Washington – Riveted

Hanging with Friends in the San Juan Islands

Laura Domela — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 22:10:01 +0000

Part One

We left Portland on Tuesday and popped up to Anacortes to do a little cruising around the San Juan Islands. We've been busy catching up with friends since we got back from Alaska and this week we decided to combine that with some boating!

Our friends Bob and Sissy from Bodega Bay happened to be up on Whidbey Island celebrating their 10 year anniversary, and they decided to meet up with us for a little cruise. (Bob and Sissy own a wine shop called Gourmet au Bay that you might remember if you've been following along for a while.)

Leaving Anacortes on Wednesday morning:

We went over to Rosario Resort on Orcas Island and stopped for lunch. There was a bit of fog when we first got to Rosario, but it was still pretty (and it burned off during lunch).

Our original plan was to head over and grab a mooring ball at Spencer Spit State Park on Lopez Island. Our friend Sam was going to meet us there late in the afternoon (in his Nordic Tug 37) and we'd all have dinner together. We had some time to kill so we opted to go out San Juan Channel a bit toward Cattle Pass and look for orcas before heading to Spencer Spit.

Hey what do you know?? We found some!

It was perfect! Sissy and Bob had never been to the San Juan Islands, nor had they seen orcas in the wild. We scored for the vacationers, yay!

We texted with Sam and decided to meet over in Brigantine Bay on Decatur Island instead of Spencer Spit. We got there a bit after Sam and rafted up with him for easier dinner party back and forth access.

Just in time for a pretty sunset:

We grilled some salmon, roasted some baby potatoes with rosemary, and made a spinach salad, and Sam made some yum brownies for dessert. And wine. Sissy and Bob brought wine, of course. It was a fun evening!

Sunrise this morning:

I made breakfast tacos for everyone, then we said goodbye to Sam and headed back to Anacortes so Sissy and Bob could catch their flight back to California.

Decatur Island back to Anacortes (12 nautical miles, 1 hour 48 minutes):

Oh yeah, porpoises:

Tomorrow, we'll head out with some more friends for a few days. Our plan is to cruise over to Patos Island for a lighthouse hike and lunch, then to Sucia Island for the night (meeting up with Sam again!). We'll hike around Sucia on Saturday morning, then cruise over to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island for Saturday night (and have dinner at McMillin's). On Sunday we'll head back to Anacortes (with some dilly dallying and whale scouting in there somewhere).

Fun!

Sluys Poulsbo Bakery

Laura Domela — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 23:08:24 +0000

So, you know how sometimes you go to a new place, and people who have been there before all enthusiastically tell you "OMG you HAVE to go to such-and-such place and get the thingamajigger! It's the best one of those thingamajiggers we've EVER had?" (Come on, we've all done it, trying to share the things we love with new people.)

Sometimes those places that people recommend are bakeries. But t thing about bakeries is that they're filled with sugar and simple carbohydrates. Kevin and I usually try to avoid sugar and simple carbohydrates. (Neither of us has a very big sweet tooth either, so bakeries are never very high on our list. Fish markets? Farmer's markets? Craft distilleries? Yes please.)

But so many people told us about Sluys Poulsbo Bakery, that we stopped in yesterday after a large lunch (so add to the non sweet tooth, we were full). It looked like every other bakery: donuts, pastries, brownies, cookies, breads, more donuts, you get the idea.

We picked out two things to share and assumed we'd be sugared out after one bite. We were wrong.

Very wrong. The first thing we tried was one of these powdered sugar covered "Rosette". It was not too sweet, and it was not cakey. It was crunchy and delicate, and filled with air and sugar fumes. It was so LIGHT! (Is there anything even IN this bag??)

The second thing we tried was one of their most popular items…called a "Viking Cup" and can be seen in the first photo toward the middle. It's like a cinnamon roll with an open middle filled with cream cheese frosting. It was delicious, and not too sweet, and the frosting was perfect.

