San Juan Islands
Another week has passed and crime still marches on. However, it’s time for us to sign 10-7 ( out of service), pack the car, and head out of town for a little R&R. Our Weekend Road Trip this week takes us to Washington state in the mountains overlooking the San Juan Islands. Take a deep breath. The hike up and over to the water is not for the weak. Enjoy the view.
See you at Monday morning muster for part two of The Morgue.
Just think of all the wonderful memories you’re carving in the minds of your kids. Someday they’ll be writing about the days you all spent butt-freezing at a hockey tournament. And they’ll be glad they did.
Beautiful pictures. I’ve never been there.
My fondest memories, the ones where the pictures are forever caputred in my mind are those from my days as a child in Lake George where I spent all my summers. I love it there.
Nowadays, my weekend road trips are to various hockey rinks with my three children who play travel hockey. It’s really crazy sometimes when each kid is playing in a tournament in three different places. Mostly, we freeze our butts off in the rink.
We did a full tour of the PNW; we stayed at Friday Harbor a couple of nights. I wrote about it here: http://users.fbs.net/~odell/PacificNW.htm
I don’t usually give out that old website URL, because that was long before I started writing, and websites were brand new, plus it’s all the personal stuff, not the professional stuff on my current site.
I retired a year early, took a bit of a hit, but, sold the house and furnishings, invested the money and live on pension. The investments pay our health insurance at $929 a month. We came up here with just personal things that we could fit in our vehicles. If it didn’t fit, it didn’t come. Life’s too short. My husband has cancer and my father is almost 92. (he came with us!) so my decision was a no-brainer. We have no kids so we are probably freer than most in making life’s decisions. I taught in rural Wyoming so making the transistion to an island was easy. We have most everything we need here. And, what I can’t get I order online. It’s a ferry ride to the mainland. If I get bored, not likely, I will substitute teach. When you came here, did you stay on the islands?
Joy – You’re making it very tempting to become a total nag and insist dh retire NOW, finances be damned. While on our trip, we did an evening cruise and saw every single cataloged killer whale as they were swimming on some sort of a mission. Couldn’t have been better.
Terry: I just retired to San Juan Island in September. It’s a dream come true. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. The climate is fabulous, the scenery is unbelievable, and the people are great. There is no crime, only a strong sense of community. Housing is ridiculously overpriced but rents are reasonable. We are renting a fully furnished home overlooking the Haro Strait, Canada and the Olympic Mountains. We can watch orca whales off our deck! Other costs of living are quite reasonable. Food is cheaper than where we lived in Wyoming. Taxes are low. It’s just a paradise on earth!
What a great story, Becky. Charlie should end up in a kid’s book someday!
What great photos. We went up there years ago and kayaked off one of the islands. Just around a little bay, I’m too much of a wimp for out in the waves. While I was out in the boat, though, I kept having that creepy feeling that somebody was watching me. I’d look around, nobody. Then I’d paddle and know they were there again. Look around, nothing. Finally, I caught him. There was a little seal who was swimming along behind me, but, I swear, every time I turned around, he’d duck under the water. Finally he came closer and let me see him and made little whoofing noises at me.
I named him Charlie.
Hi Rhonda. Is is a nice change from dead bodies and flesh-eating insects, isn’t it?
Next weekend’s photos are spectacular. One of The Graveyard Shift regulars supplied them.
Remember, if you have photos to share on The Weekend Road Trip let me know.
Thank you, Lee. What beautiful photos! Our little weekend cyber-trips are a nice refresher after our gritty and sometimes grim topic here. Thanks again — and for those regular topics, too.
Peg – It’s one of the prettiest places in the country.
Wow, I haven’t been out in that area since the early 1960’s I forgot how lovely it is.
Peg H 😉
Certainly not me. I’m pulling against the hands on my clock just as hard as I can.
Looking forward to them. When I checked my files, I see that we took that trip in 2002. Yikes! Who sped up time.
It is a beautiful part of the country. We used to hike in the mountains there quite often. I’ll be sharing some of those photos, too.
Love that part of the country; we did a ‘eco-adventure’ tour there a few years ago. For someone who’s lived in Flat Florida for decades, just walking where sidewalks go up and down makes owie-owie pain the next day, despite regular exercise at home.
Don’t know if I can share photos in a comment, but there are some here: http://users.fbs.net/~odell/olympns.html
We’re seriously considering moving to that part of the country for retirement. Seeing your pictures makes me want to leave right now! Thanks for sharing.