I am a rock, I am an island!
Orcas Island is pretty much one of the best places on earth!!! Shawn and I had the most fantastic weekend, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, simple and relaxing and yet filled with lots of fun! We definitely want to go back (although probably not on a holiday weekend - we spent over 8 hours waiting for ferries!!!). Prepare thyself, to lose about 100mph off the speed of your life, about 100 years back in time, and for the inevitable inundadation of pic!spam (oh, you knew it was coming!). But be warned - I took like 100 pictures!! So I'll just take it thematically.
Just to start things off - Here is Shawn, walking out to Indian Island during low tide on Sunday. This is one of my favorite shots from the whole trip, he just has a whole relaxed thing going on. ♥
En Route to Orcas Island
Our view in the North end, before we got to Anacortes, from the car window. That's Mt. Baker in the background.
After waiting for ~3 1/2 hours for the ferry, we were finally on our way to Orcas Island, by way of Shaw and Lopez Islands.
This is what happens when parents let their kids drive a ferry boat - they forget to watch out for other people on the road!
The seagulls like to cruise along with the draft coming off the back of the ferry, hehe.
Our lodgings at the Buck Bay Farm Inn & Lavender Field gave us tasty, tasty chocolate with our turn-down service every night. I can highly, highly recommend the Buck Bay Inn and Lavender Field. The service was great, the food was DELICIOUS (OMG, I want a smoked salmon omelette every day, please). I also bought some of their Lavender Salt Soak, which was apparently done up on my birthday! And we stayed in the Maple Room, in case you were curious.
More gulls on the return-trip ferry, including girls who wanted to feed them!
Mine! Mine!
I'm... too sexy for my sunglasses, with a reflection of my boyfriend, so sexy it hurts! (This is what happend when you ask your man to take a picture of you).
Don't cage him, bro!
Rosario Inn
We spent a little time down at the Rosario Inn, which was the mansion of Robert Moran. Moran was the mayor of Seattle during the fire in 1889, and retired to Orcas Island in the 40's to live out the remainder of his life. He donated the land that became the start of Moran State Park, which contains Mt. Constitution, which you'll see lots of pictures of below.
Here's a side view of the house. It's been turned into the reception area and a museum, while the lodgings are individual bungalows along the waterfront.
This is the music room at Rosario, which was hosting a concert later that day, but we had a trail ride on horse-back (more on that later, too!)
Here is a 1900 Steinway Grand Piano!
These are the pipes for the organ. I couldn't see the keyboard, as the 3rd floor was closed off for the day.
The ceiling fixture in the music room - tis pretty!
The stained glass above the piano is of Moran's shipyards, a bit of an empire that he founded here in Seattle. It sounds like the McKinstry of their day!
Here I am, on the grounds at Rosario.
And here's Shawn!
This was the view from inside one of the bedrooms in the mansion. Can you imagine waking up to that view every day?!
This is the anchor chain from the USS Nebraska, which was the flagship of the US navy for 20 years, including WWI.
A view of the grounds. They also included an outdoor swimming pool and grille overlooking the water!
Nature Walk
Let's switch to the animal kingdom for a bit, shall we? This is me and an 8-year-old Tennessee Walker named Chester! We went for a 2 1/2 hour moutain trail ride Sunday evening, and it was really fantastic. I've missed riding horses - but apparently they make Shawn nervous! We went for the ride anyway :)
Here is Chester by his own lovely self. He was really wonderful to ride, and ironically, the last time I was on a trail ride (when I was about 12) I was on a Tennessee Walker. Perhaps it's not so surpising after all, since they are known to be good, smooth-gaited, easy-tempered horses, ideal for trail rides!
Save a horse, ride a Cowboy!!! That was our guide, Robert, to the right of Shawn.
These are Cascade Falls, as seen from behind Chester's head. Lovely, isn't it?
Our inn has sheep! ZOMG, zombie sheep!!!
This is Dakota, the Great Dane. He hangs out on a store's front porch in Eastsound, and is just about the most relaxed dog ever!
He was also ENORMOUS!
Just let sleeping dogs lie, Shawn!
Tis SPRING!!! Or at least, it was at The Sunflower Cafe. A misnomer, actually, because there were no sunflowers at the Cafe!!
Some wildlife, including a red-billed bird of some kind (I should really crop/zoom this picture).
And oh! A deer! There were black-tailed deer all over the place, especially as we had to drive around the base of Mt. Constitution a few times a day (to go back/leave our B&B), and on our way out, we saw about 8 deer in an hour!
Hey! Green plant! Not sure what it is, but I thought it was neat.
Geese on the beach (more on the beach later)
Life's a Beach!
This is a little island about 100 yards out from Eastsound (the only "city" on the island. I swear, there's not a stoplight on the entire island!). At low tide, you can walk out along a little pathway and scramble up the rocks. The water wasn't too cold either - maybe 70° and only came up to mid-calf. This is the view looking back at Eastsound from Indian Island.
