Second annual San Juan Islands trip.

CoPilot · Post by **CoPilot** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:16 pm

=D>

Beautiful!!!!

Those sunsets you caught are just amazing. That area is a must see in my book. Sorry we couldn't make it but it sounds like you two had a great time.

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:22 pm

Wednesday morning we arrived at Lopez for our final three nights in the islands. After a quick run into Lopez Village for a restock of ice and supplies we headed for Odlin Park. A county park that also has camping and is right on the beach.

It was pouring rain by this time and I was really starting to get frustrated with things. When we pulled into our reserved site I wasn't to excited about it. It was basically a spot for two cars to park and then a small path to what was the campsite. After pouting about it for awhile Jill convinced me to make the best of it and we angled the bus into the parking spot and after pulling the curtains on the bus tried to ignore being parked right on the road. The rain finally began to taper off and the clouds began to part so we got camp set up. It ended up not being a bad site with a good view of the bay and when the sun returned the next day I was in much better spirits. We were also joined by a Canadian friend from B.C. for two nights before he was off to host the WetWesties Bay View campout.

Some dramatic skies the first night.

From this angle it looks very private.

It did have a good view.

The second day we just enjoyed the nicer weather and relaxed and went for a short walk along the bluff and down one of the private drives of the island.

On Friday we decided to take a drive around the island and out to Shark Reef. A wildlife sanctuary home to many seals and sea otters.

Friday night was the nicest of the week. To bad it was our last.

Saturday morning we again packed up camp and went to catch the ferry back to the mainland. After a quick drive through at Bay View State Park outside of Anacortes to check out the WetWesty campout we headed south back across Deception Pass to Keystone to catch yet another ferry back to Port Townsend.

We had planned on catching the 3:00 ferry to Port Townsend but were barely ahead of schedule and by the skin of our teeth we were able get on the 1:30 sailing. I don't even think we got to the landing 10 minutes early. The staff really packed us on for max efficiency. Kudos to them!

We had a beautiful drive south along Hood Canal and had planned on staying in one of the campgrounds at the south end but decided to just push through the last 120 or so miles and pulled back into town at around 8:00pm.

All in all a good but damp trip. Made for one tired hound.

covelo · Post by **covelo** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:29 pm

Love your pictures! Shark Reef was a highlight on our recent trip to Lopez Island as well. We loved the San Juan Islands. Maybe some time we'll be able to do it by bus too.

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:11 pm

CoPilot wrote:=D>

Beautiful!!!!

Those sunsets you caught are just amazing. That area is a must see in my book. Sorry we couldn't make it but it sounds like you two had a great time.

Thanks. Most of those sunset photos Jill took. Her camera really caught the reds that my camera wouldn't capture. Here is one that I tweaked just a little.

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:19 pm

Holy crap this is an amazing narrative you put together...I gotta read this tomorrow at work so I have time to concentrate

You changed th pics too.

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:51 pm

hambone wrote:Holy crap this is an amazing narrative you put together...I gotta read this tomorrow at work so I have time to concentrate
You changed th pics too.

Thanks Hammy. Yeah I put a few more photos in the beginning after I got all of Jill's pics. I think she doubled my photo count.

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:27 am

Great stuff. It's like a travel magazine!
Do you have any pics of 101 etc.? I've always been curious about that flat zone.

Gypsie · Post by **Gypsie** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:04 am

Looks like a beautiful, if not challenging, trip.

Those mice sounded like a little gang. Good thing you made it out of the barrio without too much 'graffitti'.

excellent narrative, fine pix. Wish I was there, though it sounds like it was a nice 'family' trip.

We stayed at small box bay a couple of years ago. It was beautiful when we pulled in, sunny skies and warm weather. We were tenting it at the time. No bus then. After the second day, the rain started and was only made more fun by the high winds (30 sustained with 40-50 gusts)that pulled our cheapo awning loose to flap around around 2 am. very exciting to pull it all together in the middle of the night. We put too much countenance on the awning keeping all the stuff dry and when it pulled free we had a scramble getting the gear covered and stowed in the dark with a semi terrified 5 year old inside peeking out the tent flap to confirm that we had not blown away.

