Monday - Goodbye Orcas and Hello Ugly Surprise!

Monday morning we got up and got ready to head to the ferry terminal for the noon sailing.  Our plans were to stay with Mom and Dad at their 'Cave on Oyster Bay' for one more night, then hit the open road on a coastal adventure.  We were going to drive down the Oregon coast, cross into California, and stay for two nights in the Anchor Beach Inn while exploring the Redwood Forest.  Then we would head home via Reno, Nevada.

I say 'that is what we planned' because something intervened and prevented us from that adventure.

That morning, when I checked my bank balance, I noticed some unusual activity on our account.  There was a $225.00 charge to some place in Florida!  That freaked me out because we were paying for the entire trip without the use of credit cards and that $ amount had been reserved for the hotel cost in California! 

I immediately called the bank.  The clerk I talked to advised me to call the number listed on the posting and see if I could clear it up that way.  So I did.  It was a man named Dean Harrington who incorporates businesses.  He told me that two individuals (one from Florida and the other from Bothell, Washington) contacted him about incorporating a business called 'Grocery, Inc.' and gave my name and debit card info (including the 3 digit code on the back!!!) as the third partner in the company, who would be paying!

???!!!???

So.  I called the bank back and let them know that someone had stolen my identity and my debit number.  We had to instantly change all our plans.  Gone was the plan to adventure down the coast.  Instead, we raced to an ATM in order to withdraw as much money as possible to allow us to get home, then called and blocked our debit card to limit the damage.

Ugh!

I have no idea who stole my debit card info, but I feel certain it happened in Seattle on that first Saturday in town.  The bogus use began on the 7th.

So, new plans.  After catching the noon ferry off of Orcas Island, Mom and Dad would head straight home, while we drove over to Deception Pass State Park to play.  We would then catch the Keystone/Pt. Townsend ferry and drive back to Mom and Dad's place to stay the night before the long drive home.

Once we were on the ferry, it made one stop at Shaw Island before heading back to the mainland at Anacortes.  Dad tells me that years ago the only thing worth visiting on Shaw Island was a nunnery where they made an excellent local wine.  Back then, the nuns were the ones to operate the docking gates and ramps instead of WSF workers.  I would have gotten a kick out of seeing a bunch of nuns in habits run that thing!

I couldn't resist another photo of idyllic island living.

I managed to get my whole family in this shot... even Mom!  She is about as camera shy as I am!

Deception Pass State Park

As a child, I went camping at Deception Pass State Park with my family every fall.  Just before leaving for BYU, I came back to 'say goodbye' to the ocean.  Bill and I stayed at a bed & breakfast in Coupeville on Whidbey Island and visited Deception Pass State Park for our honeymoon.  We brought the kids years and years ago when they were just little bugs.  Now we are returning for one last time as a family to play on the beach that became the iconic image of my childhood in my mind when I left Washington State for good.

I wish I could say that the kids were moved by the place, but they weren't.  It was just another beach to them, and not a particularly nice one at that.  Orcas Island had it beat for beauty, and Oceanside, CA had it beat for fun in the sun.  Helena thought Deception Pass beach was too smelly, cold, and windy to be much fun.  I think Will liked it, though.

Check out the channels carved into the rock by the constant comings and goings of the tide!  It looks like an aerial view of a canyon.

The tide pools were the 'smelly' element that Helena didn't like.  I have tons of memories of climbing all over those rocks until we were trapped on them by the tide and had to jump to shore.

There were a couple of these driftwood 'shelters' along the shore.

I can't help wondering who built them, and why?  Some adolescent boys playing out a Huck Finn story of their own?  A homeless person seeking shelter?  Some lovers seeking a private way to be intimate on the beach?  I know that it must have taken quite a bit of effort to drag all those logs into position and all I can say is 'more power to ya!'

Just a stone's throw from the ocean and sharing the same beach, this fresh water lake is called Cranberry Lake.  Although it is technically a 'fresh' water lake, storm surge and salt spray wash into it, leaving it rather brackish.  Still, it is considerably warmer than the ocean, and has a safe swimming beach, too.  The constant rip tides along the shore here make ocean swimming impossible.  For all that, since it was still early in June (technically a spring month this far north), we didn't do any swimming.

We drove the car up and over the headland to visit the North Beach.

Photo op!

Right away, Bill began gathering rocks and driftwood to create 'fung shui' balancing art on every large driftwood surface he could find.

Will is helping Bill get this piece of driftwood balanced.

We left this one behind when we left.  I bet someone else came along and wondered who would have lined the rocks up like this.

Keystone/Pt. Townsend Ferry

In order to ride the Keystone/Pt. Townsend ferry, it is recommended that you call in advance and reserve a spot on the boat for your chosen sailing time.  This is for two reasons.  One, the boat is very small and fills up quickly.  Two, sometimes the tide is so low that the ferry gets shut down until the tide is high enough to allow passage.  So, before we even left Orcas Island, we called in and reserved a spot on the 6:00 sailing.

