Category Archives: family

San juan island

August 29, 2013

I promised a video, well maybe I didn’t promise but at any rate I don’t have one to share. It’s not looking the way I want it to so I’ll play around with it and hopefully share it soon. Instead I’ll share our day on San Juan Island.

We were staying on Orcas Island so in the morning we had to hop on another ferry to San Juan Island where we were meeting a friend of his dad’s. While we waited for her to arrive Walker and I stumbled upon the farmer’s market where I found the San Juan salt I was hoping to get!

We had lunch and explored an outdoor market and then we set off around the island. Our first stop was an alpaca farm. They were all so cute but my favorite one was the one who seemed to have a love for cameras. See how close he got?! So funny! I would have loved to buy some wool but I already have too much without projects in mind so I figured I had better not.

Next we drove to a park with a seriously amazing view! This is also a spot where whales can be seen but we headed down the road to another location.

The next stop was a little hike in to a lighthouse on a cliff where good whale watching can be had. I didn’t have high hopes for seeing whales so I was pretty shocked when someone said there! A whale! And sure enough there was the unmistakable white and black body surging up out of the water. Even though it was a ways off and looked really small it was amazing. We sat and watched a while longer and Walker let me use his binoculars to see a little better.

Then we headed back to the ferry and back to Orcas Island for the night. Where as you may remember Walker and I were chased by a deer.

Orcas Island

August 28, 2013

Last week Walker’s parents came to visit and over the weekend we went to the San Juan Islands. Apparently there was a lot going on that weekend so we stayed on Orcas Island which was nice because it was a bit quieter.

We headed to the ferry very early Friday morning and made it on the ferry we intended to get on. The views from the ferry were quite beautiful. Once we arrived on the island we drove north to the downtown area. On the drive I had my window down and I was loving the remote island feeling and the heavenly scents wafting in from the woods. Oh my!

After a bite to eat we explored some shops and a few artist studios, we caught the artist studio tour that was going on. We also drove up to a high point on the island to get some fantastic views. Finally we made it to our lodging and once we were all settled in we drove even farther on to have dinner. The place we chose was so cool. It was set right beside an inlet and it had huge windows on the inside so you could see the bay. It felt really open and breezy. Also the food was amazing and surprisingly locally sourced. It was kind of awesome. When dinner was over Walker and I sat in some chairs near the water and kind of wished we could have stayed there for the rest of the night.

As it was though we headed back to our rooms. Walker and I played some outdoor games-including tether ball-which I can never beat him at! Then we hung out on our little balcony and continued our night with some wine and nature sounds. Walker also took some really cool pictures which I’ll share tomorrow…

Last night on orcas island

August 27, 2013

Last week Walker’s parents were in town visiting and I’m sharing the pictures out of order. I can do that right? After a couple of days in Seattle we headed to the San Juan Islands for a long weekend. I’ll be sharing more of the trip in the next couple of days. The last night we were there Walker and I decided to spend some time outside taking long exposure pictures (he loves doing this). We got a few by the marina and then ventured up to the hilltop toward our hotel and took a few more. Then things got interesting…

As we were overlooking the water I looked to my left and saw a buck (as in a deer with antlers) standing about 5 car lengths away. I wasn’t all that alarmed since we had been seeing does all over the property and they didn’t seem to notice or care about us in the least. At this point Walker and I were standing and looking at the deer. It was also just standing there looking right at us. I told Walker to take a picture and if you’ll notice below a ghost of a buck right in the middle. That is because while Walker was taking the long exposure of the buck it started to walk right at us.

Now I was still not too concerned but Walker was getting pretty worried. We backed away a little but he kept coming. We walked backwards up a hill that swung back to the left so that now we were parallel to the deer instead of in front of him. I thought well now he can keep going wherever he was headed. But instead he turned and walked right up the hill behind us! Now I was freaking a bit also. Between us and a set of antlers was nothing…

We both thought and said now would be a fine time for a car to drive up the road and what do you know it did. I’m pretty sure there was a split second that I covered my face thinking oh great the deer will get scared and run right into us. Luckily he took the shorter route and headed up a steep hill in the opposite direction of us. Phew! It was crazy!

Now I can say, “Hey Walker remember that time we got chased by a deer?”

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