Tag Archives: San Juan Island

The San Juan Islands Photography Cruise

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Another cruise on the Motor Vessel David B.

Twitter is my social media platform of choice and I follow so few people there because I actually try to read everything they tweet. That’s how I learned about the four-day photography cruise in the San Juan Islands on the Motor Vessel David B and the 50% discount they were offering to fill empty cabins.

David B
Here’s a photo of the David B at anchor on the last day of our trip.

I’d taken a 12-day cruise on the David B from Bellingham, WA to Ketchikan, AK back in April/May of this year. (I started to blog about it in some detail and put that aside. Sorry.) I knew all about the boat and what I could expect on board. Cruising on a small ship isn’t cheap and I honestly didn’t expect to be on the David B again. But 50% off made the four-day trip quite a deal. I put it to my Twitter friends — should I or shouldn’t I? — and was overwhelmingly told to go for it.

So I juggled some other responsibilities that weekend, booked my spot, arranged for my usual house sitter (who, on arrival, seemed a little too excited about my new TV), charged up the battery in my 2003 Honda S2000 (long story there), and packed for the trip. At 5 AM on Thursday morning, I loaded two carryon sized wheelie bags — one with clothes and the bigger one with camera equipment — into the trunk of the Honda and started on my way.

Getting There

The David B lives in Bellingham when it isn’t summering in Alaska. Bellingham is about four hours from my home. Boarding time was at 9 AM and I wanted to maximize my time on board. That’s the only reason I set off in the dark — I absolutely detest driving on unfamiliar roads at night.

After a quick stop at a Starbucks drive thru for one of their bacon and egg sandwiches (I had my own coffee in a travel mug) and another stop for gas in Leavenworth, I began the climb up into the mountains on Route 2. That’s right about the time the rain started. Great. Not only was I driving in the dark, but I was doing it in the rain.

Fortunately, I seemed to be one of very few people on the road. As the rain came down, cleaning all the garage and road dust off my car and reminding me again that I needed new wiper blades, I made the best pace I could without scaring myself. The car performed admirably — it always does — but it was still a relief to be on the other side of Stevens Pass in the valley beyond.

I stopped at the Sultan Bakery primarily to use their bathroom, but I also bought a nice cinnamon bun with no icing. I ate that in the car and kept driving. It was light by this point, but a dreary day with a heavy overcast. I wondered whether the whole weekend would be like that.

I arrived at Gate 5 of Bellingham’s Squalicum Harbor at about 9:05 AM. A short while later, I was wheeling my two bags up to the David B. On board, it was hugs for Christine and Jeffrey, the boat’s owners/captains. Jeffrey led me downstairs and, surprisingly, put me in the same cabin I’d had that spring. It felt like coming home.

My Cabin
My cabin on the David B consisted of a comfy queen sized bed, space to stand/dress, and a tiny head (bathroom) with toilet and sink. I had the luxury of two portholes: one in the sleeping area and one in the head. There was only one shower on board and that was in a spacious shared head at the forward end of the cabin area.

My Fellow Passengers

Back upstairs, the other passengers had arrived and were settling in. There was Betsy from Port Townsend, who had also taken advantage of the last minute half-price offer. Then there were Jeffrey and Jane, from Oregon; Jeffrey — I’ll call him Jeff from this point on so we don’t confuse him with Captain Jeffrey — was the photographer. Al and John were the photographers leading the trip; Ilene was Al’s wife. The David B only has four passenger cabins so that meant John would be sleeping upstairs in the saloon.

Interestingly, we were all about the same age — mid 50s to mid 60s. We immediately hit it off. Our first lunch together, after getting underway, was a parry among passengers quoting lines from The Princess Bride. Lots of laughter. I soon realized that I was among brainy people who, for the most part, were up on current events. I was also very pleased when I realized that we were all on the same page politically. Conversations at meals got deep, especially on the last night when we talked a little about climate change and what to do about it.

Day 1

The weather cleared while we were settling in, with blue sky peeking out behind low, drifting clouds. The forecast called for a gale warning, but we saw no sign of that. The wind was relatively calm and the sea was smooth.

Bellingham Harbor
I shot this off the stern of the David B while we were still in the slip. It was turning into a beautiful day.

We started out between 10 and 11 AM on that first day. It was great to hear that old 3-cylinder engine’s familiar rhythmic beat! After squeezing out of the slip — a feat I was amazed by — Jeffrey took us out across Bellingham Bay and around the south end of Lummi Island. I had my nautical charting app running on my iPad with the tracking feature turned on, but it soon failed to track — I had neglected to delete tracks from my previous cruise and the app’s memory was full. Further confusing the matter was that Al and John did a little lecture enroute. That required them to darken the salon so they could use a projector and screen. With the windows curtained, it was impossible to track our progress through the islands.

The lecture was an introduction to photography with a concentration on themes, composition, and what makes a photo work. John showed some of his photos — mostly landscapes from Alaska and the American southwest — and Al showed some of his — mostly black and white images that showcased textures and patterns.

Somewhere along the way — it might not have been that first lecture — Al introduced Adobe Lightroom, which we were required to have installed on our laptops — and explained the benefits of shooting in RAW format (as opposed to JPEG). We all made sure we had RAW format enabled on our cameras; I set up mine to save RAW on one SD card and JPEG on the other.

Sucia Island Chart
The nautical chart for the Sucia Islands. The yellow dot marks where we dropped anchor.

We reached our destination early afternoon: Sucia Islands. Jeffrey steered us into Echo Bay and then into the narrow channel between Sucia Island and Justice Island, right near the gap between Justice and South Finger Island. Christine dropped the anchor. There were a few other boats in the area — mostly in Echo Bay — and a small cruise ship was parked just on the other side of the gap between Justice and South Finger. Jeffrey told us it was on the last day of its cruise from Alaska to Seattle and would likely leave during the night.

We gathered our gear together while Christine and Jeffrey lowered the skiff. Laden with camera bags and tripods, we climbed on board and donned life jackets for the short ride. Jeffrey took us over to the little bay on the northeast end of Sucia Island, right where Ewing Island and some other tiny islands make a shallow, sheltered bay. He landed us there and we all climbed out onto the gravel beach.

We started off as a group, but soon split up to wander on our own. Sucia is a park and is covered with trails that wind through dense forest of conifers and madrone trees. The madrone were fascinating, reminding me a lot of the manzanita I knew from northern Arizona. Their red peeling bark was very photogenic and I got more than a few shots.

Madrone Bark
The bark peeling off a madrone limb, which was growing at an odd angle on Sucia Island.

I got into a little bit of trouble for not using my tripod on every shot, but when Al and John realized that I’d prefer to make my own mistakes and learn from them (if I was making a mistake at all), they didn’t bother me about it. I did drag my tripod along on every shoot that weekend except the last and I used it for about a third of the photos I took when we were on land. (I plan to blog a bit more about tripods soon.)

