First Day of School and Another Sucia Trip

September 4th marked the first day of school at Lake Forest Park Montessori for Edison and Charlotte. We had toured the school earlier in the summer and they were looking forward to it.

 Edison is now starting to make words and to sound out words. We are so proud of him!

 We had a fabulous trip to Sucia with Jay and Sara, Matt and Lisa and Ken. After many trips to her cabin, it was fun to repay the favor for Sara with a trip to the Islands.

 These sea lions had taken over the sunbathing rocks from the seals. They were quite impressive, noisy, and stinky.

 The crew.

 Edison tried out the kayak all by himself this trip.

 He was a natural - just look at that hand positioning!

 And he was so happy!

SEPTEMBER - Labor Day at Blake Island

We are starting to make spending Labor Day at Blake Island a habit. And why not - it was perfect!

 Labor Day always makes me anxious as it marks my return to work and the business of a new school year. But these guys helped me forget about it for awhile.

 The views of Mount Rainier were amazing.

 Each night the guys would go kayaking as they put the boat away.

 Edison was super happy about playing Go Fish with us after Charlotte went to bed. Love the hat!

 We had two nights of impressive full moons.

 The second night it glowed huge and orange as it was rising over West Seattle.

 It was also pretty windy and chilly that night so we tucked in tight under our sun shade and the lantern kept us pretty warm while playing cards. We gave Edison his first head lamp and he loves it.

The Flanneries on Sucia

We were thrilled to be able to reconnect with James and Robin this summer. They just welcomed baby Declan to their family and Skylar is adjusting well to being a big sister. They braved this three-day camping trip when Declan was only six weeks old. Kudos to them!

 The sunsets on Sucia this summer have been consistently breathtaking.

 Skylar (20 months) and Charlotte got along really well with each other - phew!

 Eben and I had the pleasure of holding baby Declan and reliving the experience of living with a newborn. Declan is a super relaxed baby and didn't mind sleeping in a laundry basket on this trip.

 Happy mama!

 James took the kids exploring in the tidepools both mornings. Very cool.

 We explored the island on foot - and wheels - as it was our best shot at getting the kids to nap. Worked like a charm! But we ended up pretty tired - Sucia has lots of hills.

 What can I say? Skylar, you are rocking those sunglasses!

 Edison invented a new game of toss the buoy in the water and drag it back - hours of fun.

 And he is smitten with his very own headlamp.

Last days of Summer

We had one week left before I had to begin working again. So we had a lot of fun playing. Charlotte pulled off a great Indiana Jones with this outfit. She also insisted on wearing it to the grocery store....

 Edison went fishing with Eben and Matt. They caught a few salmon which impressed Edison. He was so exhausted he fell asleep in the car on the way home.

 I took the kids on a ferry ride to Whidbey Island to play in our favorite sandpile. The other ferry on the run had an electrical problem while we were waiting for it, so they went down to one ferry the rest of the day. Needless to say we spent more time on Whidbey than we planned.

 But it is hard to complain about a day as nice as this.

 It was even warm enough to wade in the water after lunch.

 And of course, who doesn't love the ferry?!

 I was tickled to visit Ashley and the newest Wiltbank: Graham. He is absolutely adorable - really the perfect baby. Eats well, sleeps well, hardly cries - amazing. He definitely takes after his wonderful mom!

Desolation Sound Adventure - Part 3

DAY 6: This was our biggest day of adventuring of the whole trip. We headed northeast about 32 miles to Toba Inlet. We got an early start and the water was perfectly calm so the ride was a breeze.

I always enjoy the soft colors of early mornings on the water.

As we approached Toba Inlet, the channels merging together and twisting around islands made for spectacular scenery.

We disembarked at the Wildernest, a former logging camp that has been ingeniously converted into a Wilderness Resort. These views set our minds to thinking about staying here awhile next time. But it is extremely isolated - three cabins and room for about six or seven boats on the dock. No towns for nearly fifty miles and while it is on the mainland, the mountains have prevented roads from springing up and so it is boat-in only.