And so this morning before we left Poulsbo, we headed up to town for some breakfast and then headed straight back to Sluy's for some more sugar and simple carbohydrates.

We bought two more Rosettes, two more Viking Cups (why mess with success?). Due to it being earlier in the day the selection of breads was plentiful, and we picked up a bag of cheesy jalapeno rolls (because, holy crap!) and a loaf of their original Poulsbo Bread. We'll figure out something to do with it all, I'm certain.

Back to Airship past all the empty guest slips:

Headed down to Port Orchard and then Blakely Harbor on Bainbridge Island next!

Poulsbo: Little Norway on the Fjord

Laura Domela — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 22:26:53 +0000

The weather was gorgeous this morning as we left Langley and headed south to Poulsbo.

Langley Marina as we left our dock:

The water was mostly calm for the whole trip today:

I got a bunch of work done this morning in Langley before we left, so I was captain for this trip while Kevin worked on an article (sitting up in the pilot house with his laptop).

Approaching the Port of Poulsbo marina:

Our Nordic Tug in Poulsbo. Poulsbo is also known as "Little Norway on the Fjord" I think we'll fit right in!

Velkommen til Poulsbo!

Founded by Norwegian immigrant Jorgen Eliason in the 1880s, Poulsbo was settled in its early years by a large number of Norwegian and other Scandinavian immigrants because of its similarities to their native countries. In 1886 I. B. Moe, one of the early Norwegian settlers, suggested that the community should have a post office. Moe suggested the town be named Paulsbo (which translates as "Paul's place"), after the Norwegian village where Moe spent his early years. The community's petition for a post office was granted, and Moe became the first postmaster, but the authorities in Washington D.C. misspelled the town's name, probably because of illegible handwriting, and the community became known as Poulsbo thereafter. Poulsbo was officially incorporated on December 18, 1907.

Until World War II Poulsbo retained Norwegian as a primary language. However, during World War II, the military constructed about 300 residential units to provide housing for workers at the nearby Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, located in Bremerton, Washington. The population of Poulsbo almost tripled over three years, and the diversification of the population led to the dominance of English as the primary language.

On October 22, 1975, King Olav V of Norway visited Poulsbo as part of the celebration of 150 years of Norwegian settlement in the United States. [Thanks, Wikipedia]

We got settled and then walked into town for some lunch and a bit of exploring. The harbormaster recommended a spot called Sogno di Vino and gave us a 10% off coupon. We walked around and surveyed the options and it seemed fine so we gave it a try. When we asked the waitress what was good, she just gushed about pretty much everything. Usually, this means nothing, but every single thing we tried was fabulous. We shared a small caesar salad (delicious garlicky dressing), a chicken pesto panini with smoked tomato chutney on the side (amazing), and a 7" wood fired pizza called the "Caleb" which was topped with prosciutto, mushrooms, apple, fig, brie, mozzarella, and a drizzle of honey. It was fantastic. I don't think we'll be hungry again until tomorrow!

We walked around town more after lunch, and stopped at the highly recommended Sluys Poulsbo Bakery for a couple of sweet things (for later, way later):

Viking mural on the side of a downtown building:

The streets downtown have names like King Olaf Vei, Queen Sonja Vei, and the Norwegian heritage shows up everywhere. We're back at the boat working now, and not sure whether we'll stay here again tomorrow or head somewhere new.

This is what's so great about boating in the off season:

The entire guest dock is vacant (except for us). The weather was amazing here today…no jackets! And we sat on the top deck of the boat with an Aperol spritz and watched the sunset. What month is it??

Oh yeah, here's our track from today (35.4 miles):

Heading to LaConner

Laura Domela — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 22:54:59 +0000

We got up this morning and headed out to grab breakfast, a few things at West Marine, and then some crab and seafood pâté at Black Rock Seafood in Anacortes. Breakfast was delicious — at Dad's Diner a Go Go. We ordered the highly recommended biscuits and gravy (they make all their own sausage, smoke their own bacon, etc.) with two poached eggs, and the Franco Mexican French Toast (I think that's what it was called) which was super creative and yum: A bacon-wrapped, stuffed jalapeno embedded into a piece of fluffy french toast, topped with a poached egg and a creme fraiche. We couldn't decide which dish we liked best! I'm not a biscuits and gravy lover normally, but holy moly this was good! The gravy was filled with house-smoked bacon and house-smoked sausage and had such great flavor.

