ANACORTES, WA (Day 2).  Drove early to the docks this morning to take the ferry to the San Juan Islands.  Cool but pleasant weather, and a very gentle voyage.  The ferries are handled with great care to make the crossings very pleasant.

We stopped first at Lopez Island while some passengers disembarked, then continued to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, the largest and most populated island in the chain.  The people on San Juan Island are very happy and friendly everywhere we went, even at 8:00 am, which is when we disembarked there.  There are many retirees living there, including a lady who rode with us on the voyage.  There seems to be no rushing there.  Today there was very little traffic on a very pleasant day.  Low humidity, which they say is the rule.  Very little snow or rain, and pleasant winters.  That came as a surprise to us.

We traveled most of the island, focusing on finding orcas to photograph, since we saw none on the voyage.  The lady who rode with us, who lives there, said that the "resident" orcas had mostly left the island seeking their favorite food, chinook salmon, which have disappeared from the island.  Sounds to me like they are no longer "resident."  The orcas that the whale watcher boats chase are "transient" orcas that eat seals and other fish.

We finally went to Lime Kiln Point State Park, where these "transient" orcas tend to migrate off the coast.  We watched the whale-watcher boats filled with tourists hoping to see orcas.  They roamed together, several at a time, boats of different sizes and shapes, and we saw no orcas around them.  Finally we saw some far behind where the boats were looking.  Later a mother and her young orca appeared off the coast in near us, still far away but close enough for a mediocre photo or two.  So, we did see orcas, but not off the ferry as we had thought at first.

Two places we saw were the National Historical Parks for the English and the American Camps occupied by opposing forces when possession of the island was in dispute during the 19th century.  You can read more about it in the history of the "Pig War" of 1859.  The greatest irony of it all to me was that the final arbitrator that ruled in favor of American ownership of the island was Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany, whose grandson, Kaiser Wilhelm II, later fought both of us in World War I.

Driving the island was a joy, much like two years ago when we drove around Teddy Roosevelt National Park with the windows down photographing bison in beautiful weather.  Today we had fewer examples of wildlife to photograph, but the weather, pleasant surroundings, friendly people, and lack of crowds made it enjoyable.  A long but very nice day.

We are back in the motorhome getting ready to shower and get to bed early to prepare for our short drive to Bellingham for the weekend.  May have to drive a bit on I-5, so we are praying for a better experience this time.

Approaching Harbor in the San Juan Islands

One of the Ferries Working the Islands

Our Ferry Departing San Juan Island After Our Arrival

Downtown Area of San Juan Island

Betty Photographing the Coast

Lighthouse at Lime Kiln Point

Orcas Off Lime Kiln Point

Old San Juan Lighthouse with Bald Eagle Perched on Top