The Travel Nutt: A Ferry Good Day

This morning we got up way before the sun - at 4:30 AM to be exact - so we could get showered, dressed, and drive down to the Ferry Dock in Tsawwassen by 6:00 AM to line up for the 7:00 AM Ferry to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island . We also woke to pouring rain . . . .

In Line for the Ferry

This particular ferry was humongous - there was no opportunity to get a photo - but trust me when I say it was huge huge huge. There must have been 4 decks for vehicles because we parked on deck 4, and we watched buses and 18 wheelers drive onto the lower decks, as well as probably several hundred cars. And then there were 2 decks above that for passengers, plus the bridge at the top.

This ferry cruises through the Canadian Gulf Islands, which belong to the same Archipelago grouping as our San Juan Islands in Washington state. There are probably 450 islands in the entire grouping, but most are uninhabited. The islands are beautiful, lush and green, but today, because of the rain, they looked like this . . . . .

Gulf Islands - covered by clouds and rain

But as luck would have it, we had some good entertainment when the captain announced a "man-overboard" drill. Of course I had to run out in the rain to watch . . .

Three crew members climbed into the little rescue boat

And were lowered over the side of the ferry

Down down down to the waters edge

(The rescue boat is stored on Deck 6 - the top deck of the ferry)

Once in the water, the rescue boat circled around

And then sped off to find the missing person

A few minutes later, the ferry docked at Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island and we had to disembark, so we didn't get to see the boat return . . . . but I'm sure they found the "victim".

From Swartz Bay we drove South to the cute little town of Sidney . . . .

But being Sunday morning, and not quite 9:00 AM, none of the little shops were open for business yet. So after driving around a bit, we just drove over to the Ferry dock and got in line for the 11:35 AM . . .

Ferry from Sidney to Anacortes

Before boarding the ferry, we had to show our passports again as we went through immigration. This time we were cruising through more of the same islands - some Gulf, some San Juan. The rain was still falling, and the islands still looked like this . . .

John was captivated by the scenery, and showed his usual enthusiasm for boat rides . . .

On arrival in Anacortes, we had to go through customs and show our passports once again as we disembarked from the ferry. The border patrol officer asked us to declare anything we had purchased while in Canada. I showed him my chocolate chip cookie which only had a couple nibbles taken off it -that was the only thing we had purchased. He just laughed and waved us through.

Back in the U.S.A.

Anacortes is a really cute little town, and I had a great time seeing it again. When Carol and I were up here last year, our cousin Joyce took us on the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor and back, and then we drove all through Anacortes and had ice cream in a cute little shop which I instantly recognized when we drove past it today. But with all the rain and cold, I was craving a nice hot bowl of soup, and we found a great little bakery/cafe that totally filled that need. Yummy home-made bread too.

After lunch, we drove South on Hwy 20 through Whidbey Island. Finally the rain had let up and the sun was trying to break through, and we really got to see the beauty of this area. The island is thickly wooded and very lush and green like all the San Juan's, but there are lots of farms on the island also. My camera was going crazy as we drove along the hwy . . .

I spotted this bridge . . .

And then realized I could walk across it . . .

Here are some views from the top . . .

The bridge is part of the highway and they don't let you walk across the highway to look over the other side of the bridge. Instead . . .

You have to climb down about 3 flights of stairs . . .

View of the bridge from the stairs . . .

Then you walk under the bridge . . .

And look at the bridge from the other side . . .

Then climb back up 3 flights of stairs to get to the other side of the bridge.
To me it was well worth the look - too bad John opted to wait in the car.

A little further down the highway, there was a turn-off for a state park - I think it was called Deception Park, but don't quote me on that. The park runs down to the beach, and was gorgeous. Everything was so green . . .

Moss was growing completely around the trunks of the trees

And even on the fence posts

On the hiking trail

We gradually made our way to Coupeville where we caught our last and shortest ferry ride of the day . . . over to Port Townsend on the Washington mainland . . .