Sun Chasers
Labor Day weekend is kind of a big deal around here. It’s the official end of the summer camping season. It’s the last long weekend of the summer before children return to school. It’s a day for campouts or barbecues or hanging on the beach, lovely hikes, something. We didn’t go camping this year because we just had too many other things on the calendar, but I decided I wanted to do something fun with my boys on that day no matter what. So, I planned to take them both out into the woods or mountains on a hike.
You may have heard the saying, “If you want to make God laugh, make a plan.” And that’s just how it turned out for me with this plan. Even though the Saturday and Sunday had been sunny weather and warm, we woke up to cold and clouds on Monday morning, the kind of clouds that cover Western Washington in a gray blanket and make you want to stay inside and hide from the sadness. On top of that, my older son Javan had already made competing plans with his Grandfather to go do a day of yard work at his place (Javan’s 13 now, so of course I’m left out of the loop with most of his plans until the very last minute).
Well, at least I had my 7 year old Nathan with me, and we shared the determination to travel far and wide until we would FIND THE SUN.
Headed West
Our expedition started with a choice, “Nathan, do you want to go East into the mountains or West towards the islands?” He decided that west into the islands was probably where the sun would be found, and so that’s where we went. Driving Highway 20 towards Anacortes did not look very hopeful. We could see some patches of clear skies to the South somewhere, maybe Stanwood or Camano Island area… but Nathan wasn’t interested in going that way.
Our first big idea was to drive up to the top of Mt. Erie in Anacortes, where on a clear day we’d be able to sight many miles of Fidalgo and Whidbey islands. Not today. As the road wound up the mountain, we actually entered the clouds. At the top, the air was thick and damp, and we couldn’t see anything beyond the rocks and trees of the mountain itself. A group of RC car hobbyists drove scale-model rock crawlers around the park at the top of the mountain, content to play in the clouds and gloom. But Nathan and I were not content. We were on a mission.
From our vantage atop the mountain, it seemed that Fidalgo and Whidbey islands were both out of the question. No sun there. How about Guemes Island? I’d heard of it–a lot–but never been there (as far as I can remember). There’s a ferry that goes there from Anacortes, so what about that? We drove down the mountain and into town, finding the Guemes ferry terminal way down there in the industrial neighborhoods at the North end of town. Things didn’t look promising there either, just the same gray cloud that surrounded us everywhere.
That’s when we got the wild idea to walk on the ferry to San Juan Island.
Walking On
It wasn’t a totally unprecedented notion. We’ve been to San Juan Island a couple of times before. I had a Rastafari bredren who lived out there and Nathan enjoyed playing with his daughter when we camped with them a couple summers ago for the Enkutatash Nyahbinghi (celebration of the Ethiopian New Year). I’d only driven over in the past, but this brother would occasionally walk over, and I’d picked him up or dropped him off at the ferry terminal before, so I knew it was possible. With no reservations, this at least meant that we could get right onto the ferry. Why not?
We drove down to the ferry terminal and found signs saying the parking lots were all full, but I trust my blessings and blew right past those. There were tons of cars in line. Having been on several ferries recently, I knew I didn’t want to wait in that line and probably miss two sailings before I got a boat. Walking was the right idea. And, lucky for us, right as we pulled into the parking lot, we found an open parking spot. It was, in fact, the very first spot in the lot, probably left vacant out of confusion because it was right next to the signed temporary load & unload spots, and the stall next to it held an abandoned vehicle with broken windows that someone had been living in previously. That made this open spot sketchy enough that probably hundreds of people had driven right past it before me, but it was a legit spot and good enough for me.
We parked, paid for a half day’s parking, and went into the terminal. A couple of cheap walk-on tickets in hand and we were on the boat within minutes, sailing for Friday Harbor.
No Puzzles
One of my favorite things about the Washington State Ferries is the jigsaw puzzles they leave on the tables of the observation decks, so bored riders can flex their minds with some puzzling action. There were no such puzzles on this ferry, sadly, and this was really one of the ferries that could have used it. It’s a long sail. I was on another ferry this summer with only like a half hour trip and there were puzzles on that one! What gives?
But, Nathan didn’t really care about the puzzles. We bought a deck of cards and some snacks. The cards didn’t ever get opened, but we ate and laughed and watched out the windows, explored the boat. It was a lot of fun for a 7-year-old on a big adventure.
Friday Harbor
The boat reached Friday Harbor and there it was: the glorious, shining sun. We walked off before the cars and wandered through the pleasant harbor town with it’s marinas full of sailboats and pleasure yachts. Nathan found the sculpture of a harbor seal who the locals all used to know and love, as well as a beautiful Coast Salish totem arch. Deeper into town, he found a bronze statue of the town’s founder, seated on a bench with his favorite dog, reading the paper.
It was hot here and we were able to remove our jackets. We found a charming little used bookstore (definitely not up to fire code), with stacks of books in peril of toppling everywhere you turned. We paged through several and each found a book we wanted to take home. We had a little picnic in the park while children played on the rocks. Nathan made some play buddies, as he does everywhere he goes.
We wandered the town some more, finding a clever gift shop with high-end novelty items. Nathan got himself some kind of Japanese toy that was part avocado and part bear. Then we returned to the harbor to wait for our boat. We sat at the restaurant bar with the open-air seating, several tiers overlooking the water. I don’t remember what the place is called. We had our dinner and watched the Ferry come in, unload cars, load more cars (and people), and then we ran down to get ourselves on there.
Sunset
I know it’s not a big, exciting, eventful travel blog this time around. It was a pretty simple, cute day with my son. But, we found what we were looking for. And, as the boat headed East towards Anacortes, we watched the sun set over the San Juan Islands. A much better view than any of the folks we’d left behind on the mainland got to see on that gray day.
I’d been trying to reach my bredren (Ras Mikael) who lived on the island all day, but couldn’t get through to him. Finally, I got an answer. They’d moved off the island that very day. His family of four boarded the 3pm ferry to the mainland that afternoon and said goodbye to San Juan Island. That was the same ferry we’d arrived on. Mystic.
Nic Nakis 