Boating Around the San Juan Islands

Today was a perfect day for some boating around San Juan Island. We rented a Stabicraft 15' boat for the day with Jim and Cathy and had a great time sightseeing all around San Juan, Jones, and other neighboring islands.

After lunch at Roche Harbor, we did our own Whale Watch cruise on the west side of the island. We had several whales swim right by the boat, and I think we even identified one of them as "Nugget" (L55, born in 1977). It was awesome to see them so up close, before now we had only seen them from land.

Orcas Island, Washington

Today we took the ferry over to Orcas Island for the day. The ride over on the ferry takes about 40 minutes.

Once we arrived on Orcas Island we drove to the top of Mount Constitution. The mountain was 2,409 feet up and the views were spectacular. We spent about an hour here enjoying the vistas.

Next we drove into EastSound to check out all the local shops and have some lunch. They had a lot of artisan shops with local artists works displayed. They also had many unique shops such as the Tibetan Shop, vintage clothing, etc.

We had lunch at the Bayside Café which overlooked the water. We had a great waitress who was probably in her late 60’s and she lives on another island called Shaw Island. She flies her plane to Orcas Island every Saturday and works in the restaurant until Tuesday and then flies back home. She said she got her pilot’s license when she was 50 because if she drove to Orcas she would have to take two ferries and it would take 5 hours. Waiting for the ferry is one of the “joys” of island life.

Mount Baker at Sunset

Relay for Life - Friday Harbor

While we visited Jim and Cathy in Friday Harbor, Ryan participated on one of the teams to walk the track at the local high school in remembrance of Cathy's Dad, and several others who either succumbed to or were victorious in their fight against cancer. The teams were able to raise several thousand dollars for the cause and we are very proud of his participation.

Friday Harbor Airport Airshow

The Friday Harbor Airshow was a great day - beautiful weather and perfect to see the various aircraft, demonstrations, and even try flying a flight simulator that was set up.

Friday Harbor - Washington

Some images shot while shopping in downtown Friday Harbor.

Orca Whales - Limekiln State Park, Washington

We stopped by Limekiln State Park and were treated to "J" Pod as they moved south through the area.

Cattle Point Lighthouse

This morning we went to see the Cattle Point Lighthouse. The kids had fun climbing on the rocks. The ocean was rough and we watched some small boats wondering if they would make it through the waves ( they did ). Jim found some wooden pieces from a really old boat. The kids tried their hand at skipping rocks. It was a great time navigating the shoreline to the lighthouse.

McMillan Mausoleum

The McMillan Mausoleum. It was built during the depression at the cost of about $30,000.00. The McMillan family made their fortune with the resort and the Limestone business in Roche Harbor.

Roche Harbor, Washington

Roche Harbor is on the north end of the island about 10 miles from Friday Harbor. We walked along the dock and were able to tour some fabulous yachts that range from 2-4 million dollars and would cost about $10,000.00 to fill the gas tank once.

After having lunch at the local café we walked through the gardens in front of the Hotel de Haro and later had some ice cream. The De Haro Hotel was originally a log cabin built in 1845 and then the existing structure was built around the log cabin in 1886. The hotel was closed in 1942 due to the war and reopened in 1960. During the early years famous people such as Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and John Wayne stayed there.

Roche Harbor, Washington

Day 10 Photo Favorites