Day off...

After a first day, a day off.  That's a good schedule. ;-)  Well, Joan hasn't officially started, yet.  We decided to do some wandering today, since it was such a gorgeous day; yes, really: high of 71º, beautiful blue sky, light breeze, low humidity.

We walked by the docks where our whale watch boats are slipped.  The bigger boat was out on a charter, but here's a look at the smaller boat...

You can see how close that slip is to the ferry!  Cozy.  This is the boat that I will probably be driving most frequently.

After walking around a while, we decided a "road trip" was in order.  OK, the island isn't all that big, but we decided to head for Roche Harbor and our favorite place to eat there, the Madrona Grille.  It's a beautiful drive from Friday Harbor to Roche Harbor, a winding two-lane through the wooded hills on the island.  There are plenty of homes on the interior of the island; pretty places.

We parked at the top of the hill at Roche and walked down.  There are cottages and townhomes for sale here.  I love this bit of marketing...

The sign says, "View from future porch."  It lets perspective buyers know what their view will be; and a lovely view it is...

Roche Harbor, the marina, the cove formed by San Juan Island, and Canada in the distance.  Nice.

Off to lunch.  They still have my favorite sandwich: thinly sliced prime rib.  Oh so tasty!  We had lunch on the outside deck, with a lovely view of the marina.

With our bellies full, we walked around a bit.  Of course, the marina...

Past the Hotel de Haro...

Then back up the hill, taking some time to stop and smell the flowers...

The houses in the background are the finished cottages that are already sold.  I would imagine this place is pretty quiet about 9 months out of the year.  Considering this is the start of a holiday weekend, there were still some empty slips...

We drove back via English Camp and another pretty drive.  Back to Friday Harbor and a stop at the "other" grocery store; there is a decent variety here, but prices (as you'd expect) are certainly higher than what we paid on the mainland.  The price of living on an island.  Well, we live on an island back in Texas, but you can get on and off via a swingbridge; here, it's by boat or airplane.

Plenty of activity on the docks and it town at Friday Harbor.  If you come here by ferry, this is the place.  And plenty of private boats here for the holiday weekend.

Back at Wild Blue, while Joan put groceries away, I sat in the cockpit and serenaded her with my guitar.  Quietly, of course (not like the show on the dock last week ;-) ).  I saw some legs come to the cockpit, followed by a guy who bent down.  "This is a very nice boat.  What model C-Dory is it?"  And then a nice conversation about C-Dorys and a "tour" for my new friend, Steve.  It seems the only folks who aren't surprised that we are living on the boat this summer are the other liveaboards here on the docks.

A lovely day here on San Juan Island.