Not a bad sight to wake up to.
We were getting back on the water today, and heading over to San Juan Island. San Juan came very highly recommended by my aunt,, but it would require a bit more navigating than the last two stops, since it is technically in the United States.
We took the first ferry back to the mainland (well, actually just the bigger island), and rushed over to the ferry terminal. We missed the first boat that goes directly to San Juan, and the next one got in at 7:30 pm. In retrospect, we should have just waited. But we took the advice of the ticket seller and booked seats on a ship that stopped over in Anacortes. She must have been commissioned, because the tickets cost a fortune. All of the ferries that we had been taking up to that point were $5-10, but this one was pushing $100. But the line was backing up with cars waiting to get on board, and we had to act fast.
We had about 20-30 minutes to kill before the boat departed, and I needed something to soften the blow of a $100 boat ride. I knew exactly the solution. Donuts.
We were just staring to recover from Voodoo, and we needed a quick fix. So I ran off to a bakery that I had saw earlier in downtown Sidney. Further cementing how much we loved that town, these were probably the best donuts of the trip.
The Washington State Ferry was plenty nice, but compared to the BC Ferries, it felt a bit run down. Especially for the price. And to add insult to injury, we saw the San Juan ferry sailing off as we were pulling in to Anacortes. That was especially problematic, since the San Juan public bus stopped running at 5, and the next ferry would get us in at 5:40.
We were already on the fence about San Juan, and if I hadn’t already booked a campsite, there was a pretty decent chance that we would have just slept in the Anacortes terminal. But we booked seats for the later ferry, and plopped down, defeated, in the waiting area. I needed another donut.
The sail over to San Juan was nothing short of beautiful, and I was starting to forgive this island for being so hard to get to. Of course, the price I had to pay for a taxi to take us clear across the island put everything back into perspective.
But as soon as we pulled into the campsite, Aimee and I looked at each other and said, “Ok. We get it.”
The campsite was located in a funky little county park, and the spot we picked was absolutely amazing. We picked it sight-unseen, because it was the only one left when we registered. The reason that it was open was because it didn’t have any parking (it was tucked away in its own private cove). The $200 we spent that day to avoid renting a car now felt like chump change.
Within an hour, we had completely fallen in love with San Juan Island, and an hour later, we’d be planning our retirement there.
We had walked over to the main part of the campsite and noticed a group of people enjoying a picnic. We had assumed that they all came there together until one of them beckoned us over. She explained that she lived a few blocks away and had some leftover German chocolate cake from her birthday party. She brought it down to the park to share with the campers. This place is paradise.
We watched the sun set behind the water with our new best friends, and I still completely believe that they meant it when they said we could stay with them next time we came back to the island. And we will definitely be going back.
