San Juan Islands week long tour?

spiffy · Post by **spiffy** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:41 pm

I wonder if they charge the really tall basket ball players an over height fee...HUH HUH?

With the Riviera top plus kayak it is gonna be whisker close. All part of the fun!

IFBwax · Post by **IFBwax** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:44 pm

Riviera.. Oh shoot. Yep I think they are close if not slightly over 7 feet.

Gypsie · Post by **Gypsie** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 11:44 pm

definitely a pony keg!!! Just heard today. It's a Lucky Lab Pale Ale.

I think I may shoot on past Tacoma and head straight for the ferry.

Then again might be a good place to hit a meal....

Then again I will have food in the rig...

Then again I may swing in to Spiffy-n-Pilot's Digs.

oooooooooh.... I am sooooooooooo excited!

susan · Post by **susan** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 7:05 am

ferry ticket thought!!!!

even though we are going to lopez first we might be able to buy a ticket to orcas, get off at lopez get back on continue to orcas then come all the way back to anacortes from orcas. then we might be charged only the fare to orcas.........

smooze and ask very nicely at the terminal ticket window.....

how long is the kayak? if you put down the bed and leave the back open lenght can be up to 20 feet and the bus is only about 15-16 so it could stick out and be cheaper than on top............

spiffy · Post by **spiffy** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 7:30 am

The Kayak is about 16' long but with our bikes in the back hatch area we woudn't be able to stuff all our stuff elsewhere to fit it in. I appreciate the good idears though!

Gypsie, we will definitely pitch in on the keg and if you guys feel like bombing up to the ferry tonight don't wait for us, we still gotta pack everything after work today so we can't bust out today.

However, you guys are more than welcome to come on by and we would be glad to have ya'.

Forecast is looking better and better....should be POIFECT!

bretski · Post by **bretski** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:24 am

I am sooooooooo jealous of you guys. A trip to the San Juans would really hit the spot for me right now.

...grumble...1500 mile one-way drive
...grumble...gotta pay the mortgage
...grumble...blew my wanderlust wad earlier this summer

Have fun!

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 12:02 pm

I, AM, OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

Hey Bret, we'll save a spot for ya.

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:35 pm

We were in the Clacky thinkin about you guys around your ocean fire. Hope all went well and am lookin forward to th' low-down.
Ate 72,000 huckleberries.

Found an abandoned trail.

spiffy · Post by **spiffy** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:07 pm

Keg done got floated!

Spectacular scenery and people and the weather was poifect

CoPilot · Post by **CoPilot** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 11:10 am

[albumimg]1292[/albumimg]
Wayne's PartyPickle and our Spiffy enjoying a sunset

[albumimg]1291[/albumimg]
Keg sitting--Jasan, Susan, Stefan, Elaine and Mike

[albumimg]1290[/albumimg]
The digs

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 8:03 am

Insufficient pics and narrative. Mrs. Thompson your 5th grade teacher says this is unacceptable but you still have time to fix your work and turn it in for full credit.
You're on the right track!

CoPilot · Post by **CoPilot** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 2:19 pm

My apologies...haven't been good with words lately. Wish I could post more of my pictures but this firewall is something else...

Let's just say that it was a phenomenal trip...weather couldn't have been more perfect...beach front accomodations were amazing...lots of food...corn on the cob...wayne made some taste tri-tip...gypsie brought the pony keg...marvelous.

Did a little kayaking, got lots of sun, recharged my batteries and lost all motivation to ever work again...yet here I sit in my semi-cubilce thinking of laying on the beach...

IFBwax · Post by **IFBwax** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:43 pm

The weather was not like the Northwest at all. Sure, you'd expect a little sun on a good day, maybe temps in the high 70's.. but this was Arizona Winter Weather. Blue skies from the moment the morning began and temps in the 80's and then a star filled night. You know those nights where you can see stars low on the horizon and even the gases of the galaxy up above.

Getting on the ferry turned out not to be tricky at all. I arrived in Anacortes well ahead of schedule and was shown a wing spot which enabled me to get some decent pictures while underway to Lopez Island.

It was amazing how many people asked me questions about my bus and whether it was hard to maintain. (Yes.)

As always the price of the ferry is well worth the splendid views you'll see along the way. It was just gorgeous.

Here's a look at our campsite.

Basically we had most of the campground to ourselves. Andrew's golden bus was on the end, then Jasan's, Mine, Spiffy's and finally Susan's on the end. Even the cops stopped by one night just to ask about the buses and how we liked them.

I had a couple of nice days... one spent riding my bike to the village and beyond and seeing the sights. Later that day, Spiff let Jasan and I take out his Kayak and we got in a pretty good workout tooling up and down the sound.

