As promised, we headed over to spend the fourth with the Morcks on San Juan Island. Vicki picked us up in Friday Harbor, we fed the boys—an almost impossible task, and then off to her house in Northern San Juan Island.
Arriving at Aunt Vicki’s house, we had a good reunion with my really cool niece, Leah, and met her now boyfriend, Curtis. Then Uncle Rick, Leah and Curtis, and Ian and Levi went around the point in the Kyaks and entered the neighbor’s “Kyak Festival.” They all medaled up, got tired, and came back ready for naps and dinner.
Leah made Uncle Rod (call sign Jake), her favorite drink (see pictures), and we used that to anchor cocktail hour on the dock. Then we had chow, more naps, then headed for Roche Harbor in Uncle Rick’s boat, “Northern Passage.” We witnessed a great sunset on the way up, then entered Roche Harbor where we planned to watch the fireworks.
We came into Roche Harbor at full dusk, to the most amazing nautical sight I have ever seen—maybe 300 boats at anchor, and of course many more on the docks. I couldn’t believe it. It looked like the invasion of Normandy. We sat around and listened to Rick’s very patriotic 4th of July soundtrack and waited for full dark and the fireworks—
Which were fantastic. See pictures.
Then home to Mitchell Bay in full darkness. We picked up the bouys into the bay, and around the rocks, with the spotlight, and came safely into the dock under Captain/Uncle Rick’s high nautical skills.
The next morning, we went to Friday Harbor for breakfast and to meet up with our friend Terry Stoupa again. For the price of coffee and a muffin, Terry gave Vicki, Ian, Levi, Lori, and I a ride back over to Anacortes in his really cool new-to-him 40 foot power boat. The boys had fun steering us across Rosario Straits and into Skyline Marina—Terry’s home port—where we tied her up.
Then down to the ferry landing to get our cars, and back to Exergy for some final chores.
Sadly, around 1:00, as ordered by the Admiral, we headed for Leavenworth, Washington, where we were staying the night on the way home. Leavenworth is a really tacky, Germanized town in the Washington Cascades. We like to stop there because the surroundings are pretty, there’s a good cocktail hour spot, good dinner spot, and it’s about ⅓ of the way home.
First thing Thursday morning, we headed back to Bend, fixed irrigation issues that had cropped up while we were gone, and attended Dwayne Friesen’s initial retirement beer fest at Crux. A good ending to a good trip.
Looking forward to the next expedition on Exergy end-of-July with our friends from Montana, Sarah Codd, and Joe Seymour.
All the best,
Lori, Ian, Levi, and Rod