Great Blue Heron
A great blue heron perched in a conifer.

One of the oddest things I saw (and photographed) was a great blue heron perched on a conifer near the beach where we’d landed. He stayed almost perfectly still for at least 30 minutes and all of us got photos of him. I think Christine’s came out the best; she had a lens able to get in really close and capture a lot more feather detail than I could with mine.

After 90 minutes or more, we gathered together on the gravel beach for Jeffrey’s return on the skiff. From there, we cruised along the south shore of Ewing Island, which is just covered with amazing tafoni formations. The water was relatively smooth and Jeffrey was able to get quite close. With my 75mm to 300mm zoom lens and a 1/1000 shutter speed, I had no trouble capturing full frame shots of the rock formations. Best of all, the late afternoon light deepened shadows and enhanced colors. Since texture is one of the themes I like to explore in my photography, I was in heaven. So were Al and John, who apparently had never had the opportunity to spend so much time in this area. For close to an hour, the skiff was full of the sound of shutter clicks and photographer oohs and aahs.

Tafoni and Sandstone
Contrast was one of the themes suggested by Al and John. This is sandstone with tafoni formations in the lower right corner.

Tafoni Closeup
Here’s a closeup shot of some tafoni. I’m pretty sure I shot this one at my feet while I was still on Sucia Island.

Lone Gull
What struck me about this was the back lighting and silhouette. Lightroom brought out a lot of detail in the bird, but also put a halo around its body which required more work to remove.

I didn’t just shoot rocks as we inched along the shoreline. There were also birds — mostly gulls — and distant views of Mount Baker’s snow-covered top. My shutter clicked.

Birds on Tafoni
These birds seemed to pose for a photo. Although I think the composition and mechanics are fine, I’m disappointed by the lack of contrast. I wish the birds were white so they’d stand out more.

Birds with Mount Baker
The view in this shot was stunning, but it took a lot of work in Lightroom to get it to look this good. Even so, I wish I could do better.

Back on the boat, we got our first Lightroom lesson. The goal was to get the raw images off our SD cards and into our laptops in a Lightroom catalog. I also took the opportunity to back up all of my photos onto one of my photo hard disks, which I’d brought along just for that purpose. Al and John then showed us how to use a lot of the controls in the Basic panel of the Develop module. (Pardon me if I’m getting these terms wrong, but it’s not like I’m writing a book about them.) They encouraged us to ask them for help making any fixes we needed as we worked on images. The goal was to have three images to share for a critique after dinner.

Of course, none of us followed the three image rule. Jeff was the worst, with 11. I submitted the seven you see above plus the other one below for a total of eight, and Betsy submitted five. Oops. Al and John projected them onto the screen and critiqued them, suggesting things like bringing out detail in one spot or toning down the brightness in another or changing the crop. All helpful bits of feedback.

Weathered Log
Here’s the eighth photo I submitted. I really do like capturing textures. This was a log lying along the beach.

Dinner was amazing (as usual on the David B). We had pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes and veggies. I’d brought along a pint sized jar of either homemade mango or cherry chutney — I can’t tell the difference because I made the cherry chutney with yellow rainiers — to go with the pork and it got raves. We ate almost all of it. After chatting for a while in the saloon, we all retired for the night.

I slept like the dead, likely exhausted from a combination of my early start, the stressful drive, and the activity on shore.

Day 2

In the morning, the little cruise ship was gone. It was a beautiful morning.

I tried to launch my drone but it wouldn’t fly. Apparently I was in some sort of restricted area — possibly the park? I was disappointed and didn’t try again.

We had breakfast: spinach frittata, yogurt, granola, sausage, and blueberry muffins. (The David B is not a boat for dieters.) Then we had another Lightroom lesson and planned our next photo outing.

The plan was to stay right where we were for the day. We’d go onshore at Echo Bay and could walk anywhere on the island. Christine wanted to show us what she called the sunken forest — a place where trees that had grown in a low-lying area had been killed off, likely from the invasion of salt water. There was also Fossil Bay (where there were fossils) and China Caves (which were cavelike formations). The entire island was heavily wooded, but there were plenty of trails, some of which were wide enough for the ranger who lived there to get around on a six-wheeled Gator.

By the time we got onshore, the weather had changed. Clouds were moving in and it looked like we might get rain. The group stayed together for a while, crossing the island at the narrow point we’d landed at and then following a trail to the sunken forest. There was a very large school group on the island and we must have passed about 30 kids ranging in age from 5 to 12 going the other way. There were adults, too; one of them was a woman carrying two babies. I took some photos around the sunken forest and didn’t like anything I shot. Betsy wanted to check out the fossils so I went with her.

It started to rain just as we began walking. At first, I thought the thick forest canopy would keep us dry, but soon it was obvious that it wouldn’t. I was glad I’d had the foresight to bring my rain jacket instead of my cotton sweatshirt as my outer layer. Although my jeans were getting wet, I was staying warm and dry up top. The rain became a downpour just as we reached a trail intersection where there were some signs and maps covered by an overhang. Al and Ilene were already in there. We joined them.

Hail
Hail outside the shelter I waited in with Al and Ilene.

Betsy didn’t stay long. She wanted to find fossils and took off in the direction of the area where they could be found. The ranger eventually found the rest of us and told us there was a more comfortable shelter a little farther down the trail. We made our way there. It was a big wooden shelter with windows all around and a concrete floor, filled with picnic tables. We’d just gotten inside when the downpour became a torrential downpour and it began to drop pea-sized hail all around us.

Oddly, I didn’t mind the rain. It wasn’t cold and even though my legs were damp, my upper body was warm and dry. I took off my rain jacket and draped it over a table to dry a little and watched the rain come down. Being a desert dweller, I really do enjoy a good rainstorm now and then.

It eventually let up and I headed out in search of Betsy and the fossils. I found her at the head of Fossil Bay, stowing loose day packs and jackets under a picnic table. The school group we’d passed had left everything out to get completely soaked by the rainstorm.

She showed me two fossils she found and together we headed back to where Jeffrey would be picking us up with the skiff. We made only two wrong turns before getting on the right trail. I found a single chanterelle mushroom along the way.

On the way back to the boat I realized that I’d taken very few pictures. Instead, I’d really enjoyed the hike in the dense woods, despite the rain.

We had another Lightroom lesson and then worked on our images for a while. I was really starting to like using Lightroom. I had never really understood the point of it since I’d been using Photoshop for so long. But now I could see that when working with RAW images, it was an excellent non-destructive tool for fine-tuning photographs.