And the memories keep building.

MeyerII · Post by **MeyerII** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:34 pm

=D>

We were up on Orcas for the week of the 11th. Nice weather, mostly.

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:34 pm

hambone wrote: Do you have any pics of 101 etc.? I've always been curious about that flat zone.

Surprisingly no, we didn't take any pics of the 101 section except for the pics at Lake Crescent. The west side of the mountains were mostly uninteresting as far as views from the highway. Only one small section actually runs along the coast. Even there you don't see much. The east side along Hood Canal is really nice though. I think it's one of my favorite drives as far as 101 goes. It's nice and flat for the majority with a speed limit of 25-50mph so you can slow down and enjoy the ride. I think that's the way we'll go up to the islands next year.

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:44 pm

Gypsie wrote:Looks like a beautiful, if not challenging, trip.

Those mice sounded like a little gang. Good thing you made it out of the barrio without too much 'graffitti'.

They were bold little bastards. At one point I was lying under the nose of the bus trying to see if I could block off their entrance and one came running right at me and up into the wheel well. From there I don't know where it went but I assume into the splash pan and inside. I'm just glad they were nocturnal and went home when the sun came up. That second night was a little unnerving trying to get to sleep and just waiting to hear them scurrying around again. Every little sound put me on alert.

Gypsie wrote:excellent narrative, fine pix. Wish I was there, though it sounds like it was a nice 'family' trip.

It was a good trip but more people would have been great to have along though. Hopefully you can make it next year. It'll be around the same time of year since Jill has to be back to work tomorrow.

Gypsie wrote:We stayed at small box bay a couple of years ago. It was beautiful when we pulled in, sunny skies and warm weather. We were tenting it at the time. No bus then. After the second day, the rain started and was only made more fun by the high winds (30 sustained with 40-50 gusts)that pulled our cheapo awning loose to flap around around 2 am.

Sounds a lot like how our first days started out minus the high winds. Like Meyer said, the week before it was hot by island standards from what we heard from others that had been camping that week also. The luck of the draw just didn't work out for us. It made last years weather seem like a paradise, and that was the end of September no less!

IFBwax · Post by **IFBwax** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:18 pm

Great photos and trip report. Sorry I couldn't make it this year. Sounds like there were some good times. Jill must be a good sport. If Michele had mice possibly crawling over her at night, I would have been in big trouble!!!! And it would have been not only the end of the camping trip, but quite possibly the end of camping altogether.

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:30 pm

IFBwax wrote:Great photos and trip report. Sorry I couldn't make it this year. Sounds like there were some good times. Jill must be a good sport. If Michele had mice possibly crawling over her at night, I would have been in big trouble!!!! And it would have been not only the end of the camping trip, but quite possibly the end of camping altogether.

Jill is a great sport. It doesn't hurt that she's been a Campfire Girl most of her life and went to summer camp as a camper then was a staffer when she was older. I think the mice possibly bothered me more than it did her. I was mostly concerned with them chewing on wiring and being stranded.

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:32 pm

Oh and I think I'll be putting some heavy duty screen over those vent hoses and any other possible entry points I can find. In all the camping that I've done in this bus I can't believe it hasn't happened before.

bretski · Post by **bretski** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:12 pm

Westy78 wrote:Oh and I think I'll be putting some heavy duty screen over those vent hoses and any other possible entry points I can find. In all the camping that I've done in this bus I can't believe it hasn't happened before.

Good idea, Jasan. I had a run-in with a tenacious deer mouse a long time ago in Idaho...still have duct tape remnants on the kick panels as proof...

Great pictures. Man, I want to get back to the San Juans. They're one of my dream retirement spots.

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Second annual San Juan Islands trip.