The woman selling coffee on the ferry assured me the San Juans were bright and sunny that morning, so I settled in for the hour ride. When we arrived I hooked up with Discovery Sea Kayaks and we were sent off on a van to the other side of the island (which is apparently where you see more wildlife, including orcas) for the full-day tour. We got in and paddled through beds of sea kelp and big red "Lion's Mane" jellyfish.
Our guide, Tara (James' friend), also pointed out these very cool birds emitting a very high squeak named Pigeon Guillemots. You can see a video of one of these very silly little birds here on YouTube, but the best part about them was how they landed on the water. They seemed to prepare for a very graceful landing, flapping their wings to slow down, but then they just folded them up and crashed down into the water in a big splash.
We stopped for lunch on this pretty pebble beach--
Then we headed back again toward the van, stopping to look at this cool lighthouse...
After the tour was over, I took Tara out for dinner at the local happy hour spot, where she convinced me to try mussels..... yikes!!! That was definitely a first for me. Luckily they were completely drown in a butter/white wine sauce which could make just about anything taste good. Tara looks almost as skeptical as me in this picture...
Finally I said bye to Tara and headed back on the ferry across to Bellingham. Here are some views of the lovely Friday Harbor as I was leaving:
Just as we disembarked the ferry, this gorgeous sunset sent golden rays shooting across the water... a perfect ending to the day.
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