This morning, we left Burlington before sunrise and drove to Anacortes, dropped off the RV in a parking lot, and got in line to board the 9:30am ferry to San Juan Island:

The ferry can hold about 150 vehicles:

Apparently this is not the busy season:

Watching the world go by:

While onboard, the fire crew went through their monthly drill:

Another ferry going the other way:

People leave jigsaw puzzles on the ferry for passengers to work on as they travel:

After about an hour, we arrived in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island:

After driving off the ferry, we drove to the South side of the island to visit the American Camp unit of the San Juan Island National Historical Park, site of the Pig War that culminated in decisive US ownership of the San Juan Islands.  The Americans built a military outpost here to protect US citizens from expulsion from the island by British Forces while ownership of the island was in question.  Unfortunately, the visitor center is only opened from Wednesday to Saturday, so we weren’t able to get Junior Ranger badges here:

The laundry building:

The two buildings above are on the left side of the period photograph below:

An artillery redoubt built to overlook the shore:

We hiked the southern shore of the island:

Slug on a mushroom:

We drove South to view the Castle Point Lighthouse:

Next we drove North to visit a Lavender farm:

Continuing North, we visited the British Camp on the island:

The British had a formal garden here:

Next we visited a sculpture garden that includes a horizontal tree trunk with an engraver next to it.  Visitors are encouraged to carve on the log.  Trish carved this fish:

B left her mark as well:

Lots of interesting, ridiculously overpriced art here:

This mirror-on-an-easel piece was pretty neat:

We briefly walked around Friday Harbor’s quaint downtown:

Back on the ferry:

So long, San Juan Island:

Coming to the island, the trip was direct from Anacortes to San Juan Island.  On this return trip, we had an intermediate stop at Lopez Island:

Leaving Lopez Island:

Since we happened to be on the same ferry on the way back, the kids tried to find the jigsaw puzzle they worked on this morning.  Unfortunately, someone must have finished it and put it away while we were on the island, so we had to start over.  It was very nearly finished by the time we returned to Anacortes:

It was a long day, but traveling by ferry and touring the island was great fun!

After departing from the ferry, we hitched up the RV and returned to Big 5 Sporting Goods in Burlington to overnight.  See the trip map for route details.

Update:The kids have recorded a podcast for today’s trip.  Play it below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download