We arrived in Keystone earlier than we expected (since we really didn't know how long it would take to drive from the north end of Whidbey Island to the south end), so we stopped at yet another beach to throw rocks.

It was windier and colder here than at Deception Pass, which had been windier and colder than Orcas Island.  Kind of goofy that the more south we headed, the rougher the weather.

This beach really had the most driftwood I had ever seen all in one place.  I had to take a picture of this driftwood lance because it reminded me of Disney's "The Little Mermaid" when the prince kills the evils octopus woman with the prow of the ship.  To get a sense of scale on it, those are driftwood LOGS in the foreground.

Once we got the car in line for the ferry, there was still about an hour to wait.  The ferry terminal was out in the middle of nowhere, but there was one little coffee shop/cafe across the street to pass the time in.  And so we did.

Boy!  They weren't kidding when they said it was a smaller boat!  I have never been on such a small ferry before!

This is why the ferry sometimes shuts down for low tide.  The ferry terminal sits in a shallow man made breakwater to protect it from rough seas while docked.  If the tide is too low, it can't get in/out of the breakwater.

Since we were so early, we were the first on the ferry, and our car was right at the front of the car bay.

I'm on a boat!

The seas on this crossing were much rougher than on any ferry crossing I have ever been on before.  Of course, I am not sure if that is because this ferry crosses less protected water, or because the boat is so much smaller so that you can feel the waves more.

We tried out the passenger deck, but it was so small and rocked so much in the swells, we decided to come back down to the car deck.  Helena and Bill stayed in the car while Will and I stood at the railing watching the surge of the water.  I was recording it with my (thankfully waterproof) camcorder, when suddenly we hit a wave that sent a sheet of salt water spray crashing onto the car deck!  I got soaked! It was really funny!  I'll try to post the video when I can.

Arriving in Pt. Townsend

The Hood Canal Floating Bridge.

I grew up with the Evergreen Point floating bridge nearby, so the concept of a floating bridge is not new to me.  However, the Evergreen Point bridge is on Lake Washington, where the water level doesn't change.  The Hood Canal bridge is on the Sound, where the tide raises and lowers the bridge by several feet!  That is pretty amazing!

One final stop at Central Market.  We were going to eat pizza there for dinner, but we ended up going to the Taco Time across the way instead.  Then 'home' to Mom and Dad's place for the night before driving home.

Sunday - Orcas Island Adventures Draw to a Close

Sunday morning we attended church in a small meeting room in the public library in Eastsound.  All of the islands combined make one small branch, and in order to hold meetings, they link up with each other via an audio feed.  When our party of 6 arrived at the meeting, we swelled the numbers in the Orcas Island group to 20... and that is counting the four nursery aged children and one young woman (she looked like a beehive).  The sacrament was prepared in the room, but it was prayed over on another island.  The first speaker was on our island, the intermediate hymn was a piano piece played by a soon-to-be-leaving-on-his-mission young man on San Juan Island, and the second speaker was in some one's living room on Lopez Island.  In fact, during that last talk, the grandfather clock chimed several times in the background!  It was definitely the most unique Sunday service I had ever attended.

Upon returning to the resort, Bill rented a kayak for he and Will to go exploring in.  This was in response to Will's repeated requests.  I am telling you, that boy is growing up in the wrong geographic zone!  He is a water boy living in the desert.  His current ambition is to raise 1/2 the funds to buy himself a small sailboat.  I say 1/2 the funds because I promised to match his earnings.

At one point the boys switched paddles, so they switched back.  I am not sure if there was any reason other than color preference.

Helena sunning herself while the boys explored the bay in their kayak.  It was really very sunny and warm (not hot like at home) the entire weekend.  It was made to order weather.  Mom even managed to get sunburned on Saturday when we were wandering around Eastsound.

When the boys got back, the kids and I decided to go on a walk around the resort.  We walked down the beach, then turned up the road that marked the edge of the resort property, but not before startling a sunbathing couple on the adjacent beach, causing him to sit up and shield her while she hastily replaced her bikini top.  I bet they wish the neighbors were a private house instead of a resort for families.  Hee, hee!

In the upper part of the resort there are sites for RV and tent camping, with a shower house and a little playground.  We killed some time just futzing around on the swings before heading back to the cabin.

Yeah.  Why is there always a mud puddle directly under the rope swing?  Is it mandatory, I wonder?

Our final night on the island and the sun gave us another spectacular show as it set.

Ah.

Dad sitting near the community campfire.

The community campfire is near to the store/office that provided free wi/fi.  Our cabin was the only one close enough to also pick it up.  This is a classic shot of the next generation, I think.  In nature and enjoying it, but not able to completely unplug.  I am not complaining and I don't think it is tragic, the way some other people might.  Who knows what their future holds.  I am just grateful for the opportunity to show them a little of another life and another place.

Tomorrow, we leave the island.

