Anniversary~4th of July~Family Get-Away

Wednesday, July 8 was our 20th wedding anniversary. What fun it was for this to coincide with a family reunion~4th of July trip to the San Juans where my older sister lives. This week I plan to post photos--it was truly a wonderful, wonderful week. The weather was fantastic and we stayed long enough to do most of the things I love to do when we are in the San Juans--enjoy the rocky-life-teeming beaches with the kids, hike the forested 'mountains' to view the islands from up high, ride the ferry boats, shop in the village, go for a boat ride, stop in downtown Seattle during the journey, and just hang out.

The weather was amazing, and unseasonably warm while we were there. This is a shot of Mt. Baker from the ferry landing at Anacortes. I grew up viewing Mt. Baker from my grandmother's house on Samish Island, which is not too far from Anacortes.

Looking out a ferry window from the lower passenger deck....

The ferry ride takes a little more than an hour, stopping at three of the islands...Lopez, Shaw, and Orcas.

One of the island ferry landings....

Playing at the ferry landing beach.....

We arrived at the Anacortes ferry landing 2 hours early, which is recommended during the summer season. Usually, this will put you near the front of the line for your ferry. Much to our relief and surprise, we were in the LAST group of 8 cars to make our ferry. My twin and her husband were only 20-30 minutes behind us as we sojourned up Interstate 5, but they ended up waiting 3 hours for the next ferry. The islands experienced an unheard of mass of visitors and many travelers had to spend the night in line at the ferry landing as the tickets were oversold and there wasn't enough ferry space. The locals were marveling and we were concerned about experiencing the masses again, in an exodus from the islands when the 4th of July weekend was over. Our solution? Stay an extra day! :-)

The channels around the San Juan Islands are buzzing the recreational boaters, commercial boats, and the ferries which serve many of the islands. Anacortes is also a launch/arrival point for Canadian ferry traffic.