This September we took a late vacation/anniversary to Lopez Island for three wonderful days. It was amazing. We stayed in the same cabin as we did before on our honeymoon. I already wish we could go there again... although next time we're bringing the dog with us (mostly so that Jim doesn't get stuck with him again, but we also missed him quite a bit). Thanks Jimbo!
On the first day of vacation we decided that the best idea would be to spend the rest of the night snuggled up in blankets reading books. We arrived at the island a little past 5, tired (and car sick) from the trip there.
The next morning we walked down to the beach, where we ate
lunch in a Gazebo overlooking the water.
Daniel carrying breakfast. It was actually more like brunch.
At last, we made it. Hehe, it was actually a very short walk.
Later on we drove down to Agate Beach to soak in the sun and relax.
It's so much fun winding your way through the island.
The view is so pretty and the farms have so much character.
Most of these pictures were taken while riding in the car,
with my hand resting on the roof of the car to get a better shot.
This part of the beach is privately owned, if I remember correctly.
Hence, why this picture was taken from the car.
We finally found the public area and happily made our way down to the beach.
I collected rocks while Daniel found some good skipping stones.
It was so relaxing to just sit and watch the water roll over the rocks. Daniel said it looked like the rocks were being sucked backward - I was trying to capture this illusion with my camera.
After relaxing on the beach for a bit more, we returned to our home sweet home.
Annnd the next morning we went kayaking! Wooh! By far this is still my favorite thing to do on Lopez Island. I'm not sure if you can tell by the pictures, but I rigged my ipod up to some speakers and made them "waterproof" via ziplock bag. Yay!
I attempted to get a shot of Daniel behind me, not realizing that half of my head was in the picture.. oh well. We were just making our way out of Fisherman Bay in this photo. The paddling here was easy compared to the waters beyond.
The view was gorgeous. It didn't rain once during our stay on the Island; quite a change from our previous visit with Cory and Amanda!
It's amazing how small you feel once you're surrounded by water and sky... and a few large sea vessels.
I caught Daniel munching on sunflower seeds while we paddled away.
I know... shocking, huh?
I'm not sure if you can see them, but there are birds sitting on a log northeast of the kayak in this photo. At the time, they were our only companions out on the water.
After a long hard struggle, we made it to Turn Island for a much needed rest. The wind was pushing us outward the entire way and the waves were choppy and rough. Literally, when one of us wasn't paddling we were being sucked backward by the current, especially as we got closer to Turn island. We had to power paddle to make it to shore. Our shoulders were a burnin'.
This is roughly how our trip to Turn Island looked. The wind was blowing north east, I believe. Next time I'm going to bring Daniel's hand held GPS with us and track our exact route.
Along the way I managed to get thoroughly drenched by a very large wave that caught us while we were hurdling sideways between waves. It rolled over the side of the kayak and fell straight into my lap. It was VERY nice to be able to dry out in the sun.
"It's my island!"
Caught again with sunflower seeds!
The paddle back was a bit better, maybe the food gave us the boost of energy that we needed. Overall, we've never had such a rough kayak trip at the Islands! It was definitely a fun challenge... although I'll take the calm weather any day over that!
We met a few friends along the way, as well. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't zoom while taking video, so I doubt you can see much. We saw a dolphin, a whale and a few seals... I think we said sea lion but I'm pretty sure they were seals. And, of course, we saw a few jelly fish in the water, too.
Back in Fisherman's Bay.
Looking cute, albeit mildly annoyed by the fact that I had
stopped rowing for the hundredth time to take more photos.
After Kayaking our hearts out, we returned to the cabin and were lazy for the rest of the evening.
The next morning we woke up early to attend the Farmer's Market on Lopez.
It was very cute, and although we saw more herbal remedies, jewelry and massage therapy than we did fresh veggies, it was a lot of fun. Darn hippies. ;)
I would love to have a garden as big as this one.
It reminded me of my Grandparents' garden at their old house in Vancouver.
Everywhere you turned, there was something growing!
After our trip to the market, we decided to have breakfast! These were the flowers along the sidewalk by Love Dog Cafe. If you ever travel to Lopez, you must try this cafe - it's great.
We ordered Eggs Benedict. It was sooooo gooood! Sadly, thereafter we had to drive back on the Lopez ferry and go home.
We did a bit of yard work after we got home. Daniel was evening out the dirt so that I could plant and then lay mulch down (which ended up happening a few weeks later, I believe).
Apollo, smiling as usual. Acutally, he was waiting for me to find and throw his frisbee.
A pano of the yard.
Silly Apollo is always trying to carry as many toys in his mouth as possible. He managed three the other day - his frisbee, his hollowed out frisbee (shown in the picture above) and his kong. Crazy dog...