Day 3

We headed away from the Sucia Islands just after breakfast on Saturday. Our destination was Garrison Bay on San Juan Island. Keep in mind that none of these islands were very far from each other, but when you’re cruising at a whopping 6 knots, it takes a while.

Spieden Island to Garrison Bay
Here’s the chart and some of our track (in red) for the trip to Garrison Bay.

One of the highlights of the day’s cruise was a trip up the south shore of Spieden Island. This privately owned island was once the site of a hunting preserve. The original owners had brought in a bunch of miniature deer, bighorn sheep, and other animals and let them loose on the island. When the hunting preserve business failed, the owners abandoned the place, leaving the animals behind. They quickly reproduced with their limited gene pool resulting in some unusual animals. Jeffrey got close enough to see lots of these animals grazing on the grassy slopes of the island or climbing around on the rocks near the shore. I didn’t take any photos but regret it; Betsy got at least a few nice ones.

We saw a pair of bald eagles perched atop Sentinel Rock just as we made the turn inbound toward San Juan Island. We were all out there snapping away. I got a few nice shots, but none of them were good enough to make the cut for the next critique.

Bald Eagles
Bald eagles on Sentinel Rock. I manipulated this in Lightroom, but never got it as good as I’d like. I eventually gave up.

We were in the middle of another Lightroom lesson with the windows curtained and the screen separating the saloon from the wheelhouse when Jeffrey appeared suddenly and lifted the screen. “There’s a whale outside,” he announced.

You never saw so many middle aged people jump to their feet, grab their cameras, and head outside so quickly.

The whale was a humpback and it was only a few hundred yards away. Two whale watching boats were already with it — at least they were as close as they’re allowed to go. The smaller boat was listing to one side as all of its passengers gathered there.

I soon realized there was a pattern to the whale’s appearances. First there would be a burst of spray as its blowhole reached the surface and it took a breath. Then we’d see its long back and top fin. Then it would disappear for about 10 to 30 seconds. That whole routine happened five to eight times in a row before the dive. That’s when you’d see the whale’s tail emerge from the water as its body headed down to the depths. Once it dove, it would be five to 10 minutes before it appeared again, usually somewhere else.

After shooting too many disappointing pictures of the whale’s back, I decided to focus on getting a shot of the tail. Each time it came back to surface, Jeffrey would try to get closer and we’d all move into position to photograph it. For one round, I put my camera in continuous mode, which enables you to hold down the shutter button and just keep shooting. I soon realized that the size of the RAW image files the camera was creating limited me to about ten shots like that. Every time the whale would reappear after a dive I’d try something else. Once, when Jeffrey just let the boat idle in position on the water, the whale came up right next to us, not even 100 yards away. That’s when I got my best shot: a beautiful view of a barnacled tail dripping with seawater.

Humpback Whale Tail
Shot with a 300mm lens from the boat, this image is not cropped. In fact, I didn’t need to make many improvements in Lightroom at all.

We watched the whale for about an hour. You can see our track — the red line — in the chart image above. Finally, when it surfaced quite a distance ahead of us back east on the Spieden Channel, we broke off and headed south into Roche Harbor and beyond it to Garrison Bay. The Lightroom lesson finished in the darkened saloon with a discussion of the HDR and panoramic tools.

This was my second time in Garrison Bay, which is right off shore at English Camp on San Juan Island. We’d stopped there on our way from Bellingham to Ketchikan back in April. It was a sheltered cove, which was a good thing because the wind had definitely picked up.

After lunch, we went to shore at English Camp. I’d been there a few years before during a motorcycle trip to Friday Harbor that I’d made with a friend. It looked different from the water side. The history of the place involves a border dispute and a pig. There are a number of surviving buildings, a formal garden fading for winter, and paths leading up to a small cemetery and the top of 650-foot Young Hill.

Dalia
I got this closeup shot in the formal garden down near the buildings. This is exactly the way the photo came out of my camera — I didn’t make a single adjustment in Lightroom.

Trees
This is my favorite photo from the trip. I used my 10mm-28mm zoom lens set to 10mm and mounted the camera on a tripod for a good exposure in the dark forest.

The group started together but soon split up with the most athletic taking the mile-long path all the way up the hill. I lingered in the dense forest and eventually made it up to the cemetery, shooting photos along the way. I had dutifully brought along my tripod but soon got tired of using it. On the way back down to the dock, I took my time and shot a lot of photos of mushrooms, using my iPhone for most of them.

Mushrooms
Nothing beats my iPhone for taking shots of tiny mushrooms on the forest floor from only inches away.

I saw Jeffrey coming back for us while I was still quite a way from the dock. I hurried without running. He said he’d check in every half hour, but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to wait. I didn’t. When I got there, Jeff and Ilene were already on board. The others — Betsy, Al, and John — had gone all the way up to the top of the hill and would catch the next ride. (Christine and Joan had stayed behind.)

The water had gotten choppy and although it wasn’t rough enough to rock the David B, it was enough to have it swinging back and forth at anchor. I sat at the table in the Galley with Ilene to work on my photos while Christine worked on making croissant dough. Betsy soon joined us. We’d have a new show and tell the next day on our way back to Bellingham and I was hoping to have something more interesting to show.

Dinner was halibut cheeks with a cream sauce and veggies. Yum.

John mentioned that it might be possible to see the aurora that night. He’d gotten a text from a friend. But it was cloudy and rain was in the forecast. It was agreed that if either Jeffrey or Christine saw the aurora on their overnight watches — they walk the ship several times a night — they’d wake us up.

I slept badly. The swinging of the ship made weird noises when the anchor chain hit the forward port side of the ship. I heard footsteps overhead and thought I heard voices. I kept waiting for someone to come to the door to tell me the aurora was visible. Finally, at about 4 AM, I gave up trying to sleep and spent time reading instead.

Day 4

As usual, I was the first passenger in the galley that morning, making my appearance at about a quarter past 6. As usual, the coffee was ready. If there had been an aurora event to see, the clouds had hidden it. As someone said later in the day, the trip had been so perfect that the aurora was the only thing that could have made it better.

We were working on images in the saloon when Christine brought out a tray of her croissants. Plain, chocolate, cinnamon, and pepper jelly. Fortunately, they were small. I tried one of each and then had seconds of the ones I really liked.

Breakfast came a little later: cheesy grits with thick bacon, yogurt, granola, and fruit. I ate too much grits.

By that time, Christine and Jeffrey had pulled up the anchor and we were under way, headed to our next stop, Jones Island. The island, which is just off the southwest corner of Orcas Island, is a state park with several small bays, campsites, shelters, and pit toilets. I bet it’s packed on summer weekends. But that day it was nearly deserted, with no one in sight where Jeffrey parked on the south side. We all went ashore for a final photo outing. I purposely left my tripod behind, tired of lugging it around.

