San Juan Island-The Right Kind of Centimeters

Thursday, September 07, 2006

San Juan Island-The Right Kind of Centimeters

San Juan Island – August 2006

Having barely unpacked after our month long trip to Alaska, Super Rogelio and I packed again for a 3 day mini-vacation to San Juan Island. Joining us were Sister the Elder and Sister the Younger. The ferry that took us from Anacortes to the San Juan Island was named the “Yakama” – a good omen as Sister the Younger lives in Yakima, WA.

After lunch in Friday Harbor, we traveled to the west side of the island for camping at Mitchell Bay. At check-in, the owner brought out papers to be signed and directed me, Sister the Shorter, to a bench behind the oversized counter for signing. The owner had built the bench for a vertically challenged employee and found it convenient for vertically challenged customers like me.

Must Have Cell Phones

We settled into camp and then went for a hilly bike ride at American Camp Nat’l Historic Park. We walked out to the lighthouse at Cattle Point and went down to the beach in search of tidepools. We were rewarded with harbor seal sightings. Driving back to Mitchell Bay, we stopped at a bluff overlooking Haro Strait and watched the sunset.

View from bluff

Tree hugging at English Camp

On day 2 we discovered that Reuben Tarte Park, set in a small but scenic cove, was a perfect spot for a picnic lunch. Then, being non-discriminatory, we visited English Camp Nat’l Historic Park. Once upon a time both Britain and the U. S. claimed San Juan Island as their own. They set up competing camps on San Juan Island during the “Pig War”, precipitated when an American settler shot an English pig. Despite a military build-up on San Juan Island and much macho posturing, the dispute was eventually settled diplomatically. The only casualty of the Pig War was the pig. I think the moral of the story is that life would be a lot more peaceful if we weren’t such hogs. Anyway, English camp was enjoyable, particularly the hike to the top of Young Hill.

Reuben Tarte Park

Back at the campground, we were lucky in our camper neighbors. On one side was a woman and her kayak. She introduced herself as Madonna without the money. (Donna) On the other side was a woman and her daughter. They were very forgiving after Super Rogelio confessed that he “borrowed” their salt while they were gone. Of course, it helped that Super Rogelio brought over cookies to sweeten them up. Nearby was a foreign couple who sized up Super Rogelio perfectly. Sister the Younger was jumping in an effort to close the topper window on our pick-up. Super Rogelio saw her futile efforts, reached up to close the window and boasted, “You need a real man for that”. The foreign woman responded, “No, you just need the right kind of centimeters.”

Roche Harbor had 3 things going for it. Public showers! (There were none at the campground.) A fine production of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” in an outdoor venue. And a large sculpture garden where you can get exercise and culture at the same time. The sculptures were quite fun, bringing out our opinionated selves.


On the last day, we went on a kayak tour on the west side of the Island. I was paired with Sister the Elder in a tandem kayak. We must have thought we were in bumper boats at an amusement park. No other kayak was safe from our errant ramming. We also really got our money’s worth. I think Sister the Elder and I went twice as far as anyone else. We zigged and we zagged and we zigged and we zagged. Meanwhile, Super Rogelio and Sister the Younger kayaked in a straight line and led the pack. Thankfully, we did better on the second half of the trip. I don’t have the right kind of centimeters and my arms and shoulders were telling me so!

Smooth sailing to all!