Life on Puget Sound

Before starting our RV life we spent fifteen years of literally living "on the water." Now when our travels take us to areas of our country where life also centers on ocean shores, we naturally feel a great affinity for the people and places.

The small town of La Conner was a surprise for us. (Our basic thought processes must be flawed, since almost everywhere we go we are "surprised.") Our travel destinations are influenced by the locations of the few hundred "free" parks we have to select from, so our stop at La Conner, Washington was based on nothing more than "hey, it's not in the mountains, but it's on the water."

The Thousand Trails park where we stay is right on one of Puget Sound's bays. The tides here vary as much as ten feet  (we're more accustomed to three to four) revealing sealife trapped in pools warming in the sun.

Along the shore here, local native americans seine for silver salmon (we think these are also called cohos - there are sooo many varieties of salmon) when the U.S. Fish and Game says it's ok (must protect the species against the onslaught of wanton harvesting by those dastardly Indians - never mind the commercial guys - but I digress.) They take the results of each catch to the local fishery - often 4-500 fish weighing in around 5000 pounds - and on a good day they repeat that haul five or six times. Annually, it probably equals 1% of their tribes's haul from the local casino.

Plenty to see here, like Deception Pass and Anacortes and Oak Harbor with breathtaking views and crowded marinas and a very active recreational boating community. It is the heart of the San Juan Islands cruising grounds, one of the most popular in the country. It rivals the Florida Keys and the Chesapeake Bay. It's the only area on the west coast of the U.S. where cruising sailors and trawler boaters can find hundreds of safe harbors, and spend weeks or months lazing about (a favorite pastime) without revisiting any anchorage.

The La Conner surprise? Well it wasn't just a place to run in for a loaf of bread - it's actually the high rent district of the area - filled with art galleries, specialty shops, and high-end restaurants. It's location on an inter-island channel means plenty of logging activity. Of course, we discovered a local pub with fantastic fish and chips, a good local brew, and oyster shooters that were so big that four of them equaled more than a dozen on the half shell. Lots of fun to explore.

A Short Trip Across the Water

The coastal waterways of the Pacific Northwest, both Washington and of British Columbia, are dotted with small and large and very large islands. Some have significant population centers, and others have rocky and sandy beaches and quiet inlets where marinas are nestled. Dozens of ferries operate on regular schedules, making short runs of five minutes up to major ones of three hours. Traffic on them is so heavy that we had to make a reservation for a spot three of four days in advance. Otherwise you run the risk on waiting 8 or 9 hours for a ride.

We took an easy-on easy-off 30-minute ride from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island. It made our trip from the Olympic Peninsula to the resort town of La Conner 65 miles instead of 200+ by going around the land route. So that's one more reason to take a ferry. 

BC or Bust

Part of the "way back when" of our lives - living on a sailboat in South Florida - (as opposed to the "way way back when" of our lives as work-away slaves in North Texas) included working with people who passed on to us their enjoyable experiences in the waters of the Pacific Northwest, including the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island. We've missed our chance to do this by boat, but we've wanted to make sure we take in as much of the area as we can by car and on foot.

A visit to Victoria, British Columbia was a must. This picturesque city on the southern tip of Vancouver Island is the provincial capitol of British Columbia. These Canadians have the right idea - isolating their government on an island reachable only by ferry. But, alas, it apparently doesn't work better than having them right in our midst. Whoops - been trying to stay out of politics in this blog.

Victoria is very pretty - a beautiful harbor and waterfront, where we arrived by passenger ferry from Port Angeles, WA. Our 90-minute passage was marked by two pods of orcas that crossed our bow - our captain said nearly 40 whales. (He also pointed out the small excursion boat nearby filled with $100/seat whale watchers - lucky us!)

The city has much history with it's 100 year old government buildings and luxury hotels. It's every bit a modern city with broad highways and condos and shopping centers, but we also passed areas where apartment renters lease small plots of ground so they can plant and maintain their own flower garden or vegetable garden - some people can't seem to stay away from yard work.



The ultimate example of this "mania" is the Butchart Gardens - the largest tourist draw on the island, and deservedly so. Over 100 years ago, the wife of the owner of a huge mined-out limestone quarry began beautifying the empty pit by planting a garden that over the years expanded to cover 54 acres and employ hundreds of fulltime gardners and horticulturists to create the incredible displays of trees and flowers and fountains and satuary, and hundreds of part-time college students to help maintain the grounds during the summer months.




It was an overcast and rainy day on our visit (a common enough occurrence that they have a huge supply of umbrellas available for the thousands of daily patrons.) But the weather took nothing away from the beauty of the sunken gardens or the Japanese garden or the rose garden or the ... though there was less navel contemplation than there might have on a sunny day.

Green Acres is the Place to Be

We finally found the place to settle down.

Think the RV will fit???

Bet the price is right, eh?

Small Towns

Our blog bears witness to the extraordinary luck we have experienced with the weather. But we knew we would be pushing our good fortune here in the area that's the poster child for foggy, rainy days. Well, we're living it now.

But when you can't see (or even find) the mountains, we still have the seaside towns to enjoy. For the past week, that has included Sequim, Port Angeles, and Port Townsend, all small ports on the Washington coast of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Ownership of much of the area has reverted to the many tribes of Native Americans who have populated the region for a thousand years. This not only means casinos galore, but also examples of Native American art. Hundreds of intricately carved totems (here they refer to them as house or lodge poles) dot the countryside.

Lots of fun just roaming around by car and on foot. Lots of charm for us tourists, especially in Port Townsend. Hundred year-old homes of wealthy fishing fleet and lumber barons. Coffee shops and sidewalk serenades. Deer wandering the neighborhoods.

Checked out the ferries for later trips to British Columbia (from Port Angeles) and Whidbey Island (from Port Townsend.)

Border Jump

July in Oregon is over and it's time for August in Washington.

In our travels around this fantastic and beautiful country, so often the difference in terrain as we move from one state to the next is remarkable - as though they decided on the border based the change in scenery. Not so in the Northwest - fir trees are fir trees.

We are starting out on the Olympic Peninsula, where the mountains are not the lonely, solo peaks of the main range of the Cascades. Here the coastal land gives way to a cluster of 5000-8000 foot mountains dotted with lakes and rivers that make up the Olympic National Park. Wild beaches and rugged terrain and forests primeval and the gardens of Victoria, BC. Lots to try to see over the next 10 days - especially when part of many weekends has to include time to watch Tiger win another golf tournament.

Our first stop is in a lovely "resort" along the Hood Canal, a fjord-like seaway forming the peninsula's eastern boundary. From here we make our first forays into the national park.