LaConner to Langley

Laura Domela — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 22:00:34 +0000

We left LaConner early this morning around 9am. I know, that's not super early, but by the time we left we'd both showered and cooked breakfast and made coffee and topped off our water tank, so considering all of that, it was early!

On our way through the lower part of the Swinomish Channel we saw many, many geese flying in cool formation overhead:

And then just out from Maple Grove Beach on the northwest tip of Camano Island, our sonar was picking up SO MANY FISH! For about 10 minutes we had solid lines of fish showing up at about 75 ft, like this:

Wouldn't it be cool if it just showed you the orcas, like this, just once?

We got into Langley (on Whidbey Island) at around 12:30pm, washed off the boat, paid for two nights, and headed up into town for some food and some wandering. We had lunch (and delicious espresso drinks) at Useless Bay Coffee Company. Look at Kevin's latte art:

We shared a jalapeno burger and some fish tacos and both plates were excellent! After lunch we stopped at Callahan's Firehouse to watch some glass blowing. Next we stopped into The Star Store and picked up a few things: a nice pair of wool fingerless gloves for Kevin, a pretty sweater for me, a new tea towel for the galley, and a proper captain's hat for whoever happens to be manning the helm. Score!

Next we stopped in at the Ott & Murphy Winery Tasting Room for a little wine tasting (with a view!):

We shared one tasting and brought 4 bottles back to put in Airship's wine cellar: a viognier, a syrah, and two bottles of their red blend called L'Entente (syrah, petite syrah, mourvedre, and viognier).

Here's a quick snap of the (full!) wine cellar:

Now we're just chillin at the boat (watching Deadliest Catch, heh). It's rainy and a bit windy outside and we plan to stay put and wait out what is supposed to be a windy day tomorrow.

Tomorrow we'll go back up into town and explore some more, and probably hit Kalakala for lunch. When we passed by today it looked like they had a couple of ramen specials that sounded perfect for a gray rainy Sunday.

Gray marina at Langley:

Tonight we're going to use some of the pulled pork we made and froze at home last week in some Cubano sandwiches. (Kevin brined the meat for 4 hours, smoked it for 4 hours, cooked it in the sous vide for 60 hours, then finished it on a hot grill to get a good bark on the outside. I made a Carolina vinegar sauce for it — apple cider vinegar, red chili flakes, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, and pepper.) It came out so good and works wonderfully on a Cubano.

Oh yeah, I forgot to post these shots from yesterday. This is as we were about to enter the Swinomish Channel, between Anacortes and LaConner:

Here's a map of today's route (about 30 nautical miles):

No whales today, but we did see a few seals and some porpoises. They're out here though…we'll see some this trip…I just know it.

Geysers, Goats, Wine, and Mud

Laura Domela — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 01:47:20 +0000

Today in Calistoga it rained most of the day, so we just hunkered down and worked. Late in the afternoon there appeared to be a break so we unfolded the bikes and took off for a little exploring.

First stop was Envy Wines.

Hey look! They have an Airstream too!

It was a great tasting. (Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, Cabernet, a really good blend, and a Petit Sirah). The tasting room was filled with visitors from Portland (us), Seattle, Spokane, and San Francisco. Fun! Great wines! We brought some back to the Airstream…on our bikes:

Next stop: Old Faithful Geyser of California.

This geyser erupts every 10 minutes, but sometimes every 6 minutes (so convenient!). It's…um…"AMAZING"?

But not really. I mean, it's okay, but it's $14/per person and it's certainly not Old Faithful in Yellowstone. But hey! There's a petting zoo, which is really just a bunch of goats running around. BUT, they have Tennessee Fainting Goats, and although we didn't get to see any fall over, they were pretty cute.

They've got some other stuff too (Jacob's Four-Horn Sheep, and I think some other kinds of goats), and a llama or two.

And that's it. But for us, it was TOTALLY worth 28 bucks because we got to make you guys this video that will give you the truly authentic feel of this tourist trap experience. Enjoy all the way to the end:

So there. We just saved you 14 bucks per person, right? (And how'd you like that fortuitous volunteer narrator??)

We rode back to camp, put our bikes away, and walked a couple blocks to our 6pm mud bath appointment at Golden Haven Hot Springs.

It's a litle hotel/resort with a mineral pool and stuff, but during the week at certain times they have a two-for-one special so a couple (or two naked friends, whatever) can go for $89 bucks total and get a mud bath (with mud facial and cold compress), then a jacuzzi mineral tub soak, then a blanket wrap. And if you want to go in their mineral water pool afterward, you're welcome to do that too. Here's a shot of the mud baths, but my lens was steaming up so it looks a little gauzy:

It was so cool though. You get in and have to kind of shimmy your way down into the mud (which is clay, peat and hot springs mineral water) until you're submerged, but you still are completely suspended in this earthy stuff. It's super trippy and we loved it.

We walked back just at sunset and snapped this shot outside the Airstream:

A great day in Calistoga!

winery – Riveted

LaConner to Langley

Geysers, Goats, Wine, and Mud