On Our Way Home

I’m up before everyone else, having been awakened by the sound of hooves creeping around a meter from my head outside the window. I’m pretty confident we’ll make the early ferry now, especially when we found out we could leave our sheets in the dryer rather than fold them. That alone shaves an hour off our departure time.

Judging by the pre-dawn horizon we’ll have yet another beautiful day. Should be a great view from the Seattle Sky Needle, one of many possible destinations today.

I’ll check in when the Internets allows.

Good Last Day On Orcas Island

We enjoyed our last day here on Orcas Island! Its hard to accept we must leave it in favor of the real world beyond. The whole experience has been simply wonderful. Better than I could’ve hoped.

I can see why we decided to return here after our last visit seven years ago, though a week’s visit isn’t nearly enough. The slower pace here gets into you and makes you dread crossing over to the mainland again. I think of the recent hours I spent crawling along I-95 and then I think of strolling around downtown Eastsound. No contest!
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San Juan Island Community Radio

Looks like the locals are working together to get their own low-power radio station on San Juan Island. The San Juan Island Community Radio project has recently been approved for non-profit status and will soon be applying to the FCC for its transmitter.

I think the islands are perfect for a community radio station, as the geography (among other things) naturally creates issues of interest only to its residents. I hope they get what they need and get their station on the air. Hopefully I’ll be tuning them in the next time we visit.

If you’ve got some experience with community radio, why not send them a line and offer some help?

Down To Our Last Full Day On Orcas Island

In a rare morning, I’m the only one awake at 6 AM. The sunrise over the Strait of Juan De Fuca proved too alluring to me. Two photographs later and I could relax. I’ll miss waking up to a view of Mount Baker in the distance. It really has been beautiful here.

Yesterday we opted to skip naps for the kids, in the hopes they would better readjust to East Coast time soon. They did wonderfully, being sports about our activities and never complaining.
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Still Sunny

We started our day by going to see Ron’s beautiful property on Buck Mountain. Stunning view, Ron! After that, we drove to Mountain Lake for a fun hike to the dam and back. On the way down, we rented a rowboat and rowed across Cascade Lake to see the bridge being rebuilt.

Now its a quick lunch before heading back to downtown Eastsound to see the starfish at low tide. Gotta make the most of our time left!

Another Day in Paradise

We didn’t have specific plans today, so we took up Ron’s suggestions and headed over to the Rosario Resort to visit the museum on the second floor. Calling it a museum is a bit of a stretch, as there are lots of 8×10″ historical photographs on the walls but scant items to view, other than the house itself which is gorgeous. There was a model of the USS Nebraska (BB14), built by the Moran Brothers shipyard and the only battleship ever built in Washington state, and a model of the Moran Brothers shipyard. There was also a display case with gauges and buttons from the USS Nebraska in it as well as a large desk, from which I imagine Robert Moran contemplated his business empire.
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Welcome, Benjamin!

We got news about an hour ago that our latest nephew, Benjamin Kaelin Turner, was born this afternoon! This is Allen and Tanya’s third child, making a big sister out of Audrey and an even bigger brother out of Judah.

Benjamin weighed in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces and measured a lengthy 22 inches. Size comes naturally to the Turners, so he’s off to a good start. I’m told momma and family are doing fine.

We look forward to meeting the newest Turner when we return to North Carolina. Hurray!

Another Perfect Day Begins

Once again, we enjoyed a stunning sunrise over the water as we awoke near 6 AM PST. It looks like our string of perfect days is not quite over.

We’ve got no real agenda today. Possible visits include the Rosario resort, Turtleback Mountain, or maybe a visit to Deer Harbor to look at the boats. A return visit to Cascade Lake (and park) is definitely in our future.

Cartooning and Copyrights

Ron, a new MT.Net visitor (15 now! Woowoo!), mentioned today that Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson lives here on Orcas Island. Since then, I’ve been thinking about the alternate universe where instead of being a high-paid computer geek, I followed my cartooning interest into a career. Then I read about Mr. Larson’s polite but emphatic notices to fans to remove Far Side cartoons from their webpages. That’s when I run into a personal conflict.
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Whale of a Watch

I found a local paper’s report about the latest orca sighting on Friday. Looks like we missed a doozie.

The ranger we spoke with today told me there is a service that will page you when the whales are coming. They charge “big bucks” for that service, though. I’m sure the captains of the whale watch boats all subscribe to it.

I think we’ll have to wait until next time to see the orcas.