Lone Roaming

I wonder if I’ll ever be able to take a vacation without contacting or being contacted by work.  I guess I could leave the cell phone and laptop at home.

Our plan was to catch a ferry to the San Juan Islands today.  Plans change.  Laura woke up with a terrible pain in her back, so we had to alter the agenda a bit.  We got her stabilized with ibuprofen and a heating pad, and I was given permission to explore on my own a bit.  The day was smoggy, no other word for it.  It’s hot and humid for this area, and the moisture in the air attracted the exhaust particles from the interstate.  Mount Baker was very clear, but Ranier and anything down toward Seattle was invisible.

I headed out across the reclaimed farmland that now connects Samish Island to the mainland, then along Padilla Bay toward my first target, La Conner.  La Conner is an old town on the banks of the Swinomish Channel.  The town has been reborn as a neat collection of artists shops and restaurants.  I spent some time looking in the shops.  There are some unique interesting local items, but this time around I noticed something else.  Some of the same exact same items can be found in artist shops in North Carolina.  I guess ou really have to be careful if you want truly Northwestern souveniers.  I had a nice relaxed lunch on the waterfront – a crab melt on muffins.  After lunch I crossed the channel on the Rainbow Bridge onto the Swinomish reservation, then tuned and came back, retracing my route through town.

When I got back to highway 20, I turned west toward Fidalgo Island, Anacortes, and Deception Pass.  Crossing the channel again back into the reservation, I noticed a dense collection of booths selling fireworks.  It was as if they had taken every stand in Greenville and gathered them in one place.  There was a makeshift street running between two rows of the booths, which were facing each other.  On Fidalgo Island, I veered south toward Whidby Island.

My first stop was Rosario Beach.  It was crowded, and there was a parking fee, so I stopped for just a moment.  Steam was rising from the small, perfect skipping stones that line the beach.  I guess there’s more humidity than I thought.  I left the park and headed toward the bridge that crosses Deception Pass.  The narrow pass is the only inlet fo many miles,almost all the way down to Seattle, so tidal currents are very strong.  I drove across the imposing bridge, but didn’t stop at the scenic overlooks.

Back over the bridge, I headed along the west shore of Fidalgo toward Anacortes.  The houses here are no longer quaint.  Housing developments crowd domiciles along any ridge with a view.  I reached Washington Park, and decided to take the narrow scenic loop around the park which overlooks the bay.  Fighting the ferry traffic, I coninued through the town of Anacortes and back across the channel onto the mainland, toward Burlington and Mount Vernon.

My one real task for the da was to find a chair for Mrs. Wright’s computer desk. After an initial failure, then getting lost on the wrong side of Skagit River, I found one, bought it, and put it in the trunk of the car – along with my car keys.  I sheepishly called the house and asked Laura to bring hers About 45 minutes later, they arrived with keys to rescue me.

Dinner was Mexican back in town – they said they entertained the idea of leaving me there until dinner to avoid a second trip.  Back at the house, Close Encounters of the Third Kind was coming on TCM this evening. Having just been to Devil’s Tower, we had to watch.  I recognized several places. It looks like that used the same scenic pullout for several different shots.