the water we saw a family of beautiful purple jelly fish. The way they move in the water is more graceful then anything I have ever seen. Just a short while later a couple came running down the hill from houses above the campground to tell us there were several Orca’s that were swimming by in the distance. We grabbed our video camera and zoomed in as much as we could to watch them swim by. You could see them in the distance, some following barges, while others played around smaller vessels! This campsite and the near-by Lime Kiln State park is known to be excellent places for whale watching. We watched the sun go down, and then before the fire got too small and we got to cold we headed off to bed.
The next day we really wanted a hot breakfast, but had no pans to warm water. I had saved just enough wood for a small fire in the morning, and went to the recycling can and found a 7-UP can. I rinsed it out, filled it with water, and then stuck it down in the fire. = ) The water boiled and we were able to have hot oatmeal, blackberries, and some toasted bread for breakfast. Oh we also discovered an apple tree near-by that I picked two off of for our lunch later = ).
The rain started to come and we knew we could not bike all the way back. I went down to talk to Eugene and he was kind enough to give us a ride. We had to wait just a bit for him to get ready, so he sent me up with a cup of coffee for Sandy. We waited under the shelter of the restrooms until he came to get us. He took us all the way back into Friday Harbor where we were to catch our next ferry!Thank you so much Eugene!!!!