Food photos (biscuits and gravy first, french toast second):

After we were fed and erranded and seafood-supplied, we headed for LaConner, via the Swinomish Channel.

A couple ships in the bay:

The wind picked up and it was a bit choppy on our way over to the channel, but not too bad. The Swinomish channel is an 11-mile long salt-water channel that connects Padilla Bay to the north with Skagit Bay to the south, separating Fidalgo Island from the mainland. The Swinomish Channel is the smallest of the three entrances to Puget Sound—the other two are Deception Pass and Admiralty Inlet.

We got a spot in the LaConner marina for the night (after some tricky docking!) We docked on the inside of the dock (not the channel side) thinking it'd be a little calmer tonight, but the wind kept blowing us off as we tried to dock! We decided to come at the dock from the shelter of this big working boat so maybe it'd block some of that crazy wind, and it worked! Here we are:

And here's our route:

The first time I was in LaConner I was on a family vacation (sometime in the late 70s or early 80s) and they had a couple of Renault Le Cars they used as police cars in this cute waterfront town. They looked like this:

They don't have those anymore, but the town is still super cute! We walked around a bit, went in a few shops, and took some photos:

There are public docks you can tie up to if you want to just stop for a few hours and explore.

Shadow self portrait on the main street:

Many of the buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places:

Fun signage:

Waterfront on the channel:

Before heading back to the boat we stopped and had a happy hour appetizer of clams (in a coconut chipotle broth, yum!) and a couple of local beers at La Conner Brewing Co. (a brown and a stout). It was all really good and our bill was $14 bucks.

It was a gorgeous day and now the wind has died down and the forecast looks pretty great for the next few days.

Our working boat neighbor, just after sunset:

Orcas Island: Rosario Resort & Spa

Laura Domela — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 00:06:08 +0000

We left Portland on Friday morning and headed back up to Anacortes for a little more boat time. Our original plan was to head up on Thursday night after Kevin returned from a business trip, but Portland was all icy and stuff, so we decided to wait for the daylight.

We stopped at Black Rock Seafood in Anacortes before we got to the marina (provisions, yo) and picked up a Dungeness crab, some halibut, some frozen shrimp to test out our new decktop freezer, and two small containers (one each) of salmon pâté and albacore pâté. The owner was super friendly and even offered to deliver seafood down to the marina sometime if we arrive without a car. Score! We love this place even more now.

This morning was cold and a little frosty in Anacortes. I fixed us some breakfast (spinach/crab/egg/hollandaise) and we decided to head to the marina at Rosario Resort & Spa on Orcas Island. We took the long way (around the bottom of Lopez Island and then up to Orcas). The weather today was spectacular. Clear, sunny, calm, perfect.

Cattle Point Lighthouse, south end of San Juan Island:

Water:

We had the Garmin in the 3D Mariner's Eye View mode, and it was pretty cool. Center, left of the pink course line, you can see the WSF Elwha (Washington State Ferry) on radar:

And just as advertised…there it is (left)!

Oh yeah, and this:

Our spot for the night at Rosario:

As many times as we've been to Orcas Island (and we've been here a LOT), we've never been to Rosario. The resort is gorgeous and our moorage fee ($1/foot, so $34 bucks for us) includes not only electricity and water, but all spa facilities (!!!). For both of us. There's an indoor saltwater pool, a dry sauna, hot tubs, and two workout rooms. For additional charge you can schedule a massage or facial. Pretty sweet! I think we'll be back!

The center of the resort is the Moran Mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1904 by Robert Moran, a Seattle mayor who was also a shipbuilder and had a whole lot of property here on Orcas that he eventually donated to the State of Washington to be used as the park that today bears his name: Moran State Park.

