To the San Juan Islands

View from Sidney, British Columbia to Mount Baker, Washington.

As soon as my friends Mike and Sue found out I was going to be in their area they insisted on me going for a visit...I met them 3 years ago in the Baja...they were camping on the same beach we were......and then Sue and Robin came to the Yucatan for a visit last year so we now have a history. They live in the San Juan Islands, which belong to the United States (after a 12 year war between the British and U.S in 1859, called the Pig War because that was the only casualty..a pig!) Getting there required traveling back to the Saanich Peninsula and taking a ferry to Friday Harbor. I did that and while I was having a 3 hour wait on the "once a day ferry" to San Juan, I contacted Graham, and he took me for a coffee and sandwich at a local cafe/nursery/garden...all in one...very cool place. Me and the van boarded the ferry back to the U.S...so required going through Customs...piece of cake....going from one Island to another I figure they know where you are......it was a beautiful one and half hour passage....I was the only Van/RV going to Friday Harbor so they had me backup onto the ferry so I could unload easily as the ferry continues on to Anacortes, which is where I will go from here. Upstairs there is different seating choices and on this ferry because it is open below, you are allowed to remain in your vehicle...about half way across I went back to the van and made myself a cup of hot tea as it was cold and the little cafe upstairs wanted $3.50....I am quite certain I was not supposed to be using a propane stove on the ferry but I was inside with the dark tinted windows that offer lots of privacy! These Islands are Drier than the surrounding areas as they are in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, so all that moisture laden air coming from the Pacific Ocean is absorbed by the Olympics and as a result this place only gets about 30 inches of rainfall a year.

Friday Harbor Docks.....Mike and Sue are waiting on me in their car and lead me to their place!!