We split up quickly. I chose a trail that wound around the west side of the island, hugging the top of a bluff for much of the way. I spotted (and photographed) three deer in three separate spots. I eventually wound up at another camping area that I mistakenly thought was on the north side of the island. It wasn’t until I took the trail that I thought would take me back to my starting place and wound up someplace completely different that I realized I’d only gone one quarter of the way around the island before taking the new trail.

Gnarly Log
Did I mention that I like to photograph textures? This was part of a tree that leaned over the trail. John later said he must have spent an hour at that same tree.

Leaves
Al had suggested contrast as a theme and I thought this was a good example. It’s also a reminder that autumn is on its way.

I found Al and Ilene at the camping area on the north side of the island. I walked back with them for a while, pointing out some of the more attractive mushrooms I spotted along the way. I’m not sure if Al was just being polite but he seemed genuinely interested in some of the ones I pointed out.

We crossed from north to south on the main ADA-compliant gravel trail. Back at the starting point, we started to regroup. A while later, we were on our way back to the David B in the skiff.

Back on the boat, we had enough time to edit images and have lunch before our final critique. My new photos were the ones above: whale tail, flower, trees, gnarly wood, contrasting leaves. They didn’t have many comments to improve any of them.

They had a Canon photo printer with them and offered to print one enlargement for each of us. I chose the trees. The print came out great but with all my wall space filled at home — I have a lot of windows — I’m not sure where I’ll hang it.

Another Goodbye

It was slow going back to Bellingham. We were fighting wind and a 2 knot current — a big deal when you cruise at just 6 knots. But we arrived right on time at 5 PM. By that time, we’d all packed and exchanged cards. I suggested that Jeffrey and Christine borrow my home for a week or so during the winter while I was gone; they could get some skiing in while my house sitter took a break. John was interested in a photo houseboat excursion on Lake Powell and I hoped he’d contact me for tips and advice.

There was a round of hugs as Jeffrey helped us get our luggage off the boat. Then I was headed back up the dock to my car, pulling my wheelie bags behind me, amazed that the weekend had gone so fast.

2014: A Look Back

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Moving forward, looking ahead.

2014 is over. It was a good year for me. Not my best, but certainly one that finished on a very positive note. A year I can look back on and be proud of what I learned and accomplished, a year that marks the successful end of a long and bitter battle to keep what’s rightfully mine.

The Journal

Penny on the Porch
Penny the Tiny Dog lounges in the morning sun on the wrap-around porch of the house we spent the winter in.

I kept a journal for much of the year. I started it on January 1, 2014, when I was housesitting for a neighbor who was gone for the winter. He had a wonderful home and I was fortunate to be able to spend nearly three months in its comfort. Having the space to entertain friends helped me build stronger bonds with people I’ve met since relocating permanently here in Central Washington State in late May of 2013. And it was a hell of a lot warmer than my RV would have been.

This was the first time I kept a journal for any length of time. You might argue that this blog is a journal — and it is, to a certain extent. But while my blog posts cover a wide range of topics and often go into wordy detailed descriptions, my journal is brief. I wrote in it every morning throughout the spring, set it aside during the summer, and then opened it again in the fall. I wrote my last entry in the 2014 edition this morning and will start my 2015 book tomorrow.

Each entry is limited to one double-sided page, forcing me to keep things brief. I often refer to blog posts for more detail. My journal entries include a lot of thoughts and feelings that I don’t include in my very public blog. 2014 took up 1-1/3 blank books. Red ones — I really do like red. 2015’s first book will be black because that’s the color I found on sale.

The benefit of this and other journals I’ve kept in the past: I can go back and refer to them to see what was going on during a specific time in my life. This is especially important these days, when I’m trying so hard to discard painful memories from my wasband’s betrayal and the very bitter divorce that followed it. Writing things down gets them on paper and out of my head. Later, when I’m fully healed, I can go back and revisit them with the 20-20 vision of hindsight.

I’ll consult that journal as I write up this year in review.

Travel

I didn’t do much traveling in 2014, although I really enjoyed the few trips I took.

The big trip was to California’s Central Valley. For the second year in a row, I had a frost control contract with the helicopter. Unlike the 2013 contract the 2014 contract paid a much higher standby fee but required me to live in the area with the helicopter. So just as I’d moved the helicopter and my RV seasonally to Washington state for cherry drying when I lived in Arizona, in February 2014, I moved the helicopter and my RV to the Sacramento area of California for frost control.

Hamming it Up
Penny and I, hanging out at George’s hangar at the airport.

I made some new friends down there — it’s amazing how easy it is to make friends when you’re alone and don’t have to humor a companion who doesn’t seem interested in meeting anyone new. George, a fellow pilot, and Becky, who managed the airport where Penny and I lived, became part of my life for the two months I was there. George and I spent a lot of time flying both his gyroplane and my helicopter. We took my helicopter out to San Carlos Airport for a test flight in an Enstrom 480 and a visit to the Hiller Aviation Museum, where we got a great private tour.

Maria and George in the Cockpit
Here I am with George, sitting in the cockpit of a 747 on display at the Hiller Aviation Museum.

Hot Air Balloon
The hot air balloon flight comped to me by the pilot was one of the highlights of the trip. I hope to return the favor this spring when I go back.

Other things I did in California: during February, March, and April: hot air balloon flight over the Central Valley, wine tasting with visiting Washington friends in Napa Valley, several “joy flying” flights over Napa Valley and the Sutter Buttes, whale watching at Point Reyes, a visit to Muir Woods, kayaking with the members of the Sacramento Paddle Pushers group in the American River, paddling at Lake Solano, and a visit to the food truck extravaganza in downtown Woodland. I also got to see my friend Rod, who lives in Georgetown, and Shirley, who lives in Carmichael. I really like the area I stayed in and hope that this year’s contract lets me base the helicopter at the same airport.

Penny on the Kayak
Penny keeps watch in the kayak’s bow as we head back down the American River in Sacramento with new friends. Not sure why I didn’t blog about this trip; I have tons of photos to share.

I went to the Santa Barbara area of California three times in 2014 to record courses for Lynda.com. In February, I took Penny with me and recorded Up and Running with Twitter, a brand new version of my extremely popular Twitter course. I went back in May, without Penny, to record Word 2013 Power Shortcuts and Up & Running with Meetup. I returned yet again in October to record Word 2013: Creating Long Documents. The first time, I stayed at a hotel in Carpinteria that I didn’t particularly care for. But on the next two trips, I stayed at my preferred hotel on the harbor at Ventura in my “usual room” with harbor view and jacuzzi tub. I really enjoy my trips to Lynda. I work extra hard while I’m there so I finish early and get to enjoy a day at the beach.

