On August 19, we decided to stay at home. Home was the Washington Park in Anacortes, Washington. We really liked this park. It is kind of tight for big rigs, but the beautiful big trees and the close proximity to the water kept it cool and comfortable. We had water and electric for $25 per night. We had good cell, but no OTA network TV. All we had to do was look at the weather in the rest of the country to know how good we have it. Here are a couple of shots of our campsite.
By mid day we were ready to go do something. We decided to take the boat out on the water. We were expecting to see some larger boats and encounter some large wakes, but we were hoping to see some marine wildlife.
It was a beautiful day with little wind. We encountered some large wakes from boats, but the Sea Eagle handled it well. We are gaining confidence in the ability of this little boat. As we were going out we had a harbor seal come over to say hi. It was very cool to be in the water with it. Sadly, I did not get a picture of the seal.
There is nothing like being out on the water to enhance your experience of being near water. We paddled for about 3 hours. We went all the way around the end of the peninsula. Check out the cool bird on the far left. He has an orange beak. I will need some help from our birding experts to identify him.
We really had a great time on this paddle. The scenery was beautiful.
We got back and rinsed the boat and folded it up. We can now say we have taken the boat out on salt water. Another first.
On August 20, it was time to move on. We wanted to get closer to the ferry landings on the west side of the Puget Sound. Our son Mark was coming in on Saturday and we were going to go meet him in Seattle. We are also really liking these ferries and it gives us more of an excuse to go for a ride. We also wanted to go out on the Olympic Peninsula, so that we could explore Olympic National Park.
The problem was that we would have to drive for about 4 hours through Seattle traffic. The solution was to cut across the sound with a short ferry ride with the rig. The cost of the crossing would be $82.00, but that was easy to justify. We got hooked up and headed to Coupeville to catch the ferry. While we were dumping, a line of very high end classic cars cruised by. There were Duesenbergs and Pace Arrows and a few others. I got a bunch of pictures, but I will just post a couple.
For those of you that know how much I love classic cars, this was an amazing treat. Another one of those being in the right place at the right time experiences.
After we left the park we started getting texts from the Washington State Ferries. It seems that one of the two boats working this crossing was down for maintenance. We would be delayed. Did we care? No, it was just part of the experience. Here we are waiting in line.
We enjoyed the wait on another beautiful day. I ended up talking to a group of motorcycle riders from Redding, California. They also ride dirt bikes, so I invited them to come ride at HHR in Missouri. Nice guys, but I forgot to get their pictures. Then the ferry showed up and we got loaded. Here we are on the ship.
The view out the front:
As we left, we got a nice view of a lighthouse on the Coupeville side.
The crossing went fast. We got into Port Townsend and went looking for a place to stay. As usual we did not have a reservation, but that is just how we roll. We had a couple of options and would have to go check them out. You will have to come back to see how that worked out. I will tell you that we ended up in a very cool place. We are really looking forward to spending some time with Mark, we have not seen him in 8 months.
Go for a sail, cast off the lines of safety and head out to unknown adventure. The experience will enrich your soul.
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