I talked Darin into getting out on the water and taking a boat tour to San Juan Island. He was focused on the Olympic National Park, but the crazy smoke had put a kink in our plans, therfore he agreed that we needed to do something else. He loves the ocean as much as I do, so it wasn’t a hard sell!
I am so glad we chose this eight hour day trip on the Pugent Sound Express. We daparted from Port Townsend, which was about 40 miles from where we set up camp in Port Angeles. It is a very historic seaport with lots of old buildings. I wish we had more time to walk around the downtown streets.
I can see how this charming seaside community has been named one of the top ten coolest small towns in America. Everyone appeared anxious as they were getting ready for a wooden boat festival, scheduled for the coming weekend. The boat docking area was pretty small, but the event was taking place all around it.
Beyond the harbor was a campground, practically sitting at the edge of the water. I would have loved to stay there during our trip. I think it wasn’t an option for us because it was already booked solid, especially with the festival coming up.
The sky looked like gray smog, but it was merely that nasty smoke from the wildfires. We just couldn’t get away from it! They need rain so bad in the northwest.
We loaded up on the boat at 9am to head north to San Juan Island and we drove close enough to the Canadian border to see Vancouver Island. I was happy that the boat was only half full, because it didn’t feel crowded at all. Maybe people were staying indoors due to the poor air quality.
At first, we felt a little disappointed. Over an hour had passed and there were no sightings of anything. Then it happened. The captain heard about a transient pod of orcas on the north end of San Juan island and he was going to get us there. While in route, Darin and I were looking out of our window and saw two large black things sticking up from the ocean. They were male whale fins and we had just passed them.
Luckily Darin went up to the pilot house to tell the captain and he turned us around to go check out what we saw. Remarkably, it was a second pod of transients and they were headed toward the pod up north. We witnessed an amazing “superpod” when they all joined together and headed in the same direction.
Click here to see one pod of orcas swimming!
Farther north, we came across the resident orcas. They were all spread out feeding on salmon. There must have been a dozen or so, with some breaching at times. The captain lost count, but I think we saw over 25 whales in all. Our day couldn’t get any better! Or so we thought…
We arrived at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and we were allowed two hours for shopping, island cuisine, and sightseeing. What a fantastic stop! It was an ideal little island for a quaint vacation experience. I wish I had an entire weekend to visit. Actually, you can book your round trip boat rides on two different days if you want to overnight there.
The downtown streets were filled with the cutest shops and all the fresh seafood you could imagine eating. It was hard making a choice as we walked door to door reading menus. We finally settled on an outdoor patio overlooking the boats.
I have noticed that you can find a coffee shop on every corner in Washington. It can be very tempting at times. Unfortunately, I cannot drink any caffeine after 6pm or it keeps me awake all night. I personally don’t see the point in buying decaf, so we pass by a LOT of the java shops.
Surprisingly, the souvenir shops had good prices on shirts and accessories. We ended up buying tshirts at two different stores. They were probably holding end of season sales, but that was great timing for us.
It was time to board again for the journey back. We watched a float plane land on the water and pull up beside all of the boats. We had never seen that happen before in a busy marina! There are a couple of companies that offer flights over the islands and Puget Sound.
Onboard we were offered drinks and snacks for sale. It was a bit chilly on the water, so I drank coffee and hot chocolate to stay warm. The inside seating area was heated and we had a table all to ourselves. Overall, it was very comfortable and the day seemed to fly by.
We got off the boat and wandered through all the tents and booths that were erected while we were gone. I would love to take a one week vacation to Port Townsend and Friday Harbor in the middle of the summer. There’s no way I would skip the Puget Sound Express as my mode of transportation either.
