There was a very important battle fought on San Juan Island for control over the San Juan Archipelago between England and the United States. There are now two parks on the island called English Camp and American Camp.
My husband wanted to visit American camp; I tended toward English camp. The hubby said there would not be tea and crumpets at English camp, but I was not deterred. We however, went to American camp.
Apparently this war between the Brits and Yanks was over a shot pig.
And it was an American who shot the British pig. I will leave you to create your own joke here.
So at American camp you can hike around on the bluffs of the mostly undeveloped land (the Brits at their camp made a garden, dance hall, etc. They probably had their own design for a dinner plate.). It is really quite neat...
I am the little ecru blip in this photo heading for the little cliff by the sea. We saw an otter around here - not close up, just in the cove to the left.
Then we saw a BALD EAGLE - it landed 50 feet in front of us! We had seen a woman earlier walking around with a troop of dachshunds and we wondered if the eagle was scouting them out (it would be good eats). It was pretty cool and we tried to get as close as possible to it. I had control of the camera at this point --
--and was able to capture this lovely shot. Now, shortly after the hubby got this close to the eagle, it took off. It was totally him, NOT me, who spooked the eagle. There was a bit of a silent, eye-brow raising, argument between us, but the eagle settled a few feet from us UP the cliff and that stopped the blamefest. It was closer to my husband, so I took a picture.
He said taking the photo made him feel like an ugly tourist. I told him it would be a great shot should he ever run for political office.
"Our next president has shown himself to be patriotic. If there is a bald eagle around, the symbol of a strong and bold America, he takes a picture with it. It's the American thing to do."
Or something like that - some stupid political mumbo-jumbo that is supposed to satisfy the pleebs.
Then we decided to head up the bluffs; saw some salmonberries and got poked by various thistles. As we reached the top of the ridge, we noticed ships motoring toward the nearby waters. Then we saw little bits poking out of the water - it looked like bobbing sticks from our position.
"Orcas!"
So we BOLTED down there. I know my ancient Mayan and Spanish ancestors might have been runners, but I did not get that genetic make up. Neither did my husband - he is a terrible runner too. But we ran with all of our strength, keys jingling in my pockets, backpack bopping around on his back (he always takes a bag with him full of supplies for cold weather and nuclear disaster).
And we hustled down the path leading to that first cliff we hiked too.
As I was rounding a turn, my eyes downcast to check for rocks or roots that might twist and/or break my ankles, I spied some dark eyes looking at me. I gasped. I thought I was about to run over a little dog and stopped abruptly.
It was a FOX - a large grey fox. Well, he was kinda skinny with a white beard and the had the most delicate black paws. I think I heard him yelp a little - or perhaps scream. An instant later he hopped back into the grass. The hubby thinks we chased him for a little longer, but I am pretty sure he was giving us the paw for scaring him.
And now, for my directorial debut: little one productions presents...ORCAS!
I of course have the most amazing commentary. :|
With this little jaunt, the plans to go the lavender farm were cut and we decided to have lunch by the pier near where our whale watching trip was. Then we would go to the whale museum.
But, I insisted on going to the lavender store downtown (products from the lavender farm are sold there) and had a grand time. The hubby sat on a bench outside the store as I spend our money.
We had little time for the whale museum, but went to check on the cost ($6 - not bad) and perused the gift shop. I was SO tempted to buy a giant squid stuffed animal for Kate and Odious' little boy...the hubby was concerned about getting it in the luggage.
This was shortly before the whale watching adventure - if someone wants to photoshop away my chub I would greatly appreciate it:)
Then it was off to whale watching adventure. Here is one of the examples of my cinematic genius - I think there is even a dork in the video. The word "dork" is (allegedly) the Yiddish word for "whale penis" - which we did see a lot of since the orcas were mating. Look for a bit of pink on the belly of the whale - one of our guides called it the "Pink Floyd". Ew.
**Technical Difficulty - I can't get the video to load**
I would say that whales and fireworks by themselves are equally cool - now whale + fireworks would be a spectacular show.
Then we drove toward Lime Kiln to see how the singing was going. We took pictures near Lime Kiln (I was wearing my new Dansko Sandals which are not great for hiking) --actually just above Dead Man's Cove and watched a lovely sunset. My hubby got some nice shots of me.
Then I wanted to get some pictures of him with the Olympic mountains in the background. So, the hubbster complied, but as I was directing him, he got a little annoyed.
And I started laughing because the picture pops up after you take it and it was a VERY "annoyed hubby" picture and he starts laughing because he knows that picture must have looked stupid and I was able to get this great candid shot.
So my one lesson learned in the photography session is ''Get the hubby mad at you, then he will start laughing because he is being ridiculous, and then he will give you a good expression".
Then we went the hostel to sleep on a twin bed. NEVER AGAIN will I do that.
On to Sunday!
No comments:
Post a Comment