OK - So Now I've Seen the San Juan Islands

On Thursday we took the ferry over to Lopez Island in the San Juan chain of barrier islands off the the coast of northern Washington. One of the reasons we bought the bikes was to 'bike' the San Juan Islands. Lopez is the favorite biking island because it's very rural and thus less car traffic. What they didn't mention were the HILLS. Shall we say this activity has mixed reviews. A real positive was the weather. We picked the most beautiful day we've had since we came up here, and that's saying something. The day was about 70 degrees and perfectly clear. We could see for miles, so the long range scenery was great.

We were disappointed with the on island scenery. The valley we live in (Skagit Valley) is rural Washington, and it's gorgeous. They grow everything here from tulips to potatoes. I know that because it's potato harvest season right now. It's also apple season - but everyone knows Washington grows apples. Lopez Island was a miniature of our valley - lots of farms - but it isn't flat; it's hilly. I confess that I had a lot of trouble with the hills. I walked up most of them - and that was really hard on my foot. The downhills and flat (what little of it there was) were good. I really like the new handlebars because I can control the bike with one hand. Thus, I can scratch my nose or relax a bit more while riding that I could with the mountain bike handlebars.

I still hate the handbrakes. Sigh.......... Until I get that $700 bike that has coaster handlebars, a seat with a back, gears and coaster brakes, I'll just have to live with them. We totalled up what the bikes have cost us - including the rack for the top of the car - and we have $350 invested - total. I've discovered that's the cost of one cheap bike. Our total investment includes the new handlebars, the helmets, the gloves, the cleaning stuff, and new grips as well as the bikes and the rack. Oh, and the 'step' we had to buy, so Drake can be high enough to lift the bikes to the top of the car. Not only have the bikes been a good buy, we've discovered we really like riding them - especially on the rails to trails paths. That's why the Lopez Island adventure was so disappointing - we expected to be more able to do the hills than we were - especially me.

Off topic again - back to Lopez Island. One of the good things about Lopez Island is we really liked the food. We had lunch at the Lopez Island Marina at the Galley Restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner mostly to local people. This restaurant (and most of the others I read about) pride themselves on serving local food. We had burgers made with chemical, antibiotic free grass fed local beef. The burgers were really good. We also had some Lopez Valley Creamery Ice Cream - which is the closest thing to Blue Bell I've had since I've been here. This Creamery just moved to Anacortes (an island connected to the mainland with a bridge instead of a ferry) to expand their business. I met a Mesquite, Texas woman who now owns the Lopez Island Fudge Store (where they also serve ice cream), and we talked for about 20 minutes. She loves the slow pace island living, but I think I would be bored and claustrophobic in about 2 weeks. We did learn the entire island holds a party at the end of tourist season; a celebration that they have survived the tourists for one more year. Apparently, according to the three women I visited with, August is the worst month for rude, demanding visitors. It's really amazing what people will tell you.

I loved the ferry ride. It's ironic - I hate boats. I hurt Eddie Revell's feelings when he 'boated' us to a restaurant on Grapevine Lake, and he realized I hated every second we were on the water. Somehow, ferry boats are different. I think of them more like trains - except there's more room to move around. They have really comfy seats - lots of seat configurations to choose from, and you can go outside or stay inside and walk around whenever you want. There's also food and snacks and real bathrooms. Since there are lots of islands up here, the scenery is interesting when you're on the ferry. Of course, the water was like glass when we took the ferry. I doubt I would find it so great if the sea was rough.

Overall, the bottom line is we thought the day was a bust, but we really enjoyed parts of it. I'd like to see another of the San Juan Islands (maybe Orcas), but I don't ever plan to bike around on one. It was just not fun because neither of us was in good enough shape to enjoy it.

Friday, we went back to LaConner to pick up my quilt art piece and to go to their annual International Quilt Festival. We saw 175 quilts, all of which were applique. Next year they are going to accept more types of quilts, and I think that's a good move. While each quilt we viewed was exquisite, I only saw about a dozen hand quilted while the rest were machine quilted. I just like the hand quilted look to a piece rather than machine. Both take more skill that I have. We both agreed that it's artistic vision that sets a quilt apart once you get to a certain needle skill level. Since there was absolutely no photography allowed, you'll have to make do with a picture of the art quilt piece Drake bought me for my birthday.

Oh, and on Friday we went back to the Rexville Grocery for lunch. This is a small family owned grocery that has reinvented itself. It's now a gourmet grocery store that caters to tourists, but they have a sandwich counter that uses the local farm produce and meats. Not only do tourists like us eat there, but all the farmers have lunch there - 'to go'. It was local color at its best. Sitting next to us at the counter was the Grandmother of the family that owns the store. There were two generations of women working the store the day we were there. This is the store that carries Shiner 101. We discovered that it sells fast. Go Shiner!

We're just enjoying the end of the good weather up here. Everyone is telling us that it's going to get colder and rainier as October continues. I've been piling up indoor things to do when the weather turns. However, while the weather holds, we are going to be out and about. Next week it's Octoberfest!

Finally, here's a funny story. I have discovered that even if you only have 5 x 10 feet of space for stuff, it's possible to misplace and lose things. How? Well, here's the story. We unpacked everything - it only takes a half a day. A few weeks later, I got my sewing machine out to make a jacket. Now, when we left Texas, I had very carefully packed a vintage Samsonite train case with all my sewing notions - scissors, pins, sewing machine needles, feet, my sewing machine book, snaps, and the zillion other items that you acquire over the years when you sew. I combed this apartment, and the train case simply wasn't here. I mean, how many places are there to look? We called Sarah and asked if we had inadvertently left it at her house. Nope. I was beside myself. I really couldn't start my jacket because I didn't have pins, sewing machine needles, even scissors to cut out the pieces. More importantly, I didn't have the feet that attach to the machine - especially the zigzag foot and the button hole foot. I strongly hinted that Drake MUST have either left it in the storage unit (best case scenario), or he forgot to put it in the trailer and left it on the side of the road in the last pack up. I was not a happy camper. Earlier this week, I got up one morning to a shit eating grin on Drake's face. He had 'found' my train case. When he packed it, he sort of jammed it up underneath one of the recliners - efficiently using all available packing space. When we got here, we carried this chair INSIDE THE APARTMENT without realizing that the train case was in the undercarriage of the chair. The other day while Drake was stretching, he put his hand under the chair - we have some limited space issues here - and felt 'something'. When he turned the chair over, there was my train case. At least we'll know where to look next time. This is my public and formal apology for the dark hints about inferior packing/loading that have been bandied about these past weeks.