Sandy paths make for interesting walking.
This is the view in the other (southerly) direction from Eastsound.
Looking at the island from the far end of Eastsound.
More pictures, various angles and distances:
Out on Indian Island, a profusion of wild flowers.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~ Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
Shawn enjoys the view. If you notice, there are not a lot of pictures of him posing for the camera, so I had to be sneaky and take "action candids." He was going through my pictures later while we waited for the ferry and asked, "don't you know you're supposed to tell someone when taking a picture of them?" I asked in return, "well, if I do, will you turn around and smile for the camera?" He said no, so I informed him that I will have to keep taking "candids." Neener neener, I won!
I, however, have never met a camera lens I didn't love!
Wading back from Indian Island, lots of floating kelp (I think it's kelp, as opposed to seaweed?)
And then we got back to the beach, and ambled about for a little bit. We were HIGHLY amused by the little spurts from clams down in the sand. Shawn was especially intruiged by these little babies, and went clam-diving, hehe.
He didn't catch any, but he did get some clam-spit on his shorts, :P
Barnacles, baby! Did you know the barnacle has the longest penis in the animal kingdom, proportionate to its size? True fact.
There was a random guy who made these two beach sculptures, with just a few rocks and some driftwood.
I'm sure this says something profound about the nature of humanity here.
Driftwood. 'Nuf said!
Feet. Now they can smell REALLY good!
The View from Above
The view from the top of Mt. Constitution at sunset on Saturday. The land mass to the right is Canada (oh hai, Canadia!). It is also now the background of my computer at home! Find your happy place!!!
More of the sunset - you know how much I love me some sunset!!!
Mt. Baker by night from Mt. Constitution (I know, it's a bit hard to see).
The daytime view of Mt. Baker from Mt. Constitution, albeit cloudy!
One of the viewing points on the tower on Mt. Constitution. The maps tell you which islands you are looking at - this faces south and east, in case you were interested.
Sucia Island, from Mt. Constitution.
Looking down from the tower to the ground immediately below, and including a mountain lake.
The Tower itself. There's a fair amount of stairs in that, I tell ya! It also tells the history of Mt. Constitution and Moran State Park, including how it was started by Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps.
The "Little Summit" on Mt. Constitution... tell me what YOU think the mountains look like!
Another angle of the view from Little Summit.
Oh my! How did I sneak into this category??? (Ignore the roll, please)
Late afternoon sun, as seen from horseback.
Cascade Lake. We were driving just past the campgrounds with paddle boats, bonfires, etc. Gorgeous!!
An Episcopalian Church, built in 1885. This place makes me want to go home and curl up with Anne of Green Gables or something! teehee.
Welcome... to White Picket Fence America!
And this made it all worthwhile!
Just to start things off - Here is Shawn, walking out to Indian Island during low tide on Sunday. This is one of my favorite shots from the whole trip, he just has a whole relaxed thing going on. ♥
En Route to Orcas Island
Our view in the North end, before we got to Anacortes, from the car window. That's Mt. Baker in the background.
After waiting for ~3 1/2 hours for the ferry, we were finally on our way to Orcas Island, by way of Shaw and Lopez Islands.
This is what happens when parents let their kids drive a ferry boat - they forget to watch out for other people on the road!
The seagulls like to cruise along with the draft coming off the back of the ferry, hehe.
Our lodgings at the Buck Bay Farm Inn & Lavender Field gave us tasty, tasty chocolate with our turn-down service every night. I can highly, highly recommend the Buck Bay Inn and Lavender Field. The service was great, the food was DELICIOUS (OMG, I want a smoked salmon omelette every day, please). I also bought some of their Lavender Salt Soak, which was apparently done up on my birthday! And we stayed in the Maple Room, in case you were curious.
More gulls on the return-trip ferry, including girls who wanted to feed them!
Mine! Mine!
I'm... too sexy for my sunglasses, with a reflection of my boyfriend, so sexy it hurts! (This is what happend when you ask your man to take a picture of you).
Don't cage him, bro!
Rosario Inn
We spent a little time down at the Rosario Inn, which was the mansion of Robert Moran. Moran was the mayor of Seattle during the fire in 1889, and retired to Orcas Island in the 40's to live out the remainder of his life. He donated the land that became the start of Moran State Park, which contains Mt. Constitution, which you'll see lots of pictures of below.
Here's a side view of the house. It's been turned into the reception area and a museum, while the lodgings are individual bungalows along the waterfront.
This is the music room at Rosario, which was hosting a concert later that day, but we had a trail ride on horse-back (more on that later, too!)
Here is a 1900 Steinway Grand Piano!
These are the pipes for the organ. I couldn't see the keyboard, as the 3rd floor was closed off for the day.
The ceiling fixture in the music room - tis pretty!
The stained glass above the piano is of Moran's shipyards, a bit of an empire that he founded here in Seattle. It sounds like the McKinstry of their day!