Here's the Moran Mansion as we approached from the water:

After we checked in, we went into the Mansion Restaurant and had a cocktail and a couple small plates (garlic truffle fries, some wild boar salami with grainy mustard, and a delicious goat cheese with quince jam). Bad low light iPhone photo of said drinks and snacks:

Everything was delicious and I think we'll go back in the morning for breakfast.

After snacks we went upstairs to check out the Moran Museum. There's a giant Aeolian pipe organ with 1,972 pipes that Moran had installed at the Mansion. It's still played regularly for concerts on Saturdays at 4pm:

…some nice stained glass:

…and bunch of other neat things. Check out this enlarger:

Cool light fixtures:

We wandered around the grounds a bit before returning to Airship for the evening. The main floor with the rounded windows in this photo is the restaurant/dining room (with a great view of Cascade Bay out the front):

Looking back at the mansion from the other side of the outdoor pool (closed for the winter):

As tempting as it is to stay here another night and just hang out in the spa tomorrow, we'll probably head out to another island…maybe Stuart Island again since we only had lunch there and didn't stay the night. Sucia Island is also tempting (all those hiking trails!) I guess we'll decide in the morning.

Here's today's course (click to enlarge):

A Visit to the Nordic Tug Factory

Laura Domela — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 13:33:00 +0000

A couple months back while we were looking at boats and trying to zero in on which might be right for us, one of the things we did was get a tour of the Nordic Tug factory in Burlington, Washington. These are very well-made boats (as are the American Tugs, made in nearby LaConner, Washington — our runner up) and you couldn't go wrong with either boat. It was great to see the process, and we're very happy with our choice.

I didn't show you these earlier, because, well, it was a surprise (and we hadn't decided yet)!

Early on Tuesday morning we'll be heading north to close on the sale of our boat, and then starting right in with a few days of on-the-water training. We want to learn as much as we can (while there's someone right there to answer questions) before we strike out on our own (where we have to look things up on the internet).

After the 29th, we'll be having a few upgrades done to the boat, and once those are finished we'll probably explore the San Juans a little bit (if the weather's still decent) before bringing Airship back to Portland for some Columbia River time.

Morning at Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes:

I've already purchased a couple of the things from my Airship Decor post yesterday and I'm excited to see how they look on the boat. (I just want to be ON the boat already!) I'll wait to decide what else we want/need until after we've actually lived on the thing for a little bit. The boat is coming to us already outfitted with so many things we won't need to buy (fantastic!) but we know we're going to want to personalize the look and feel with our own bedding, throw pillows, towels, etc.

That pillow with the woodblock print of the giant octopus attacking the boat? Yeah. I got two of those.

Comically Bad Service at the Taproot Cafe

Laura Domela — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 15:01:49 +0000

The morning after our incredible meal at the Willows Inn we got up, showered, dressed, then headed downstairs to the Taproot Cafe for breakfast.

This is a cute little cafe with inside and outside seating. We walked inside to ask about breakfast and the gal at the counter told us they had two options: A fritatta, or the Willows Inn breakfast which included a soft boiled egg, a biscuit, a bowl of sauteed kale, blueberries, and a small charcuterie plate. We ordered two Willows Inn breakfasts. When she asked us if we wanted coffee, we ordered two cappuccinos. She got our room name (Sunrise) and told us to sit anywhere we liked and they'd bring out our coffee.

We chose an outside table for two, where we sat for about 20 minutes before anything happened. We could hear the milk frother going inside…over and over again, but not for us. After the first 20 minutes the same gal came out and asked us if we wanted coffee or anything. Um, yes, we still want coffee. I said "Yes, we ordered two cappuccinos when we first came in." She said she'd get right on that, sorry.

About 15 minutes later (still, no coffee), one breakfast arrived. She was explaining what each thing was on the plate, and I interrupted quietly and said "We ordered two of these…" She said "Yes" and continued with her explanation and then walked away.

