Somewhere, Beyond the Sea...

...my Lover stands on golden sands, and watches the [ferries] that go chugging. Our trip to the San Juans was fabulous. There were a lot of firsts for me: first ferry ride first time whale watching (but we didn't see any whales) first slice of rubarb pie (actually, I shared with T so it was more like a 1/2 a slice) We left Seattle right after liturgy and headed north to catch the ferry. We were the last two cars on! The ferry ride was great, and I got some fun pictures (see album at the end). After we got on the island, we checked in to our hotel and went in search of a place for dinner. We found a restaurant that worked (kids menu and all!), but they had to seat us in two different booths. Trying to seat a party of 12 + highchair isn't easy at the end of a weekend :) I had an absolutely delicious mojito (though fortunately, Lydia didn't want any of it: "Um, what is that?" "It's a mojito." "Well, I don't want a sip of that."), which settled in nicely with my scallop ravioli in cream sauce. After dinner we went to the pool. At least, I think that's when we went. T's younger siblings LOVE the pool. There's nothing they'd rather do that become little wrinkled up prunes in a pool. Diving, jumping, splashing, laughing, screaming, squealing, swimming, gaming. It's all there. I think they went to the pool every day we were there. They even went this morning before we left (aah, a nice 8:30 a.m. swim; nothing like it!). Dad was quite a trooper, taking them so frequently. After the pool (or after the pool then after dinner?) we went to Lime Kiln to watch for orcas. We didn't see any, but I did get some more pictures :) Monday was quite an adventure. In the morning we went to the beach and had a picnic. 'Course, we had to climb over piles of washed up logs and slide down rocky slopes to get to the water, but that's all in a days' works for the Blacks! :) The water was positively freezing, so no one went swimming until later, that is... You see, every time T's family gets around a large body of water, they feel the need to build a raft. What BETTER task to accomplish with copious amounts of dry wood lying about for the picking. They even managed to find some rope. I got to witness the story of Raging Queen XIII (or XIV? or XVI? they've lost count, I'm afraid). That evening we went to "The English Camp" and played frisbee while Caellainne ran around in the damp grass and Mum and Lydia nested in the tall grass. I think the kids went to the pool again when we got home, but it's all a blur. I only went once (on Sunday) and I don't remember after that :) Tuesday, the last full day we were there, was definitely a full day. We woke up and headed out to visit local bookstores! Luckily, we found a used bookstore which cut our costs tremendously, since we are ALL great lovers of books. It was a fun, relaxing morning full of reading. We went for lunch at the Hungry Clam, which was very yummy (prepared well!) fried food--fish and chips! Since it was drizzly all day, T on down through Sebastian went to see Iron Man while I stayed with the 'rents and the two little girls. We went down to the docks and walked around. Dad "shopped" for boats, while Mum and I rolled our eyes :) Dinner, at "The Place" was FABULOUS! Oh my, so yummy. I had pan seared sole with a yummy lemon garlic sauce and then rhubarb pie for dessert (with ice cream)! All the portions were just right and we were pleasantly full by the end of the meal. The restaurant people were very nice to us, too, since we were such a large, young crowd (and quite a crowd!). Kudos to them for being so tolerant, understanding, and accommodating!

San Juan 2008

All in all, it was a fantastic visit to the San Juan Islands, and I had a great time with my in-laws! :) Stay tuned for stories about the rest of our visit to the BEAUTIFUL pacific northwest and the wedding on Saturday!