Here I am, on the grounds at Rosario.
And here's Shawn!
This was the view from inside one of the bedrooms in the mansion. Can you imagine waking up to that view every day?!
This is the anchor chain from the USS Nebraska, which was the flagship of the US navy for 20 years, including WWI.
A view of the grounds. They also included an outdoor swimming pool and grille overlooking the water!
Nature Walk
Let's switch to the animal kingdom for a bit, shall we? This is me and an 8-year-old Tennessee Walker named Chester! We went for a 2 1/2 hour moutain trail ride Sunday evening, and it was really fantastic. I've missed riding horses - but apparently they make Shawn nervous! We went for the ride anyway :)
Here is Chester by his own lovely self. He was really wonderful to ride, and ironically, the last time I was on a trail ride (when I was about 12) I was on a Tennessee Walker. Perhaps it's not so surpising after all, since they are known to be good, smooth-gaited, easy-tempered horses, ideal for trail rides!
Save a horse, ride a Cowboy!!! That was our guide, Robert, to the right of Shawn.
These are Cascade Falls, as seen from behind Chester's head. Lovely, isn't it?
Our inn has sheep! ZOMG, zombie sheep!!!
This is Dakota, the Great Dane. He hangs out on a store's front porch in Eastsound, and is just about the most relaxed dog ever!
He was also ENORMOUS!
Just let sleeping dogs lie, Shawn!
Tis SPRING!!! Or at least, it was at The Sunflower Cafe. A misnomer, actually, because there were no sunflowers at the Cafe!!
Some wildlife, including a red-billed bird of some kind (I should really crop/zoom this picture).
And oh! A deer! There were black-tailed deer all over the place, especially as we had to drive around the base of Mt. Constitution a few times a day (to go back/leave our B&B), and on our way out, we saw about 8 deer in an hour!
Hey! Green plant! Not sure what it is, but I thought it was neat.
Geese on the beach (more on the beach later)
Life's a Beach!
This is a little island about 100 yards out from Eastsound (the only "city" on the island. I swear, there's not a stoplight on the entire island!). At low tide, you can walk out along a little pathway and scramble up the rocks. The water wasn't too cold either - maybe 70° and only came up to mid-calf. This is the view looking back at Eastsound from Indian Island.
Sandy paths make for interesting walking.
This is the view in the other (southerly) direction from Eastsound.
Looking at the island from the far end of Eastsound.
More pictures, various angles and distances:
Out on Indian Island, a profusion of wild flowers.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~ Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
Shawn enjoys the view. If you notice, there are not a lot of pictures of him posing for the camera, so I had to be sneaky and take "action candids." He was going through my pictures later while we waited for the ferry and asked, "don't you know you're supposed to tell someone when taking a picture of them?" I asked in return, "well, if I do, will you turn around and smile for the camera?" He said no, so I informed him that I will have to keep taking "candids." Neener neener, I won!
I, however, have never met a camera lens I didn't love!
Wading back from Indian Island, lots of floating kelp (I think it's kelp, as opposed to seaweed?)
And then we got back to the beach, and ambled about for a little bit. We were HIGHLY amused by the little spurts from clams down in the sand. Shawn was especially intruiged by these little babies, and went clam-diving, hehe.
He didn't catch any, but he did get some clam-spit on his shorts, :P
Barnacles, baby! Did you know the barnacle has the longest penis in the animal kingdom, proportionate to its size? True fact.
There was a random guy who made these two beach sculptures, with just a few rocks and some driftwood.
I'm sure this says something profound about the nature of humanity here.
Driftwood. 'Nuf said!
Feet. Now they can smell REALLY good!
The View from Above
The view from the top of Mt. Constitution at sunset on Saturday. The land mass to the right is Canada (oh hai, Canadia!). It is also now the background of my computer at home! Find your happy place!!!
More of the sunset - you know how much I love me some sunset!!!
Mt. Baker by night from Mt. Constitution (I know, it's a bit hard to see).
The daytime view of Mt. Baker from Mt. Constitution, albeit cloudy!
One of the viewing points on the tower on Mt. Constitution. The maps tell you which islands you are looking at - this faces south and east, in case you were interested.
Sucia Island, from Mt. Constitution.
Looking down from the tower to the ground immediately below, and including a mountain lake.
The Tower itself. There's a fair amount of stairs in that, I tell ya! It also tells the history of Mt. Constitution and Moran State Park, including how it was started by Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps.
The "Little Summit" on Mt. Constitution... tell me what YOU think the mountains look like!
Another angle of the view from Little Summit.
Oh my! How did I sneak into this category??? (Ignore the roll, please)
Late afternoon sun, as seen from horseback.
Cascade Lake. We were driving just past the campgrounds with paddle boats, bonfires, etc. Gorgeous!!
An Episcopalian Church, built in 1885. This place makes me want to go home and curl up with Anne of Green Gables or something! teehee.
Welcome... to White Picket Fence America!
And this made it all worthwhile!
