Our last full day here on San Juan Island provided some relaxation. After another good breakfast at the inn and conversations with the other couple (newlyweds and oh, so cute), we headed out for our next adventure. It's amazing how well Dave knows this island already and he leads us straight to the Sculpture Garden. We drive up and an immense field, surrounded by trees and located across from a large lake, awaits us. As we enter the garden, there are paths carved out in every direction. We choose a path and start soaking in all the art with our eyes. Being Dave and I, after a few sculptures we have to start messing around. Don't get me wrong, we both truly appreciate art but with each piece we decide we need to bring forth our own interpretations. We laughed out loud during this excursion. After about an hour and a hundred photos, we headed out!
Our next stop: The Alpaca Farm. Oh my goodness, these gals are just adorable and their babies are even cuter. There were tons and tons of them but we made our way over to the mommy and baby section and were fortunate enough to get to watch the farm woman feed one of the young. Apparently the mother of this young one wasn't producing enough milk so she had to hand feed the baby with a bottle. It was precious. After she fed that babe, she brought over another baby and let us all feel it's soft coat. Under the top layer is a curly layer that is the mark of a great alpaca. They were shearing some of the gals and guys in the barn but it was difficult to see much. The boys in the fields were frolicking and fighting with one another. Dave raced back to get the zoom lens and got some great, up-close shots of them. There was a shop attached and they sold so many beautiful items made from the alpaca fur. After a few more dozen photos, we headed onto our next stop: The Lavender Farm!
The Lavender Farm was stunning. Imagine rows and rows of purple plants, of various colors. I didn't realize there were so many varies. As we weaved in and out of the rows of lavender, bees hummed their little songs and worked hard as we snapped our photos. These types of shots are great when working with depth of field and blurring out backgrounds, zooming, etc....a photographer's dream for getting unique and creative. They also had a shop and if I lived closer I would have packed my suitcase full, but I was afraid the fragile stems and delicate flowers would bend and break to pieces by the airlines.
After our lavender adventure, we head back into town and have a satisfying lunch at the Blue Crab House. It's a unique little restaurant, where you order your food in two main areas and then go find and seat. When your order is ready, the servers shout out your name until they find you. Quite different and fun! The great thing about this restaurant is that it overlooks the ferry docks at Friday Harbor so we could see the various ferries coming and going. People and their dogs streaming on and off on foot, bicycles, motorcycles and cars.
A bit of shopping in the town and we are ready for our 2:00 adventure. Another surprise. I am thinking since it's been such a relaxing day, we would be getting massages but oh no, more adventures for the Spencers with a whale watching boat tour on the Odyssey, one of the largest whale touring boats. Dave was quite worried that I'd get seasick so he chose to the bigger boat that seats 90+ people but only 40+ were going so there were plenty of seats for everyone and room to move around. We chose to sit outside on the top deck and had the perfect seats for sailing. Off we went...in the wild blue yonder (I've always wanted to say that) and although it was choppy, I felt pretty good.
The ride out took almost an hour but our guide pointed out the various wild life and provided immense information about the whale pods. I learned so much about the Orca way of life. They are very social animals who life in a Matriarchal society (the best kind of society but they way) and can live well into their 100's. If you want to read more about Orca's lives click here: Orca. You can also google it, along with San Juan Islands to get tons of interesting information.
Once we got to our destination, we saw quite a few Orcas from different pods. They were a bit away so we brought out the zoom lens. I did fine until we stopped and then I had to dismiss myself from the photography because trying to stand, focus through the eye piece and rock was making me a bit queasy. I sat back with a guy who was also a bit queasy and we chatted and watched the whales as everyone ooohed and ahhhed like it was the fourth of July. The guide said they call this oohing and ahhing, Orcasms. How funny!
On our way back into land, I almost lost it (twice) but held back because had I decided to let loose my lunch, I may have hit several of the participants on the lower deck so I just faced the wind, looked forward, made Dave give me tons of water and had a snack and I survived. We met a very nice couple and their daughter on the way back and chatted with them the entire time. My fellow sick mate also sat with us and exchanged Colorado stories as he had once lived there. We all showed off our tats and told their meanings and exchanged information so we could share pictures and keep in touch. It was a great way to spend a day.
When we returned we grabbed some dinner at the same place we lunched, grabbed some local, home-made ice cream and headed out to some state parks to see if we could spot some eagles. We found the nest but didn't see any of the eagles but did see a young red fox asleep by the side of the road (no, it wasn't dead...I checked). After that we headed out to the Lighthouse to watch the sunset. What a beautiful little lighthouse and you could actually climb to the sop. The ladies who worked there were so informative and gave us great information about the pods that swim by. It was around the same location where out boat went today.
We found a great resting place and starting shooting tons of sunset shots with the lighthouse included. Standing alone on the edge of the shore, the little light houses only job is to beckon boats. It was a perfect ending to our final day in San Juan. Tomorrow we sail back on the ferry all the way to Port Townsend to Katie's beautiful home.
Our final night in the hot tub and we watch as satellites go by. I even saw a shooting star. It was easy to make a wish tonight! One last night to sleep INN the Woods and then we are off, back towards our life in Denver. However, we still have a night with Katie and that outdoor shower is calling my name...
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