We hiked up the hill above the Wildernest to this lovely waterfall. The hydropower from this stream supplies the electricity for the resort.

We bid farewell and entered Toba Inlet and came across a waterfall even more grand.

The kids liked it, too.

Then we headed south down Waddington Channel which splits East Redonda and West Redonda Islands, through the narrow cliffs of Walsh Cove Marine Park and down to Roscoe Bay for lunch. This bay is blocked by a drying ledge at low tide. Since we don't draw much water, we don't always pay attention to details like these, but we barely made it in.

There is a short path from the bay to warm Black Lake. The water was nice and there was a tiny "beach" spot perfect for the kids. But when a water snake swam around my ankles, we decided it was time to leave.

Then we headed east to the cruising hot spot of Desolation Sound, Prideaux Haven. It was full of nooks and crannies perfect for anchoring and swimming. But, no beaches and no good landing spots for the Whaler. We were also disappointed that there wasn't any camping spots nor were the cabins of Phil and Mike evident in the brush (detailed in "The Curve of Time" a memoir of cruising here in 1940s). But on the right boat, this spot would be really cool.

Lots of good sibling time on this trip.

DAY 8: Our last full day here and we still had one more area we needed to see. One of our favorite parts of camping is playing in the tent every morning.

We headed southeast and checked out camping possibilities on the Copeland Islands. Of all the spots on our trip, these islands reminded us most of the San Juans and had the camping best suited to our needs. Also, great sunset views.

We pulled into Lund for lunch. Lund is on the mainland and is the main jumping off point to Desolation Sound. It requires two expensive and long ferries from Vancouver to get here, and then people can hop on a water taxi and get just about anywhere - even up to Toba Inlet. The tiny harbor is packed with boats that these twenty-footers are lined up just like dinghies. We had a great lunch on the deck of the restaurant in the background - Eben proclaims it was the best salmon he'd ever had - likely because it was just caught that morning!

The boardwalk in Lund.

Then we headed a few miles west to Savary Island. It is a sandy, crescent-shaped island full of little vacation homes and forested lots. It was heaven! Tons of sand dollars at low tide and the best beach in Desolation Sound.

The main road is a sandy lane with driftwood flagpoles. Most people drive ATVs though there are a few cars. The island used to be serviced by an airstrip, but that's shut down now so it is boat in only.

Walking to the other side of the island (south side), the beach extended even further out and the views were impressive. At this point, I was seriously entertaining trying to get a vacation spot here - a small lot could be had for $50,000. But of course, there is no water, no sewer, and no electricity, so you have to be willing to work hard to turn a parcel into a habitable cabin.

Edison has been swimming a bit with a life jacket. He and Eben made it out to this platform.

The last campfire - so sad to go.

DAY 9: We underwent the "decathalon" of transport and gear work:
1) pack up our campsite, 2) move gear down to the dock and pack it in the boat, 3) take the boat back to Campbell River, 4) put the boat on the trailer, 5) drive 3.5 hours south to Sidney, 6) wait for the ferry, 7) long ferry ride back to Anacortes, 8) drive an hour home, 9) unload boat, 10) clean gear and put it away. Needless to say it was a looooooooooooong day. Charlotte conked out at stage three - this is her at the top of the boat ramp after we pulled the boat out of the water.

Waiting for the ferry. This is one we didn't want to miss, so we got there early and spent about three hours hanging out here. You can get a good idea of how we pack the boat from this photo - drybags with our clothes, tent, and bedding in them. Rubbermaid boxes and coolers in the back with food and camping supplies. This trip wasn't easy, but it was rewarding and we will always remember our adventures!

 

The ferry ride was exhausting but the kids just wouldn't crash. They were the annoying kids running around crazy on the ferry. Sorry if you were on that ride!