We had no silverware or napkins still, and I wasn't sure she'd registered the second breakfast reminder, so when I went inside to get silverware, I clarified… "Just to make sure…we're waiting on one more Willows Inn breakfast, right?" She said, "Yes." Okay then.

About 10 minutes later (and after far more milk frothing sounds than two cappuccinos would ever need…where are all those containers of frothed milk going, anyway??) we got our cappuccinos. Still only one breakfast on the table.

I urged Kevin to start on this breakfast and I'd wait. We both picked a little at the sharable things while he had the egg and the kale, since they were warm. So the first breakfast was completely finished (even though we lagged a lot while we waited for the other one) and 15-20 minutes later, the second breakfast arrived. She said they were sorry for the wait, and that they would be sure to give us a 10% discount. Whoa. A whole two bucks off.

Toward the end of our second round of single breakfast plates, our waitress came over and asked if we wanted more coffee. Kevin said he would like another cappuccino (he was almost done with his first one), and she said she'd check back in about 5 minutes. I guess he needed to have an empty cup in order to get new coffee. At least she didn't completely forget about it, like the first time. About five minutes later she came back to see if he was ready. He said yes, but asked for the coffee to-go. (It still took ten minutes before said to-go coffee arrived.) Crazy.

Part of the deal was how incredible and perfect the service had been the night before for dinner (upstairs, different restaurant, same Willows Inn). It was spot on…friendly, fast, efficient. This was in SUCH stark contrast to that, and so spectacularly bad, that it became comical. (The food was actually quite good though!)

After breakfast we checked out and headed out to the courtyard to work for a bit. Here's a shot of our "office" from our room:

The smokehouse out behind the restaurant:

Down on the Sunset Beach in front of the Willows. Looking left:

Looking right:

After work and a quick walk on the beach, we took off on the bikes and did this ride:

As we were riding along the shore at Legoe Bay (or near it) there were some cute beach houses on the left, driftwood beach on the right, we were again laughing about how bad the service was for breakfast. We came around the corner as I was saying the words "spectacularly bad service" and two ladies on the porch of a beachhouse on the left yelled out "Are you talking about the Taproot Cafe??"

What the heck??? Yes! We slowed and stopped the bikes as they both gave us air "high 10s" and said "we hear ya sister!!" They'd apparently been there this morning too (inside at the counter) and had terrible service (even sitting right there at the counter!) and they'd been talking about their experience all morning, flabbergasted. However, they said the service was always that bad, and that perhaps it's even gotten worse over time. We told them about our experience, and they told us about theirs, and we laughed and shook heads and said "Nice commiserating with you" and headed back to the road. So funny!

We stopped at the Otto Preserve at the Lummi Island Heritage Trust for a short hike and a water refill, and continued on around the island. It was a lovely ride.

We returned to the Willows Inn and back to our patio spot to do some more work, and the concierge said if we wanted any lunch, we could order it from the Taproot and they'd bring it out to us in the courtyard.

And yet, for some reason, in we went. We ordered two dry sodas and two salmon paninis. They brought our food out to us promptly, and the service was lovely this time. The sandwiches (served with a side salad) were delicious.

I'd love to think the service fiasco at breakfast was just a fluke, but as we've heard from the locals — it was not.

Foggy Ferry to Whidbey

Laura Domela — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 21:25:46 +0000

We packed up this morning and left our fabulous spot at Point Hudson Marina and headed over to catch the 12:30pm ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville on Whidbey Island. We arrived at 11:45am and it was so uncrowded that we actually made the 11:45 ferry. Sweet! It was super foggy this morning and we had about 20 feet of visibility the whole ride to Whidbey.

Disappearing Port Townsend:

On the ferry:

We got to pull right onto the ferry taking up two lanes since we were almost the last ones on, and there was plenty of room (they told us to, we didn't just hog the space on our own). It was a nice change from the last ferry ride, smushed up against the wall with the mirrors all pulled in.

