Monday, July 20, 2009

Orcas Island - A piece of Heaven

Disclaimer: Please forgive any typos in this post. Friday night as I was checking the doors of my newscar, the piece of glass on the back door flipped up and slammed my ring finger on my right hand. The tip of my finger is completely purple. This is disrupting my typing, which for all of you who know me well realize this is incredibly frustrating, cuase i can't type 100 words per minute with a bum finger. That glass really took me by surprise. I'll be suing Ford now, j/k.

Orcas Island is incredible. It's probably twice as big as Bainbridge Island, but contains so much variety. There are small towns, open prairies, mountain lakes, a 2500 foot peak, camping, hiking trails, kayaking, horseback riding, and its all within close proximity.
We barely made the ferry to Keystone, then rode the motorcycle up Whidbey Island, through Deception Pass, and made the Anacortes ferry exactly when they started boarding the bikes. We love to cut it close for the adrenaline rush.
The day was perfect. We sat outside and watched the islands go by. I can't believe this magical place is only a few hours drive from my house. People come from all over the world to see the San Juan Islands. We camped at a place called West Beach Resort, which isn't good if you want privacy. They really pack them in, but we were lucky to be near trees and not out in the field across the street where tents were 10 feet apart.

You can rent yurts at the resort, and there is a general store, boat rentals, and a beautiful boardwalk.
We headed to Eastsound to explore, which reminds me of Cannon Beach, Oregon. and found a waterfront restaurant to have crab cakes and appetizers. After our snack we drove up a windy 5 mile road to the top of Mount Constitution. Usually you have to hike for hours to get a view like this.

David's sister and brother in law, Grace and Prasad.
Twin Lakes.


The sun and breeze felt heavenly. This place is truly spectacular, with views of Mount Baker, Canada, and the Islands.

We then went up to the lookout tower, which is even higher.

It was one of the best views I've ever seen. By that time, the day was running out, and we headed back to the campsite to make dinner and hang out. I love this coffee pot we put on the fire the next morning, which is a percolater.
And a bald eagle visited.

We spent Sunday at Mountain Lake in Moran State Park.

We took turns boating and hiking, and it was a blast. The day went by all too quickly, and once again, David and I were on the motorbike home. We stopped at Deception Pass at sunset, which was spectacular.

The Keystone ferry was full until 11pm, so David and I tried to take an alternate route that took 5 hours, but it was an adventure. We took the ferry from Clinto to Mukilteo, drove to Edmonds, took the ferry to Kingston, then drove home. We finally got home at 1am!! It was a freezing, but exciting motorcycle ride, and I can't wait to go to Orcas again. Next time for a week.

5 comments:

andrea said...

OMigosh! That looks so beautiful! Sounds like a good time =)

Paula said...

Nice to see those pictures - thanks for sharing the trip. I would like to go back there some time.

Colleen said...

Your typos were enjoyable :) I had no idea how beautiful Orcas Island was either. It looked like you were in an exotic country!

Contact Travis said...

I have friends who have a summer house (read mansion) on the north beach...about 5 minutes from East Sound.

They used to spend a month up there every summer and I've gone up to spend a weekend a few times.

Now the family has bought a home on Coronado and they're selling the Orcas house. More than anything I wish we could buy it (but we are short several million dollars HAHA)... sadly I think this means my occasion summer retreats to Orcas have come to an end.

It is a spectacular place. Looks like y'all explored all over and had an amazing time.

Abby and Bobbi said...

Gorgeous! And you did so many things while you were there! I am sorry about your finger-- ouch!