The Colors of the Sea

Sarah Plain and Tall's colors of the sea--blue, grey, and green--were on display at Kalaloch Beach, although grey was the starring hue.  Grey though they may be, however, the frigid fog that enshrouded everything and the wild driftwood had their own sort of beauty.    

 Micah shows off a piece of baleen from the mouth of a whale.  According to the ranger talk, the whale fills its mouth with water, then closes its mouth and pushes the water out through the baleen.  The baleen filters the water, trapping krill and other food in the whale's mouth.  A little known fact?  The "whalebone" that you have heard of corsets and hoopskirts being made out of several centuries ago was actually made out of baleen! 

 "Oh no, oh no, oh no!  Here comes the big one!"

We waited on the rocks, watching the surf in anticipation.  As a wave would creep closer and wet our toes, we would shriek and scream with delight!  Jonah was completely drenched, but we had a wonderful time! 

 Susanna and I know exactly how to dress for the freezing beach! 

 Sometime on our trip we saw a sign that succinctly stated: "Big Cedar".  We pulled off to discover just that--a big cedar! 

 After our three nights of camping that Mikaela wrote about, we moved to a comparatively plush cabin: running water, bathroom, and electricity!  Not to mention the clear azure waters of Crescent Lake lapped the shore just a few feet from our back door! 

 Micah loved the swing near our cabin! 

Our family on the final day at the cabin. 

Back: Papa

Middle, l-r: Melanie, Micah, Mikaela, Susanna, Lauren, Mama

Front: Jonah

We took a short ferry to get to the beautiful Whidbey Island on our way to our next stopping point, and we all enjoyed going out on deck to feel the gusty wind and see the beautiful ocean! 

 Fort Casey on Whidbey Island was built in 1890, and the boys loved seeing the great cannons! 

 "Here, just let me..."

"Hey, leave my hat alone!" 

 Kites of all varieties! 

Doesn't the job of lighthouse keeper just sound amazing?  I'm probably romanticizing it way too much, but the lighthouse keepers of days gone by have always been fascinating to me! 

Camera war!  Melanie tries out her new camera skills against Mama's!   

 That evening, we had dinner with our aunt, uncle, and cousin who live near where we stayed for the next two nights.  It was wonderful to catch up with them, and we were able to see them two more times throughout the next few days!

  The next morning, we woke up early and caught a ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.  This was voted unanimously by the family as our favorite part of the trip!  The harbor welcomed us with its beautiful array of boats, and Sarah Plain and Tall's colors danced before our eyes as they never had before!

 All sorts of quaint shops lined the harbor!  We had coffee at "The Bean" and lavender ice cream at "Pelindaba." 

 The best store by far was Serindipity.  It might as well be named "Heaven for Book-lovers," because that was the store in a nutshell!  45,000 used books lined every nook and cranny of this adorable shop!  Books over doorways, books lining the walls, books in stacks and towers and piles.  Yet everything was perfectly organized and categorized!

 

 The shop owner was a woman after our own heart.  Whenever we would begin to ask her about a book but couldn't quite remember the title or the author's last name, she would immediately fill in the blank, and had, of course, already read the book and was ready with a recommendation!  I bought Charles Dickens's Bleak House and Bess Streeter Aldrich's A Lantern in Her Hand (fabulous book!) among other things.  It was quite difficult to tear ourselves away...

But lavender fields proved a good incentive!  Acres of lush purple blossoms, the ubiquitous fragrance of lavender, the task of gathering a lavender bouquet--a girl's delight!

 San Juan Island is known for its Pig War--the war that we but narrowly escaped after an American farmer shot a British man's pig.  Tensions were high between the British and the Americans already, and the pig apparently was the last straw.  While the two nations waited for, oddly enough, a German leader, to decide which country could claim the island, they both installed military camps on San Juan to keep a foothold.  This is where the American camp stood. 

 This Union Jack was donated by the UK as a sign of the friendship that exists between the two countries now that everyone has the swine situation figured out.  (-:

Trying to spot a whale! 

 Jonah shows off his new shirt that reads: I do all my own stunts! 

 A beautiful purple sea star nestled just below the surface of the ocean.

 

 Our day at San Juan Island was beautiful and unforgettable, and as I fell asleep that night, I  still had the sensation of being gently rocked on the ferry as it plowed through the sea, and the colors of blue and grey and green have endeared themselves to me forever!