Harbor View
The view from my usual room in Ventura isn’t too shabby.

I got to visit the San Juan Islands twice this year. The first time was for a week-long vacation at my friend Steve’s house on Lopez Island. I blogged extensively about that great trip. The second time was for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with my friend Bob at Friday Harbor, which I also blogged about. I really like the islands but could never full-time live on that side of the Cascades: too much dreary weather. I was lucky at Lopez Island; the weather was very good all week.

My final trip of the year was my annual Christmas trip to Winthrop for cross-country skiing in the Methow Valley. I haven’t blogged about that trip yet but I hope to find time to do so. The Winthrop/Mazama area is the largest cross-country ski area in the country, with hundreds of miles of groomed trails. I feel extremely fortunate to have such a great place to ski only 100 miles from my home.

Off to go Skiing
Penny and I went skiing over the Christmas holiday for the second year in a row.

Trips planned for 2015 include Arizona and California this spring. My autumn and winter travel schedules are still up in the air.

The Big Project

Backhoe
Jeff of Parkway Excavating rolled down my driveway on April 24 to begin prepping the building pad.

When I returned to Washington after frost season, I started the biggest project of my life: the construction of my new home. Earth work on my lot began in April and construction began soon afterward, continuing through the end of June. The building, which would house all of my possessions — including my helicopter, RV, Jeep, Honda car, and Ford truck, jet boat, motorcycle, and ATV — is a pole building I designed with the assistance of the good folks at Western Ranch Buildings in East Wenatchee. With a total of about 4,000 square feet, 1,200 of which is dedicated to living space, it features a four-car garage, an RV garage big enough for my helicopter and fifth wheel RV, a shop area, comfortable one-bedroom home, and a wrap around deck with windows to take in the amazing views of the Wenatchee Valley.

Roofing
They began roofing the building on June 10.

Electrician
Yes, this is me dressed up for electrical work: toolbelt, kneepads, and warm clothes. Heat is on but without insulation, the building still gets pretty chilly.

Because I was paying cash for the building and because I was interested in saving as much money as possible, I became not only the building’s designer but also the general contractor and electrician. (I was going to do the plumbing, too, but a local plumber offered me a deal that was too good to pass up.) Because my flying work is seasonal and my writing work is flexible, I had no real trouble getting the work done. I did pause in the autumn after getting the framing and roof insulation done, but decided in November to forego a lengthy trip to California and Arizona for the winter months and go full throttle to finish it up as quickly as possible.

What’s done? The building’s entire shell, including concrete floor is done. All doors and windows are installed. My vehicles, including my helicopter RV, are safely tucked inside for the winter. My shop and RV have all utility services. The living space is framed, the furnace and air handler for my HVAC system are installed and running, the ceiling has its first layer of insulation. The electrical system in the garage and living space are about 80% done.

What’s coming up? The plumber comes next week and, if all goes well with the wiring, I’ll get through the inspections needed to close up the walls by January 15. Then I’ll get the insulation and drywall done and the main space painted. The floors go in next. My appliances, custom kitchen cabinets, granite countertops, freestanding soaking tub, glass block shower walls, and many light sconces are on order and will begin arriving as soon as next week. Cabinets will be installed in mid February, appliances at February month-end, and countertops sometime before the middle of March. In the meantime, I’ll put down my deck and the rails around it. At this point, there’s a very real possibility that I’ll be able to move into my new home by March month-end.

If you’ve never built your own home, you likely have no idea what a joy and trial it is. This is, by far, the most challenging thing I’ve ever attempted. It’s a real pleasure — despite the occasional difficulties — to be able to make my own decisions on every aspect of the project without having to wait for a risk adverse, indecisive, and, frankly, cheap partner to weigh in with his decisions. And I cannot begin to describe how rewarding it is to look around what I’m building and know that it came from my mind, my heart, and my hard work.

I’ll continue to blog about the project throughout the coming year.

Other Accomplishments, Activities, New Hobbies

I got the year off to a slow start, not really doing much of anything new. I guess the biggest deal in the spring was learning to fly a gyroplane and soloing in about 7 hours. George taught me in his little Magni M-16 Gyroplane and it was a blast.

Solo Flight
George snapped this photo of me as I taxied off the runway after my first solo flight.

In the spring, when I returned from California, I built a chicken coop and, with the help of some friends, built a secure chicken yard for my flock of six hens. They laid eggs — about three dozen a week! — starting in October and only just slowed down production for the winter. I also had the opportunity to help out at a chicken slaughter.

For the first time in at least 10 years I had a vegetable garden. I planted Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, onions, pumpkins, melons, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, corn, and herbs. Most of my garden occupied pots and raised garden planters I made out of pallets.

I also kept up with my beekeeping activities. I caught a swarm again this year and assisted another beekeeper on a swarm capture. By the end of the season, I had seven hives and had harvested another 3 gallons of honey. I also began selling honey in boutique packaging at local wineries. And I took a mead-making course and put up my first gallon of mead.

Pendant
Here’s one of my upcycled pendants, created from clear and blue wine bottle glass.

At the end of the summer, I purchased a very small kiln and began doing warm glass projects that upcycled wine bottles into Christmas tree ornaments and jewelry. I began making some of these items available for sale online.

I also stayed pretty active locally during the year, going on multiple hikes, boat trips, paddling trips, and Jeep trips with friends. I took over a Meetup group I belonged to and met a bunch of great people on activities with the group.

Friends

I didn’t realize how many good friends I’d made in the area until I had my moving party on June 28. I sent out invitations in email and on paper and on Facebook and Twitter. The party would be two parts: a moving party that started at my hangar and a pot luck barbecue at my mostly completed home. I honestly didn’t expect more than maybe 20 people to show up with only handful for the move. If I got my furniture moved, I’d be thrilled — I could always fetch the boxes myself.

But the attendance — especially at the hangar — blew me away. At least two dozen people showed up there with pickup trucks. One even brought a large horse trailer. Within 2 hours everything in the hangar was loaded up and we were on our way across the river to Malaga. They unloaded even quicker — almost before I realized what was happening. Then they brought out their pot luck dishes and we partied. I think the final party attendance was close to 50.

My social life here in Washington is amazing. If I wanted to, I could do something with friends every day or evening. Wine tasting, boating and paddling, hiking, Jeeping, dinner, movies, parties — there’s no end to it. On some days, I have to choose between activities or squeeze multiple activities with different people into my day. I’ve never been so active with other people. I love it — especially since these are all great, friendly, generous people who like me for who I am.

And yes, I’m dating, too. But not much, and that’s by choice. I’m extremely picky about starting a relationship with a man. I’d rather live life alone than live it with the wrong man again.

