Ferry Shenanigans

On Thursday morning, we pulled up to the ferry booth about 4:15 a.m. and hoped that we would be able to get on the 5:55 ferry. When the time came to load the ferry, we waited patiently (well, mostly patiently) while all the other cars, presumably with reservations, loaded. Then they began loading the non-reservation vehicles. They let the vehicles through one at a time, then waited a few minutes to see if there was still space, then would let another one through. The lady directing the line of vehicles was out of sight of the ferry, so she was talking over a radio to the ferry people to find out if there was space for yet another vehicle. When we came up to the front of the line, we waited while she consulted her radio. Then she waived us through. We were cautiously optimistic, thinking we likely made it, but not ready to relax until we were actually on the ferry. When we went down the drive and around the curve to approach the ferry, a gate was down. Well, that was not a good sign. A man glanced at us and made no move to open the gate or signal us to go forward. Then the ramp for the ferry began going up and the ferry began moving away from the dock. Definitely not a good sign!

The man came over to our vehicle and said to us, "I have no idea why she waived you through." We were then directed back to the line to wait for the next ferry, which left at 7:20, with no guarantee that we would make that one. So close...

When the next ferry pulled up to the dock, we counted the cars as they got off the ferry - partly to see how many the ferry could hold and partly because we were bored. We counted 129 vehicles. When they began loading the cars onto the ferry, we began counting again, just out of curiosity to see what our chances were of getting on. When we got to the 80's, they came over to our line and waived us on. This time, we were allowed to board and we were on our way to enjoying the San Juan Islands. 

While on the ferry, we were allowed to get out of our vehicle and walk around, enjoying the view, and taking photos. There was a large passenger waiting room with comfortable seating and some tables, so after taking photos, we went inside, because it was quite chilly out. 

The San Juan Islands are an archipelago of islands located between the state of Washington and Canada. There are about 175 islands, but only a few dozen are inhabited. Four of these islands mainly serve as tourist destinations. We planned to visit two of them: Orcas Island and San Juan Island. Orcas Island is an unusual, horseshoe-shaped island, and San Juan is the largest of the islands.

Our ferry left Anacortes and docked at Orcas around 8:30. We drove around a few of the harbors and marinas on the island, admiring the scenery. 

There were two main destinations on Orcas Island: Moran State Park and Mount Constitution. We drove through the State Park, and then up a curvy, winding road to the top of Mount Constitution. Mt. Constitution is 2,407 feet above sea level. It is the highest point on the San Juan Islands. Normally there are some amazing views of the surrounding islands from the top of Mount Constitution, but today the weather was typically hazy, so while there were some nice views, it wasn't super clear. On a clear day, you can supposedly see Seattle and also Canada. 

We drove back down the mountain and drove around to another harbor at the far end of the island, then returned to wait for the ferry to Friday Harbor, the main city on San Juan Island. You cannot make reservations for the inter-island ferries, so it's just first come-first serve. We got to the ferry line about an hour early, and when we inquired, we were told that we would make it onto the ferry, no problem. 

Boarding the ferry on Orcas Island to go to San Juan Island

Our truck on the ferry

We again enjoyed walking around the ferry and taking pictures as we traveled between islands. 

Ferry

Getting off the ferry at Friday Harbor

When we arrived at San Juan Island, we drove off the ferry and entered the very nice picturesque town of Friday Harbor.

We visited the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor. The museum should have been called The Save the Whales Museum. It was not so much about the science of whales as it was about their endangerment. Now I'm just as concerned about saving whales as the next person, but it seems like the museum could have had a display, maybe even an entire room, about the whales being an endangered species and dedicated the rest of the museum to actual scientific and biologic information about whales. But the whole museum was pretty much dedicated to the ecology of whales. 

Save the Whales Museum

Inside the museum

There was actually a phone booth in the museum as an exhibit. Why it was in a whale museum, I have no idea, but yep, there it was, a phone booth - now a museum artifact! Maybe it was there because it is also an endangered species? Or maybe an extinct species.

Phone Booth Exhibit

After visiting the Save the Whales Museum, we enjoyed a nice dinner at San Juan Island Brewery, and then checked into our hotel, the Orca Inn. In contrast to our "cheap" hotel in Anacortes, the room at the Orca Inn was not so roomy. In fact, it's one of the smallest hotel rooms we've ever seen. (Perhaps large hotel rooms on San Juan Island are an endangered species.)

San Juan Island Brewery

Our hotel room at Orca Inn