Pacific Northwest – Installment 11

Just when I thought I’d get away with a few shared pics on what was essentially only a transitional day, I realized we saw LOTS of cool stuff that day, too.

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Sunday, September 8 was the day we left the fabulous Olympic Peninsula. Our ultimate destination that day was San Juan Island, Washington, where we’d rented a house for several days. To get there required taking a ferry to Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, then transferring to a different ferry to get to San Juan Island, WA, USA. Yes, it was the scenic route. We could have gone a different way, but it would have meant a LOT of driving and still at least one ferry ride. Besides, we wanted to see Victoria and say we’d been in Canada. Even if it was only half a day. I wish we’d had more time and could have stayed longer on the island. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Maybe we were just lucky with the weather, who knows? But I think you’ll agree, once you see these pics, that it was a lovely place to visit.

This was not Yves’ favorite day. He is NOT a morning person. We had to get up at about 5:30 so we could get out of the house and on the road. Our ferry left pretty early. And the ferry terminal was at least 30 minutes away.

Really, I thought Yves was going to cry when, upon seeing me unplug the coffee-maker, he asked whether we were going to have coffee and I said, “No. No time.”

It was a quiet ride to the ferry terminal…

Lucky for us, Smuggler’s Landing was open and serving breakfast. The meal was good, but rushed. And immediately afterward, we had to hustle over to the ferry. Which means I didn’t have time to pose with this guy…

It’s a shame that I missed that photo op. But I was really looking forward to getting some cool pics of the Olympic Peninsula from the water.

It looked promising at first. But if you look at the lower right-hand corner of the previous image, sort of behind the flag, you’ll see a bit of fog.

Shortly, there was lot’s more fog to see.

I was disappointed. But the fog actually made for some cool captures.

 

 

 

The ferry ride was actually quite pleasant, if a little eerie what with the fog horn blowing because the Captain couldn’t see A THING…

We were all glad to reach Victoria.

In no time at all, we drove off of the ferry, found a place to park, and discovered the Float Home Village at Fisherman’s Wharf.

We knew Fisherman’s Wharf was there, but neither of us had read about the float home village. It was fun to see.

Most of the restaurants hadn’t opened yet, so we just moseyed around, taking in the sights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love it when I capture clouds like that. Thery’re actually called iridescent clouds. (Read more about them HERE if you like.)

 

 

I really like that shots of the boats. I’m pretty sure that’s the Olympic Peninsula in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was yet another lovely ferry ride. I didn’t take nearly as many pictures as I usually day. I think that was just because the day had already been so visually overwhelming.

I am always telling people that the light in the Pacific Northwest is special. Hopefully I was able to capture enough images so you can see what I mean.

It was just before dark when we reached Friday Harbor. We didn’t have any time to waste before heading off to find our rental house, which we managed to do with little effort.

It was spectacular.

But I’ll save that for the next post…

 

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TRIP Re-cap

 

Installment 1: In the Beginning (Friday, August 30 – Monday, Sept 2)

Installment 2: Portland Morning (Tuesday, Sept 3)

Installment 3: Exploring the City of Portland (morning of Tuesday, Sept 3)

Installment 4: Beyond Portland (afternoon of Tuesday, Sept 3)

Installment 5: Olympic Peninsula, Here We Come!

Installment 6: First Rain Forest Hike & Another Gorgeous Beach

Installment 7: Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park

Installment 8: Madison Creek Falls & Lake Crescent

Installment 9: Hoh Rain Forest

Installment 10: Rialto Beach