We went up to the top deck for the ride and watched for dolphins and orcas, but all we saw was fog and a few jellyfish…

…and this cool misty rainbow/halo thing around/over our heads off the side of the boat:

Deception Pass:

Here's a link to our last visit to Deception Pass (with lots more photos). It's so beautiful up here!

We stopped at a pullout at Pass Lake and had some lunch and did a bit of work in the Airstream. It's nice to always have an office/kitchen/coffee cart/restroom with us!

Once in Bellingham, I navigated us to a car wash I'd found online that sounded promising, called Sunset Car Wash, just off the freeway about 5 miles south of our destination. By "promising" how do the words "large RV bay with catwalk on both sides" sound? This place totally delivered. For $12 bucks we soaked, rinsed, foamed, waxed, wheel washed, and spot-proofed the Airstream (and then hand dried the whole thing ourselves). I love having a clean Airstream!

We're camped out in Bellingham for a few days with Leigh & Brian. Fun! Next stop: Vancouver Island!

Another Ferry Ride and Another Cupboard Catastrophe

Laura Domela — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:41:20 +0000

Yesterday we drove from Makah Bay over through Port Angeles to Kingston to catch the Kingston-Edmonds Ferry to hook up with our Weaselmouth pals for the weekend. The road from Makah Bay to Port Angeles was crazy…winding and bumpy, and then super slow at times (one sign said 10MPH next mile—!!!) and once we came over a sudden rise in the road where I think we might possibly have gotten air. I said to Kevin, "Wonder what just happened back there in the trailer?" because usually after a road like this we show up and and it looks like rockstar party aftermath—pillows and cushions everywhere, bourbon bottles rolling on the floor—and Kevin replied "Probably everything you love is broken." Always the worry, isn't it?

We stopped for lunch in Port Angeles (OMG, Little Devil's Lunchbox! Pulled pork and chorizo tacos! So good!!) and when we checked the back of the trailer, our cupboard above the microwave had come open. Again. This is the second time now (the first time I lost my entire set of Franciscan Starburst dinnerware). This is a thing that happens apparently, and we need to get a better latch on that cupboard because I'm not going to be bungee cording a cabinet that should say the heck closed with normal things in it as you go down the road.

There was oil (yes, OIL) all over the floor, that had been sprinkled liberally with truffle salt (Salt Farm #10) and then broken glass. Perfect. We did our best to get everything up, found the open/empty bottle of walnut oil in the bathroom (where it had nicely soaked the rug in there) and decided we'd deal with the rest of it once we got to our next spot. (It did smell pretty good, which was a plus.)

I got to do the ferry jockying this time. Look how close!

Leaving Kingston:

Passing another ferry:

We saw a dozen or so porpoises on our ride over! So cool! The ferry employee guy we were standing next to said they only see them every couple weeks or so and he was pretty excited. The tiny black dot there? That's one of 'em!

Disembarking in Edmonds:

Our new spot for the weekend at Lake Pleasant:

Oh and here's one of the signs I was telling you about on the Indian Reservation in Makah/Neah Bay as we were leaving. Meth equals Death. That it does:

The good thing about the Airstream oil spill is that now our floor is REALLY clean and nice 'n shiny from being waxed with walnut oil. The bummer is that even with detergent and hot water, the two rugs are still all oily.

Tonight we're heading to the craft distiller's festival in Seattle (Proof). Forty or so craft distillers, local restaurants, etc.

"Sample craft spirits from more than 40 Washington distilleries, including gin, whiskey, bourbon, vodka and more. Snack on delicious bites from top local restaurants, let expert mixologists help you discover your new favorite drink, and get in on the ground floor of one of the fastest-growing beverage industries in America."

Sounds good to me!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention…as we were unhitching last night, a part of our new hitch broke. Kevin's at the auto parts store down the street now to try to figure out a temporary fix. I did remember to take photos during this mishap (I've got to get better at photographing the mayhem before I clean it up!) and we'll post about this thing when we've got it worked out with a nice ending and all. What a day, huh?!?!