Our Adventure to Friday Harbor!

Emmeline's first ferry boat ride!

We drove 1.5 hours to Anacortes and caught a ferry to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island.  It was a relaxing hour ride and the view was just absolutely gorgeous.  We were very lucky to get a beautiful, sunny day...especially when the weather forecast called for thunderstorms, wind and rain!

FRIDAY HARBOR!

We stayed at the Ferry Landing Suites in the Elwha Suite (the top floor of the green building behind the sign).

This was the amazing view from our living room

The view from the balcony

Emmeline enjoyed watching the people and boats below...she also enjoyed smashing her face against the glass and making funny noises.

Watching the ferries come and go...

 

We took a 3.5 hour wildlife tour aboard the "Odyssey" with Captain Pete and 2 certified marine naturalists who told us all about the local sea life and history of the island.  What a great tour!  We learned SO much.  Check it out if you haven't ( http://www.watchwhales.com/). We went on opening day of orca whale season and had high hopes of seeing an orca pod...but they must have all been busy! We did get to see a lot of other animals in their natural habitat though and it was a nice, relaxing trip with great views of the area.  Plus, since we didn't see any whales we get to come back free of charge any time we want!  I highly recommend this tour.  At the end of the day, we saw the following (plus whatever I am forgetting!);

Steller sea lions, harbor seals, bald eagles, Dalls and harbor porpoise, bald eagles, and kormoran birds in their natural habitat.

 Watching from the cabin...

Lunch time!

We were even able to see some sheep and deer on land (we didn't get any pictures up close)...

Someone was tired and took a little nap...

Checking out the maps...

Aaron took this shot for my dad...

 

There were Kormoran birds living in those little holes...

Seals resting...

Driving around the island...

 San Juan County Park

 Looking for whales...

 We ended up seeing a pod of whales in the distance, about 7 humps moving really fast (can only see when I zoom in on my camera--I need a better lense!).  We were so excited!  We wanted to follow them around the island!

Good company, great trip!  The views were amazing and it was fun to learn about the wildlife and history of the island.  Us ladies even enjoyed the touristy little shops downtown (not so sure Aaron did though! ha).  It is a great little town for an adventure.  We will definitely go back again and again! We'd love to camp there sometime. We are hoping to go this summer on another boat tour so that we can see some Orcas up close!