Saturday - Orcas Island Adventures

Saturday morning we found that the tide had gone out quite a ways, allowing us to explore for critters.  Mom and Dad brought a bucket and some digging tools just for that purpose.  We flipped over rocks to find crabs and we dug for clams.  By the time we were through, Will had a bucket full of an odd assortment of sea creatures.  There were clams, a largish crab, a bright green fish, a slippery eel, and a hermit crab.  The bigger crab was missing his pincers.  He must have gotten the worst end of a fight with another crab at some point not that long before.  I took that crab down the beach a ways and showed him to the younger campers from the other cabins who were out on the beach under their parents' watchful eye.  They weren't going far enough out to be able to see something that interesting, so I brought it to them.  The parents seemed as fascinated as the kids.

The geese came back for breakfast, only this meal was not a pan-handling gig.  They were down at the water's edge feasting on exposed seaweed and who knows what else.

Digging for clams...

Notice how close to the end of the dock the low tide comes?  Eventually, the owner of the bigger boat on the end moved it out to a buoy in deeper water, because this wasn't even the lowest ebb of the tide!

After we were done messing around on the beach, we all drove into the largest town on the island to be consummate tourists.  The town is called Eastsound.  You can probably figure out where they came up with the name for it.  In the shot above, we are all waiting outside an odds-n-ends type of store while Mom went in to find a book to read.  She managed to find three, if my memory serves me.

The local (and only) market in town was called Island Market.  Bill picked up sodas for us there and I couldn't resist taking a picture of my cup.  Back home the convenience store fountain drink cups are all either Pepsi or Coke.  These cups were just another throw-back to a different time.

See what I mean about old-timey feel?  These two pictures are of an Inn right in the middle of town.

Across the street from the Inn, there were stairs down to a beach.  We were going to go wander on the outcropping of rocks you can see in the distance of the top picture.  High tide turns it into an island of its own.  Unfortunately for us, there was a conservationist on the beach handing out info and instructing people to stay off the outcropping itself, as there are nesting birds there.  Ah, well.

Helena had gotten all dressed up for a day in the town.  She wasn't expecting to be tromping through tide pools, and she was somewhat relieved when we turned around to head back.

To illustrate what I mean about this place feeling like stepping back in time, I took the image of a building in town (as seen from the beach with the conservation lady) and shopped it a couple of times...

Today...

...1960...

...1890!

Oh yeah.  The pace of this place is much slower than anywhere else I have ever been!

Back at Island Market, we couldn't help stepping out to ask this gentleman if we could photograph his car.  It has an electric starter, but can also be hand cranked should the battery fail.  He said he drives the car to give his dogs some attention while he is in the store.  They love to be petted, apparently, and people who wander over to see the car end up staying to pet the dogs.  Ha!

After we were finished being tourists, Mom and Dad headed back to the resort while we headed off to the highest point on the island, Mt. Constitution.  There are all sorts of hiking trails up to the top of this 2,409 ft. mountain, but you can drive to the top, which is what we did.  I was going to say 'straight to the top', but that would be extremely inaccurate since the road to the summit was full of steep switchbacks.

At the summit, there is a tower that, when it was built in the 30's, took you above the tree line for a 360* view.  The trees are substantially taller now, so the view is obscured on one side.  Still, a stunning view.

The tower was built by Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps. during the depression.

The views, of course, are stunning!

I forgot to mention this amazing little chocolatier in Eastsound!  I tried one in the car on the mountain and they were SUPER yummy!  I need to find that card I took from the shop so I can order more!  The top of the chocolate is hand painted to identify the filling.

As if the ocean wasn't enough water, here we are at Mountain Lake.  Bill wanted to rent a rowboat and spend an hour or two rowing around on this lake, but in order to do so, we were obliged to drive down to Cascade Lake to pay for the use of a boat and pick up some oars.  We drove down there and I suggested we just row around on Cascade Lake instead.  It was less appealing because it was the local swimming hole and there were lots of people there.  In the end we didn't even do that, because the man in charge of rentals told us a rowboat couldn't hold all four of us, but he had a canoe that would (what the?).  Then he smashed his own toe shifting a big canoe and blamed it on Bill!  Phooey.  We just walked away.

Since we couldn't row about on a lake (which didn't really ruin my day, to tell the truth), we decided to hike to Cascade Falls.  I wasn't thrilled about that, at first, but I am sure glad we did!  More beauty all around.

The weather was just perfect!  The shade made it comfortable and the sun made it glow!

We decided to drive to the other extreme end of the island and hiked down to a beach there.  This beach was just full of small rocks!

From that beach we could see the ferry route...

Back at the resort, the tide was back in.  We didn't really want to eat the clams that we had dug up in the morning (they had been kept in a bucket of ocean water), so Will used them as skipping rocks and sent them back out to bury themselves again.  Dad said that would have to become an Orcas Island tradition from now on... skipping clams!

I forgot to mention that Bill was so tired on Friday evening that he went to bed around 6 pm, so he missed the rock stacking that night.  He made up for it by creating his own balancing art on Saturday evening.