The beer Stephan had brought/bought went down way too easily and by Monday afternoon it was gone. But that didn't stop us from enjoying the corn I got on the way up.. very sweet.. and Susan and Jasan made some great meals of Stew and such.. and Spiffy and Co-Pilot even convinced us to eat brussel sprouts.. but not just any brussel sprouts. These were fresh, par boiled and then pan fried with onions. Pretty darn good.

In the end it was the sunsets I liked best. Clear and with them came relief from the warmth. It was an awesome trip.

I bugged out on Tuesday and it took about six hours to get back to Portland, fighting crappy Seattle traffic. Now I know one reason why I got out of there. I missed my kids too much to be gone more than 5 days.

So I'm anxious to find out what happened when Susan and Jasan went to Moran State Park and possibly Deception Pass.

Thanks for the fun times.

Gypsie, I owe you for beer and will return the keg tomorrow.

susan · Post by **susan** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:42 am

yes we went to moran for 2 days for more sun and fun and water views and then to deception pass where the fog was so thick it 'rained' on us.
jasan should be home today and i will drive my mh to oly today leaving zapper in oak harbor for my trip from here to leavenworth the beginning of october.

am swamped now catching up b4 my folks get up so will download pics etc when i get back to oly in the next day or two.

but i wholeheartedly agree with wayne, mike and elaine. super weather, super food, great views, neat people, plenty of kibitzing around both the keg and the fire.

just sitting doing nothing was wonderful too.

thanks for a great time.
susan. zapper, westfalia, bullet and jetta. (who liked moran best where she could wander a bit)

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 12:52 pm

Ah, so much relaxation and great weather I don't know how I'm going to go back to work. Not much else to say than what's already been. Great time, people, food, and weather. It doesn't get much better.

I actually got home last night at around 9pm. After waiting for the Port Townsend ferry for three hours I didn't get onto the main land 'till almost 5pm and by then the weather had started to change for the worse so I pressed on home. The ferry runs every 50min but the sheer volume of cars trying to get on kept me in line for three separate sailings before I was able to board. I took the scenic route home down hwy101 along Hood Canal. Most definitely the way to head south from Whidbey and avoid the Seattle I-5 traffic. I got stuck behind two log trucks for most of the way which forced me to slow down even more and really enjoy the drive. No passing lanes on that section of 101 which was fine with me. Not to mention I got great gas mileage taking it easy. By the time I hit Olympia the sprinkles had started to drop so I didn't camp in Capital S.F. like I was planning.

Moran was very nice. Wish the rest of you were able to join Susan and I. Put this week on the calendar for next year so maybe more can plan to stay on for the full week. Susan and I discussed a few different options for the next time that I'll start in a new thread.

Now on to the photos............If you have dial up this is gonna hurt.

A 6:30am departure from Spiffy and the Copilot's home in Tacoma put us in Anacortes at 9:00am for the 10:05 sailing.

After waving goodbye to Andrew on the ferry as he stood there with a dead bus we headed onto Odlin county park on Lopez island which would be home for the next three days. Beach front property.

Yes, after a return to Anacortes and a new fuel pump Andrew returned with a well running bus once again. His is the gold '73 at the end.

Sunday a departing Gypsie (silver Vanagon in middle above) was replaced by IFB in the Party Pickle.

Monday brought the departure of Andrew and we were down to four.

Random shots while on Lopez........

The partial crew from left to right... The Spifster, Copilot, Andrew, and IFB

Wayne AKA IFBwax, the only person man enough to brave the cold waters of the Pacific

Tuesday IFB, Spiffy, and Copilot had to return home which left only Susan and I to continue on to Orcas Island and Moran State Park.

Orcas Island ferry harbor

Campsite at Moran

Another great view from camp

South entrance into the park

Tosa yelling at Bullet to get out of the public water supply

Cascade Falls

View from atop Mt. Constitution, 2400 ft.

The tower built by Robert Moran

Inside the tower

Thursday, Susan and I left Orcas and headed to Bowman Bay at Deception Pass. It was a tight fit on the way back to Anacortes. That yellow mail truck blocked Susan in on the driver's side and damn near took off our mirrors while loading. It was like being in a big metal cocoon sandwiched in between the trucks. We had good company though, notice the Deschutes Brewery truck.

Thursday had us camping in the fog but morning brought back the somewhat clear skies. At least there was no fog.

All in all a fantastic trip. Thanks to all of those that could make it. Plan on doing it again next year!

Here is the link for more photos that I didn't post here (six pages worth).

http://s117.photobucket.com/albums/o65/ ... n%20Juans/

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

San Juan Islands week long tour?