Flying Work (and Play)

In addition to the very lucrative frost contract I had in California in early spring, I had my best cherry drying season ever. In 2014, during the “crunch period” of mid June to mid July, I had three other pilots working with me to cover the acreage I was under contract for. I think we did a remarkably good job providing service for my clients in the Quincy and Wenatchee areas. There wasn’t quite as much rain as there was in 2013, but with more acreage to cover — almost 350 acres at one point! — the standby pay made our dedication to staying in the area worthwhile.

I did some charter work during the season, including a winter video shoot for one client that included air-to-air footage of the historic Miss Veedol airplane and an interesting dawn shoot over the Wenatchee Symphony Orchestra playing at Ohme Gardens. The Miss Veedol footage was only part of the aerial footage shot from my helicopter that appeared in the first We Are Wenatchee video. I also did two amazing Seattle video shoots — at sunset and dawn the following day — as well as a video flight up the Duwamish Waterway and Green River to its source near the base of Mt. Rainier. It’s flights like these that make me so glad I became a helicopter pilot.

We are Wenatchee from Voortex Productions on Vimeo.

Although one of my big charter clients wound up opening its own flight department with a leased helicopter and full-time pilot, I still did a bunch of charter work for them, flying management team members to various orchards throughout Central Washington State — and even to Seattle. They’ll continue to use my services on an as-needed basis during the busy season, as long as it doesn’t conflict with my cherry drying work.

Other interesting flights include a handful of wine tasting flights, a flight to the Slate Peak communication facility, a pollination flight, and two Santa flights. And, of course, I can’t forget my flight to and from Lopez Island and the flight around the San Juan Islands I took with my friend Steve. Or those Napa Valley flights. Or the flight for a hamburger at Blustery’s Drive In in Vantage.

Landing Zone Closeup
There was still snow atop Slate Peak in May 2014.

Writing Work

Although writing accounts for only a small part of my income these days, I did do a significant amount of writing work. In addition to the four video courses I authored for Lynda.com (mentioned earlier), I also began writing articles for Lynda.com’s blog.

I also made a new writing contact. Beginning in January 2015, my articles about flying helicopters will begin appearing on AOPA’s Hover Power blog. You’ll find my bio on the About the Authors page there. I’m extremely pleased to be writing about helicopters for an audience beyond blog readers.

As for my blog, it’s readership has pretty much doubled over the past year. I now consistently get between 1,000 and 2,000 page hits each day with visitors from all over the world.

My divorce book, which I blogged about back in April 2013 — has it been that long? — is still being written. I can’t finish it until the divorce bullshit is finally over.

The Divorce Bullshit

A lot of people don’t realize that even though my divorce was finalized in July 2013, it wasn’t over. Not only did my wasband appeal the judge’s decision, but he refused to comply with court orders regarding refinancing our house, which he received in the settlement, and paying me what he owed me. So legal action dragged on throughout the end of 2013 and into much of 2014.

My poor wasband — and yes, I do pity him a lot more than I probably should — got a lot of bad advice from friends and family members. If he’d accepted my very generous original settlement offer — proposed back in November or December of 2012 — he could have saved well over $100K in legal fees and could have kept the house for about 1/5 of its market value, including most of the furniture and other items I would have left behind. And we both could have gotten on with our lives with a minimum of bad feelings. But he took that bad advice, which gave him the idea that he had some sort of legal claim over the business I’d begun building long before we were married and all the assets that went with it. Even when the judge decided he didn’t, more bad advice convinced him to appeal. The appeals court, which handed down its decision just before Thanksgiving, agreed entirely with the original judge. In other words, he lost the appeal.

The result: more than two years of our lives wasted, a life-long friendship shattered with a lot of bad feelings, and more money than I’d like to think about thrown away on legal fees. He could have gotten rid of me — and kept the paid-for house! — for $50K. Instead, it’ll wind up costing him over $200K (including legal fees) and he has to sell the house to pay me. That’s gotta hurt.

My only consolation is that his stupidity and greed cost him far more than it cost me. I’ll recover from the financial setback of the legal battle, mostly because I know how to live within my means and I have substantial retirement investments. My home will be fully paid for within a few years, leaving me as debt-free and financially secure as I was before this all started.

Of course, I’ll actually be far better off than before this started because I won’t be dragged down emotionally by a lying loser incapable of making decisions or taking measured risks to move forward in life.

Solstice
Here’s the note I burned on the yule log at a solstice party — I want to leave this burden behind forever.

And that’s what 2014 has shown me: the 29-year relationship with the man I loved was holding me back, preventing me from moving forward to achieve lifestyle goals and dreams. I thought I shared goals with the man I loved but in the end it was all a lie — he just pretended during those last few years to be on the same page with me to keep the status quo he so loved. He sucked away my self-esteem by blaming me for our dismal social life and making me feel unwelcome in the home he claimed to want to share with me. It wasn’t until he freed me that I regained the self-esteem he’d sucked out of me and I began to move forward with life again.

I’ve accomplished more in 2014 than I had since I married in 2006. I achieved more goals, I made more friends, I learned more things. I stopped waiting for a partner to run out of excuses to hold us back and I began living life again. And believe me, living life alone sure beats the hell out of living life chained to a sad sack old man.

I only wish I’d made the break sooner, before we were married, before he lost his mind and soul. It would have been nice to remain friends with someone I really cared about.

In the meantime, I’m waiting for the house to be sold by a court-appointed master so I can get paid and do my best to put this this nightmare behind me.

After I finish my divorce book.

Looking Forward

2015 promises to be a great year. I have my big construction project to finish up, more writing work ahead of me, and a healthy helicopter charter business to nurture and built. I have more friends than I’ve ever had in my life — good, reliable friends eager to get together for all kinds of fun and even help me make my dreams realities. I have hobbies and interests to keep me busy and plenty of free time to explore them. Best of all, I’m living in a magnificent place that’s full of beauty and life and opportunities for outdoor activities.

Tail Shot
Isn’t it beautiful here?

I’m alive and loving life again.

Happy New Year.

Thanksgiving at Friday Harbor

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New friends and great food on a busy weekend.

Since I live so far from family, I’ve gotten into the habit of spending Thanksgiving with friends. Although I got four Thanksgiving invitations this year — thanks, everyone! — I accepted the one I got first, well over a month ago: to accompany my friend Bob to Friday Harbor for Thanksgiving at his friends’ home.

The Trip Out

Friday Harbor is on San Juan Island at the very northwest corner of Washington State. It’s so far north, in fact, that it’s north of the lower end of Canada’s Vancouver Island. Getting there requires a 3-hour drive to Anacortes followed by a 1+-hour ferry ride — and that’s if Route 2 through Stevens Pass is clear and open. If Stevens is closed, add another hour to get through Blewett and Snowqualmie passes on Route 97 and I-90. Back in August, when I spent a week with a friend out at Lopez Island, I’d elected to take the helicopter out to avoid the long drive. But in winter, that didn’t seem like a reasonable possibility given the usual low clouds over the Cascades and real possibility of bad weather so I didn’t even suggest it.

San Juan Island on Map
San Juan Island is the farthest west island on this map, which also shows the mainland to the east. The black line you can see in the left top and bottom of this image is the U.S.-Canada Border.

Penny and I packed up on Wednesday and spent the night at Bob’s house. We were making an early start to catch the 8:30 ferry out of Anacortes and Bob wanted to leave at 4 AM. It was my job to keep track of the conditions in the passes so we could pick an appropriate route. WADOT offers a wealth of information about its highways and passes on its Website, including up-to-the-minute pass information and webcams. Fortunately Stevens looked good so we headed out the most direct route in Bob’s pickup. Although I’d offered to take my 4WD pickup on the trip — its tires had less than 5,000 miles on them — Bob had prepped his 2WD pickup with a set up studded snow tires, just in case weather turned bad along the drive.

Penny and Bob’s dog, Skip, settled down in the back seat for the long drive. There was no one on the road. Well, no one going our direction, anyway. We did pass a few cars coming east on Route 2. The road was clear and dry and other than a few foggy areas, easy to drive. Crossing Stevens Pass was a non event and we headed down the west side, still in the dark. The days here are short this time of year and it wasn’t until we got near I-5 that it started getting light.

We stopped for coffee at one of Washington’s ubiquitous drive-up coffee stands — honestly, how do coffee-drinking people live without these? While I chatted with the girl at the window — who was working a 6:10 AM on Thanksgiving Day, mind you — Bob took the dogs for a quick walk. Before leaving, I thanked the girl for being there and gave her a big tip to really show my appreciation. The eggnog latte was good and hot.

We stopped at Safeway in Anacortes before getting on the ferry queue. We’d brought along the fixings for quiche — 15 eggs from my chickens, along with chopped ham and scallions from Bob’s fridge — but needed a pie crust, cheese, and half-and-half. I ran in to get all these things while Bob waited with the dogs. I also bought a small Poinsettia for our hosts. I hate going anywhere empty handed — not that we were going empty-handed. In addition to our quiche ingredients, I’d brought 2 bottles of wine, a bottle of local hard cider, and a jar of honey and Bob had brought 6 bottles of Martinelli’s sparkling cider in two flavors. We had a cooler and a box full of goodies in addition to our luggage.

Inside the Ferry
Inside the ferry to Friday Harbor.

The wait for the ferry wasn’t long, but we did have time to get out and stretch our legs with the dogs one more time. Then we loaded up with the rest of the cars, winding up in the middle of the main deck on the Elwha. We hung around in the truck for a while, then went upstairs to take in the view of the islands as we sailed past. By then, it was fully light out, but overcast. The ferry boat moved along at a good clip and I used Google Maps on my phone to identify the islands as we zipped past them.

Another Ferry
Our ferry boat wasn’t the only one on the water that gray morning.

Ferry View
A look back down the deck of the ferry.

Thanksgiving Day with Friends

The ferry was an express that stopped at Friday Harbor and Sidney, B.C. only. We got into Friday Harbor just before 10 AM. From there, it was a short drive to Liz and Brad’s house on 20 acres. I think they were surprised to see us so early. Liz was just putting in the turkey.

The Pond
The pond behind Liz and Brad’s house shortly after Penny chased away all the ducks.

Bob and Skip
Bob and Skip pose for a photo at American Camp. Skip seems more interested in what Penny is doing than the camera.

After quick introductions, we established that Bob was hungry and Liz and Brad had already eaten. So Bob and I headed back out to find some breakfast in town. We wound up at a bustling local market, which was just the kind of upscale small supermarket I love, and ate breakfast sandwiches on the tailgate of Bob’s truck. Then we drove around the island to kill some time. We wound up taking a walk out at a place called American Camp, the site of an almost-war back in the 1800s. It was a good opportunity for the dogs to run around. By that time, the sky had cleared and it was becoming a beautiful day. We got as far south as the lighthouse I’d flown over back in August before heading back to the house.

The Turkey
The turkey tasted as yummy as it looked here.

Back at Liz and Brad’s house, we relaxed while the turkey cooked. Liz and I popped open that bottle of hard cider and drank almost all of it before the other guests began arriving. And there were a lot of guests. Soon the house was crowded with adults and young people drinking cider and wine and munching on crab dip, salmon spread, and hummus, chatting and having a good time.

Party Time
I took a break to snap this photo, not realizing that only half the guests had arrived at this point.

Brad carved the turkey and Liz set up a buffet line at her kitchen island. Soon, 15 of us were sitting at a pair of tables put together on an angle to fit in the dining room. The food was great — as you’d expect a Thanksgiving dinner to be — and there was a ton of it. Fortunately, I was boxed into my seat so I couldn’t easily get up for seconds. I made up for that by trying both the homemade cheese cake and apple pie for dessert.

Cleanup went quickly with so many people helping and about half of us went into the living room to watch the football game. The local team, the Seattle Seahawks, were playing the San Francisco 49ers — the perfect game for a Washington crowd. The game had started about a half hour before and Brad had DVRed it so he could fast-forward through all the commercials. I settled down on the floor with Penny on my lap. But since I’d been up since 2:30 AM — thanks to Penny needing to take a pee at Bob’s house — I was exhausted and fell asleep. I missed most of the game but woke up at the end to find the Seahawks victorious again.

The guests left in small groups after that. Soon it was just Liz, Brad, Bob, and me. We cleaned up a bit more, then retired to sleeping quarters. Penny and I were staying in the “craft room,” which was where Liz does her quilting and Brad builds large scale radio controlled airplanes that he flies on a grass strip in his back yard. The walls of the room were covered with quilts and Brad’s photos of wildlife and airplanes.

Craft Room
One of Brad’s projects in the craft room.

Black Friday — without Shopping

I slept reasonably well, waking up only once to wonder where I was. Hearing noise outside my room, I put on my slippers to join Liz while Penny went looking for and eventually found Skip. Soon Liz and Bob and I were drinking coffee while I was whipping up two quiches — one with cheddar and the other with mozzarella. I was horrified to see that I’d bought fat-free half-and-half — I mean, what’s the point, right? — but that quiche turned out just as good as the one I made with Liz’s regular half-and-half. The three of us polished off a whole quiche. Brad missed out; he had to go to work.

Afterwards, we dressed and went out for a drive in Bob’s car. It was cloudy again and cool. Liz took us to see the lavender farm, which was closed, and a handful of parks. Then we drove up to the top of a ridge where some private developer had tried (and failed) to sell 20-acre parcels that were virtually unbuildable for $210K+ each. The land now belonged to the San Juan County Land Bank, which buys up land in the area to prevent development. In the future, it would be a park with trails. We drove through Roche Harbor, where I’d flown in by helicopter for dinner with my friend Don years ago, and then headed back to Friday Harbor.

Back in town, we met up with Liz’s son Chris, his wife Kelly, and their two kids at a local holiday market. There were about 30 artists and other vendors there, selling their wares. It was refreshing to attend one of these that wasn’t full of the same southwestern stuff I’d seen over and over in Arizona when I lived there. I bought a beeswax lip balm and some locally sun-dried sea salt. I was sorely tempted by some wall sculptures, but held back by my new rule: No buying anything for my home until it’s done.

Afterwards, we went with Chris and Kelly to a house Chris and his partner are refurbishing. (Chris is a carpenter.) Originally built in the 1940s, it’s a small place with a lawn that goes down to the harbor and has the added luxury of its own boat dock. With lots of trees on its end-of-road lot, it was a pleasant location. They’d gutted the house and rebuilt it from the inside out. Although they’d been working on it for about 16 months, they were still at least a few months from completion. I looked around and got some ideas for wood trim around my windows and flooring. The countertop material, PaperStone, was amazing and I will definitely check it out for my own kitchen countertops.

From there we went back to Roche Harbor to look at another house that Brad is overseeing the construction of. This was an upscale home, 3800 square feet, with vaulted ceilings, sweeping staircases, and lots of extras. Pretty amazing for a 2-bedroom home. The two projects — Chris’s and Brad’s — couldn’t be any more different. Here, I took mental notes on the great room’s ceiling, which was tongue-and-groove cedar planks, and bathroom tile work. I also liked the track lighting, which I’d already decided to use in my hallway, which would double as a photo gallery. The home’s owner was there, fiddling around with his computer and the various light switches that made up his smart home system. Although I plan to include some smart home accessories in my place, I don’t expect to do it to the extent that he did.

Loft Ladder
I shot this photo of the ladder to the loft in Chris’s house so I could remember some of its details. My home also has a loft — mostly for storage — and I’ve been thinking of how it could be easily reached from below.

We headed back to Liz’s house and took it easy for a while, just chatting in the kitchen over tea. Later, when Brad got home from work, we headed out to Chris’s house for a taco dinner. His family lives in an expanded cabin at the end of a long, steep dirt road. We arrived and departed after nightfall, so I didn’t get a chance to really see it. But it was cosy inside, with an eat-in kitchen, sunken living room, and wood-burning fireplace. After dinner, I got so comfortable on the sofa that I almost fell asleep again.

The Trip Home

We were up at 5 on Saturday, packing up for the trip home. Bob wanted to get on the 8 AM ferry and we’d been advised to get the car on line by 6:45 at the latest. We headed out there and got the first spot in lane 3, then walked up to The Hungry Clam, which was already almost full by then. Apparently, the place exists for ferry traffic meals. Liz and Brad joined us for a big farewell breakfast.

Outside, it was very cold and very windy. There were whitecaps on the harbor. We paid the bill just as the ferry rounded the corner and headed into the dock. We said our goodbyes with a lot of hugs and promises by Liz and Brad to come see us on “the dry side,” then hurried down to the truck. Poor Penny and Skip needed a lot of hugging and rubbing to warm up!

Because the second car in line 1 was empty and there was a truck in line 2, the ferry loaders waved us aboard as the second car on the boat. This positioned us right at the front — although they didn’t load us all the way to the line. (It later became apparent why they didn’t have us drive up closer to the edge.) Ahead of us, the water was more than a little choppy and the wind was mostly blowing right in. I got out to take a photo closer to the edge and thought I was going to get blown away.

Choppy Water
I got got right up to the pedestrian rope to take this shot. It was wicked windy and cold!

We stayed in the car for the whole trip, mostly so we could periodically start it and warm it back up for the dogs. I was glad we did. The water got progressively rougher as we got closer to Anacortes. About 30 minutes out, a loudspeaker warned of the rough ride ahead. The boat rolled in the waves and we could clearly hear waves breaking across its side. Occasionally, the front end would dip down just enough to send a wave of water onto the deck. One wave came so far into the boat that it splashed the hood of the truck. There was water sloshing around all over the deck. Several of the chocks the loaders had placed around the front tires of the cars at the head of the lines got loose and washed back and forth. I think a few might have gone overboard.


This minute-long video gives you an idea of what we experienced. A larger wave than these washed over the hood of our truck, which was at least 50 feet back from the bow. You can see Mount Baker in the distance throughout much of this video.

After hearing about so many ferry accidents overseas, I admit that I was more than a little nervous — especially when the captain kept cutting power to slow us down more and more. But then we got closer to Anacortes and the water calmed a bit. Soon we were pulling into the dock and the crew was moving the ramp into position. I was very glad when Bob steered us off the boat and onto dry land.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of our homeward bound adventure. All morning long, I’d been checking conditions in the passes. Stevens Pass, our preferred route, was reporting 24° with compact snow on the roadway and snow falling. Restrictions were “traction tires advised, oversized vehicles prohibited.” But things were worse at Snowqualmie: falling snow, areas of low visibility, and chains required. It looked as if Stevens would be our route.

All around us was fresh snow that had likely fallen overnight. It was beautiful to see — I don’t think they usually get much snow on the Seattle side of the mountains. There were a lot of cars on the road, too, but not enough to make what I’d consider “traffic.” We got on Route 2 eastbound and stopped at the Sultan Bakery for some baked goods to snack on along the way. One more stop at a park-and-ride nearby for the dogs to take a break. Then back on the road for our climb up into the mountains.

Soon it was snowing on us. The road looked remarkably as it had in the webcam photos I’d studied all morning on my phone: covered with snow with just patches of pavement showing through. Bob’s studded snow tires came in handy as we followed the other cars up the mountain. Snow fell all around us. I was glad Bob was driving. I absolutely detest highway driving in the snow.

Snow on Highway 2
Snow on Highway 2 on our way to Stevens pass and beyond.

We were both very surprised to see most of the cars turn into Stevens Pass ski resort, which I didn’t realize was open. The road was worse on the west side of the pass, but soon cleared up, although snow continued to fall past Coles Corner. By the time we got to Leavenworth, it was mostly sunny — a beautiful day with fresh snow on the ground and in trees. There was less snow in Wenatchee and, when Bob dropped me off at home, I estimated only about an inch of fresh stuff at my place.

I’d had a wonderful weekend away with Bob and his friends. Not only had I met some great new people, but I’d come away with a lot of new ideas for finishing my home. It was well worth the drive — and the adventure that had gone with it.