Got Boat?

We left the Leavenworth/Wenatchee area and had a beautiful drive on Hwy 2 through the Wenatchee National Forest.

Beautiful drive

Great scenery.

We were headed west and north towards the coast, to Anacortes.

Anacortes, WA

On that day, dad and Lou were flying in.  They were arriving a few days earlier than Lou's conference in Seattle so that they could spend some time with us and tour around.
Our campground was call Pioneer Trails and was pretty nice.  It was private, so you never really know, but this one had a lot of trees and especially the sites closer to the front of the campground.
The facilities and the grounds were very well maintained.

We spent our first day by driving south on Hwy 20 toward the Port Townsend Ferry.

Setting off on our first ferry ride.

There was a minor pit stop to get a tire patched and then we were on our way.  The ferry ride was nice and on the trip home we saw a whale off in the distance blowing water up from his/her blow hole.  It was pretty far off and I'm not sure if we would have spotted it without the help of the ferry attendant.

We went to Port Townsend that weekend specifically because the guy who ran the campground back in Wenatchee, said that the Wooded Boat Festival was a "must see!"

After getting off the ferry.

Wooden Boat Festival

Wooden Boat Show

Amy trying out a wooden paddle board

The weather was great, the town was busy, and the wooden boats were all over the port.  There were tons of boats.  I'm not sure how they even fit them all in there.  This is a boat culture out here for sure. The weather seems perfect for it and also so much of the western part of the state is scattered among islands. It is a mode of transportation for a lot of people.

The boats at the show were beautiful and fun to see.

Kettle Corn fans!

Linner in Port Townsend.

Sunset ferry ride back.

Vancouver:
We had thought about going to Victoria in Canada, but after realizing what a trek it would be, we opted to drive up to Vancouver, BC.

Vancouver waterfront

View of  Vancouver from Stanley Park

We spent the day walking the waterfront area of the city, checking out Stanley Park a little bit and also another park called Queen Elizabeth.  We found some beautiful gardens in Queen Elizabeth Park.

Queen Elizabeth Park

Queen Elizabeth Park and Gardens

On the way back south to Anacortes, we stopped for a quick visit to see Diego's cousin, Alfonso.  He lives in Surrey, just south of Vancouver.

Diego and his cousin, Alfonso

We had a late night getting back to the camper and got some much needed rest.

La Conner:
Our third day we decided to stay close to home after 2 long days.  We had a little school catch-up in the morning and then, we went to a little town close by called La Conner.  It was just about 20 minutes down the road and sits along the Swinomish Channel.  It is a cute little town with a boardwalk that follows along the channel, lots of shops to browse, and a cute birdie named, Pedro.

La Conner boardwalk

Pedro hanging with Luna

Campfire night

Dad and Lou headed into Seattle for the conference the next day.  We  had an appointment in the city that day too, so we all met up in the afternoon to walk around Pikes Place Market and had dinner together later in the evening.

We're in that picture somewhere.

We discovered the mother ship of REI stores.  There were several floors, a huge tree for kids to play in, a restaurant inside and we discovered later after passing it from the outside, a climbing wall!! Holy macaroni!

REI masterpiece

On of our days in Anacortes was spent at the car shop having maintenance done and getting new tires.  We were back on the road on Thursday and went back to Seattle to have one last day with grandpa and Lou Lou.
We went to the  space needle with them and walked around that area a little bit.

Seattle from up in the Space Needle

Space Needle, Seattle

It was a rainy day, but you can tell it's a happening area when the weather is a little better.  That is the place to be in the summer.

We heard it from fellow travelers over the summer when we were sweating our butts off in the desert and now we heard it from several locals.........they have amazing summers.  Not too hot, not too dry........excellent!

Our last major venture at this stop was the San Juan Islands.  The girls and I took the ferry from Anacortes out to Friday Harbor.

Ferry riding pros

Arriving

We toured that area of the island, played at a park, ate lunch, walked the streets.

Luna met Luna......and she's one of our favorite breeds......a golden doodle.  

Then took the afternoon shuttle up to Roche Harbor to see an area that so many people had told us about.  It was a cute, quaint little area.  Seemed very quiet, but I am pretty sure it was "off-season" for them.  Went to an odd sculpture garden that was recommended by the driver and walked all around the little town.

Sculpture Garden at Roche Harbor

Roche Harbor

Roche Harbor

Beautiful garden area in Roche Harbor

For the people who live there, it seems to be a quiet little paradise away from the hustle and bustle.

There is something very charming about this area of the country.  The water everywhere, mountains in the distance and the lushness of the plants and trees.  It is very pretty!

Deception Pass between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands.

Side Note :)  Diego found himself in Bellingham, WA.  If it had said "Peruvian Grill" we would have stopped.