{"id":191,"date":"2008-06-13T20:13:56","date_gmt":"2008-06-14T03:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/archives\/191"},"modified":"2008-06-14T13:38:06","modified_gmt":"2008-06-14T20:38:06","slug":"on-to-the-san-juans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/2008\/06\/on-to-the-san-juans\/","title":{"rendered":"On to the San Juans!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rhododendrons!\"And now, part 2 of our
\nBritish Invasion adventure….\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Journey to the San Juan Islands<\/em><\/p>\n

On Sunday Kathleen and I\u00c2\u00a0took a somewhat leisurely and scenic drive north to Anacortes Washington (stopping only for brunch at the Swinhomish casino<\/a>).\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rhododendrons (which are Washington’s state flower) were in brilliant display in a rainbow of colors.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TheAfter a ferry trip through the beautiful islands we pulled into port at Friday’s Harbor – a charming little town with a lively waterfront – shops, art galleries, restaurants.\u00c2\u00a0 Just sailing over, even without a car, to spend a few hours in Friday’s Harbor would make a fun day trip.<\/p>\n

\"AdmiralFor the educational part of our journey, we decided to visit the English Camp<\/em> we saw on all the maps.\u00c2\u00a0 Here is Kathy on the road to the camp, saluting in memory of fallen comrades, perhaps?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Frankly, I’m not quite sure what Kathy was doing, but it was along this road that we waved to Patricia, a lovely woman simply going for a walk (back toward the main road).\u00c2\u00a0 Wondering how we knew her name?\u00c2\u00a0 Read on.<\/p>\n

\"Welcome<\/a>And here is Kathy at the marker which tells the story of the Pig War <\/em>between the British and Americans. (click photo to read it)<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0 Did you know that San Juan Island was the last American soil held by the British? Me either.<\/p>\n

It was at this point that we met an older gentleman, returning from the path to the bay, with whom Kathy engaged in conversation…<\/p>\n

Kathy: Hello, how are you today.
\n<\/em>Man:\u00c2\u00a0 (seeming a bit despondent) Oh, I’m doing ok. I just lost my wife.
\nKathy: (consolingly) I’m so sorry.
\n<\/em>Man:\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, I’m sure she’ll turn up sometime.<\/font><\/p>\n

LOL.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I spoke up and told the man we had passed a woman, who was probably his wife, walking up on the road.\u00c2\u00a0 So he called out “Patricia!?<\/strong>“\u00c2\u00a0 I pointed out that she had been WAY up the road… far enough she probably wouldn’t hear him calling.<\/p>\n

He headed up\u00c2\u00a0the road after her, and we took the path to the bay…. but for the next 15 minutes we were heralded with sounds of Patricia!?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 PATRICIA!!!!\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 PA-TRI-CIAAAAAAA!!!!!!!<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We could hear him clear down by the bay.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"BrokenFrom there we headed to Roche Harbor for dinner, but made a stop at the Wescott Bay Sculpture Park<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 VERY COOL<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 There are about 108 sculptures in the 19 acre park.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0This piece is called “Broken Melody.”<\/p>\n

If it had not been so hot, we’d have explored further – but the weather was\u00c2\u00a0warm and after our hike (for most people it would be considered a walk, for us it was a hike)<\/em> around the English Camp, we were a bit overheated and worn out.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

We drove into lovely\u00c2\u00a0Roche Harbor<\/a>, which is a charming resort town.\u00c2\u00a0 Dinner was so-so, the water tasted funny, and the service slow, but the view & ambiance were spectacular.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Cool<\/a>After dinner we took a stroll through the beautiful formal Victorian garden<\/em>, filled with peonies, forget me nots, lilies, wisteria, clematis, hydrangea, poppies, and many more…\u00c2\u00a0 including this really interesting plant.\u00c2\u00a0 I have no idea what it is.\u00c2\u00a0 Do you? <\/em>\u00c2\u00a0 More pictures at the link at the end of this post.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Alpaca\"<\/a>We stayed at the States Inn & Ranch<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0– a working alpaca ranch bed & breakfast.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0They also had chickens, sheep, and a friendly cat.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Although it was a pleasant stay (& the lavender shortbread cookies were delicious)<\/em>, I probably wouldn’t stay there on a future visit.\u00c2\u00a0 The most memorable part for me was the wonderful frog chorus <\/em>which sang us to sleep.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, I recorded them \u00c2\u00a0 Listen and enjoy….<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/p>\n

The next morning, we woke up to breakfast in the dining room with the other guests -\u00c2\u00a0 made from locally grown produce and their own farm fresh eggs.\u00c2\u00a0 The scones were particularly yummy.<\/p>\n

\"ksp_deer-sm.jpg\"In addition to the farm animals,\u00c2\u00a0 we saw quite a bit of\u00c2\u00a0 wildlife as we drove around the island.\u00c2\u00a0 There was a fox sitting\u00c2\u00a0near the road, with two smaller foxes tumbling and playing.\u00c2\u00a0 I really wish I’d stopped in the middle of the road and taken a picture (a car was behind us, and no where to pull over)<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pheasant\"We also saw several deer – including a doe and two small fawns hiding in the trees, along with a\u00c2\u00a0pheasant, a bunny, an eagle, and a fat lazy seal.<\/p>\n

\"LimeOn our final day we made a visit to the Lime Kiln Lighthouse<\/em> \/ State Park.\u00c2\u00a0 We met a family from Minnesota (or Winconsin?) who have traveled and spent every summer for 15+ years volunteering at the lighthouse – which is one of the best places to watch for whales.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0
\n\u00c2\u00a0
\n\"Allison
\n\u00c2\u00a0
\nWe didn’t stay long enough to see the orcas that were making their way up the coast that day…\u00c2\u00a0 we had a lavender farm to visit!<\/p>\n

We stopped by the Pelindaba Lavender <\/a>Farm and store.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Of course we bought more lavender shortbread cookies.\u00c2\u00a0 Even though the lavender was not yet in bloom, it was still a beautiful farm.\u00c2\u00a0 And don’t you love this huge pi sculpture sitting in the middle of the field???
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\"Lavender<\/p>\n

After spending an hour or so browsing art galleries, gift shops and book stores, we grabbed a bite to eat at the Rocky Bay Cafe and then hopped on the ferry for the trip home.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Look – a marshmallow farm!<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 On the drive back, we were lucky enough to capture a picture of this new and extremely\u00c2\u00a0rare crop of giant marshmallows.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \"Look<\/p>\n

We left for the airport the next morning where I bid farewell to Kathleen and sent her back to SLC….\u00c2\u00a0 it was so fun to have you here – come visit again soon!<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE<\/a> FOR MORE PHOTOS OF OUR ADVENTURE<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And now, part 2 of our British Invasion adventure….\u00c2\u00a0 Journey to the San Juan Islands On Sunday Kathleen and I\u00c2\u00a0took a somewhat leisurely and scenic drive north to Anacortes Washington (stopping only for brunch at the Swinhomish casino).\u00c2\u00a0 The rhododendrons (which are Washington’s state flower) were in brilliant display in a rainbow of colors.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 After … Continue reading On to the San Juans!<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,5,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-familyfriends","category-photography","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silenceoftheclams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}