1 year!! (Part I)

Welcome to our 1 year anniversary trip! Let's be honest, nothing will ever beat our honeymoon to Antigua,  but the next best thing is a different kind of island. The San Juan Islands. Quite different from the warm, white sandy beaches of the caribbean, we opted for beaches of another kind. Welcome, to the San Juan Islands.

This is a trilogy (3 part series) of posts, so don't miss out on the others. This first one is named: "The Fellowship of the (wedding) Ring."


Early morning sunrise in Anacortes, WA as we wait for the ferry that is going to take us, and our car to the islands!

Inside the ferry. We really enjoyed the ferry rides. It's Schaefer's new preferred way of travel. Complete with indoor and outdoor seating. Being pretty early in the morning, we opted for indoor seating.

That is until the captain of the ferry announced over the PA system that we are stopping to let a pod of orcas go by, then we, and everyone else went outside. Who knew there was an orca crossing right here? 30 mins into our trip and we had already seen 6-7 killer whales!

This is at the beginning of our hike to Mt. Constitution. We read about the spectacular views at the peak of this hike, so we decided on this one. I love the stillness and morning fog in this picture.

 
The old age and the color of the forest was amazing! Green stuff was growing on green stuff! This was on our way to Bag End to see the hobbits.

Cozy little stream along our trail...

In case some of you are still unsure, we are headed to Mt. Constitution. I'ts to the right.  It's where they signed the constitution. (1.5 mi down, 2 more to go)



We reached the top! Wet and raining, we made it there.

And just take a look at this spectacular.....amount of fog. Fog in every direction. I was so mad. Thankfully, Schaefer reminded me of the beauty in the journey and not the destination. Life Lessons on your Anniversary: by Schaefer Bell.


One of many mountain lakes along the hike. We were the only ones there and it truly felt like "getting away." Peaceful.

The lakes had a beautiful turquoise color. It was especially so against the green backdrop.

Near the end of our hike at Mountain Lake. About to head to our campsite.

This picture is long into the process of making a fire. This is attempt number 5-6 and I'm not very excited. In Utah you can just about look at some wood and make it start burning. Here in the soggy NW, not so much. I prepared ahead and got some good freshly chopped wood from our church neighbors who keep their wood covered, so I was ready! Each fire burned about 30 secs and then.... nothing. The only thing I heard was the wood laughing at me.

This is attempt 7-8, maybe 9. I knew this would work. I took a bunch of TP from the camp restroom and stuffed it inside my kindling and wrapped it around my teepee. I aptly named this my, TP teepee.
Without fail, it burned...... for about 2 mins, then extinguished. Something had to happen. It was time...

Poor girl had to wait a while in the rain to get warm by the fire.

"Insta-flame!" When we (and by we, I mean me), came to grips that this wasn't going to happen, we drove off into town and took necessary measures. The gas station had log fire-starters. So we bought 2! Just in case. I had to force a smile in this picture because I was brought down to using a log fire-starter. Shamed...
Of note, it is important to mention here that I went our full camping trip using a hatchet without incident.

Our tent suite complete with a lakeside view.
(We saved money by avoiding the balcony suites)

-Dinner for two-
Waiting for our tinfoil dinners to finish cooking, then onto marshmallows and s'mores.

As evening turned to night we were given a beautiful sunset over Cascade Lake.

I love this picture. Great ending to our day as we watch the sunset from our campsite.

Continue on to part two of our trilogy...