Thursday afternoon we got a discount ferry ticket for Orcas Island, it was due to expire soon. Friday I called around all morning trying to find a place to stay Saturday night. Fat chance, high season, last minute – I was lucky to find the last hotel room in Anacortes. There was nothing on Orcas Island. So it’s gonna be a day trip. Our goal is to catch to 10:20am ferry to the island spend the day and come back on the last ferry and stay at Anacortes.
While we were loading the car this morning, there were a half dozen crows harassing a pair of falcons in the tree in front of our car.
We caught the 7am ferry to Seattle Saturday morning. Great light. Low clouds.
When we got to the Seattle, we had the roads to ourselves. Almost spooky.
We took hwy 5 north to Mukilteo to catch to ferry to Whidbey Island. That’s one ferry we’ve never taken. In a half hour we got there as the ferry was loading. We drove right on – no wait. There is a delightful lighthouse there:
The trip was so short we never got out of the car. As we docked the crew played the music of IZ (Israel IZ Kamakawiwo`ole) over the ferry speaker system. If you don’t know IZ, here’s a YouTube sample: “What a Wonderful World”
We rolled off the ferry in Clinton at 8:47am. We had a little over an hour to drive the length of Whidbey Island, cross Deception Pass and get to the ferry terminal in Anacortes. The traffic was light. The air was still. No birds – very unusual.
We crossed Deception Pass Bridge at 9:48am but found ourselves behind a slow tanker truck so we opted to take Rosario Beach Road instead of staying on hwy 20. This was so much faster. We had no idea. We got to the ferry terminal at 10:12am. The ferry to Orcas Island began loading 5 minutes later. As we drew to the front of the line, the crew guy stopped the car in front of us, put down a traffic cone. No more room on the ferry. We’ll have to wait for the 12:35.
There were lots of cars behind us. Everyone poured out of their cars and headed for the beach. It was overcast but pleasantly warm.
Susan made sandwiches on the hood of our car. We took them with us on our walk on the beach. With our hands full, we didn’t bring our cameras. It was beautiful. Good thing we had our phones to take come pix.
It turns out this is a designated bird watching area. There are several platforms along the beach for bird watchers. The time flew.
We got a slot next to the water when we loaded on the ferry (as we had on the first 2 ferries today.)
We soon docked on Lopez Island and unloaded a flock of backpackers any cyclers. A great place to visit… when I get back into shape.
As we pulled away from Lopez, Susan spotted this eagle about a quarter mile away:
