SJI Day 2: praries, wildlife, and hail

So after getting a wonderfully comfy night's sleep in our B&B (weedless though it was), we packed up and went downstairs to a great breakfast (Mom - random shout out - it wasn't Cascadian Farms yogurt - it's Cascade Fresh - yummy AND gelatin-less!) and then we ventured out to explore the rest of the island by car.

First up: South Beach. MUCH different from the only other South Beach I've been to, it was surrounded with prairie land, dark sand, tons of rocks, and miles and miles of beautiful driftwood. We also saw lots of wildlife - several deer, a couple fox, and a few local hippies. One of the foxes was particularly entertaining as it was just as curious about us as we were him - he was also quite the poser - I swear he knew he was being photographed... The other cool sighting from this park is Canada - you can literally see Victoria, B.C. in the distance just across the water. How cool is that??

After a nice walk on the beach (and Clay insisting I NOT take any driftwood. Punk.) we headed north for Lime Kiln Pt. Park - also known as Whale Watching Park. It was beautiful!! Although we didn't see any whales (the prime season for that is in the summer), I swear a saw a few porpoises even though Clay seems to think they were just waves... I definitely can't wait to go back during the high season to see the whales for sure! As we continued to meander down the trail, I was so intrigued by the trees (here are a few of my faves:

We then arrived at the little lighthouse as seen on the right: cute, eh?? After looking around the lighthouse, hovering around at each nook and cranny to try to spy a whale, and heading back up the trail, Lime Kiln Pt. was a thing of the past.... For now! :)

Lastly we decided to drive up to Roache Harbor - this provided MUCH debate as I say "roach" while Clay continues to insist on the incorrect pronunciation "row-shh"....silly Clay. But the joke was on both of us as we drove up towards town and it was almost entirely shut down for the season.... And while the weird things abounded, it began hailing. That's right, not rain, not snow, but hail! We ventured out into the dippin' dots falling from the sky looking for a place to eat, but alas the off season got us again when all restaurants were closed.

Back to Friday Harbor we drove and found a delicious Mexican restaurant - still no queso (of course!), but super yummy rellenos and salsa. Perhaps in our honor, perhaps for the old guy sitting at the bar - this Mexican restaurant came equipped with Nascar blaring on every tv in the joint, but despite that oddity, the Mexican in the kitchen made it authentic and yummy!

Then lastly we hit the Whale Museum for some pretty cool looks at whale artifacts, skeletons, videos, etc. before heading back on the ferry. The sail back to the mainland was even more beautiful than the one on the way over - the sun was shining and it was such a gorgeous day! Here's the final pic of the post from that ride home:

All in all it was a great trip and you should all make it a point to come see for yourselves!! :)

Love,
-e :)