Washington State Ferry Ride from Anacortes to the San Juan Islands & Sydney British Columbia

You might be able to guess, due to the Mounties, that the above photo was taken somewhere in Canada. Your guess would be correct. The Canadian Mounties have dismounted from their horses and are overlooking a crowd enjoying festivities celebrating the annual first run of the Anacortes/San Juan/Sidney Ferry.

Sidney is on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, which is a province of Canada.

Anacortes is a port city in Skagit County in the state of Washington.

The Washington State Ferry System operates several ferries out of Anacortes, making runs to the San Juan Islands and to Sydney, B.C.

The San Juan Islands are part of an international archipelago of over 450 islands in the Salish Sea.  The Canadian part of the archipelago is called the Gulf Islands. Fifteen of the islands are connected to the mainland (and Vancouver Island) by passenger ferries. The British Columbia Ferry System connects to 9 of the Gulf Islands, while the Washington State Ferry System connects to 6 of the San Juan Islands.

You can park and ride from Anacortes, walking on board.

Trust me, if you have never ridden a ferry and you are taking a vacation to Washington, you will want ride on a Washington ferry.

The Washington State Ferry Fleet is the largest in the United States and the 3rd largest in the world.

In Anacortes you can buy an outbound ticket to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and hop off for a visit at any of the island stops, like Orcas Island, and then catch the next outbound ferry.

Catching the last ferry of the day, in Friday Harbor, after dark, makes for a very fun ride back to Anacortes.

Below is a YouTube video of the first sailing of the year from Anacortes to Sydney...

Year Round Festivals & Fun in Leavenworth Washington

That is Leavenworth, Washington, in winter, above, with a large crowd of people under the starry night sky.

Leavenworth is Washington's #1 Tourist Theme Town. With the theme being a Bavarian Village.

With the east side of the Cascade Mountains as a backdrop, it is easy to imagine you are in the mountains of Bavaria when you are in Leavenworth.

Leavenworth has festivals all year long, with the Leavenworth Oktoberfest believed to be the biggest outside of Munich, Germany.

Watch the video below to get a real good idea of the fun to be had in Leavenworth, Washington...

Planning a Vacation in the Washington State Theme Park

Below is a video from the people who promote tourism for the State of Washington. The state also has a very good website that shows you the HUGE variety of what you can do in the theme park known as the State of Washington.

In the Washington Vacation Planner video below you will see Skagit Valley Tulips, the Cascade Mountains, Mt. St. Helens, Mount Rainier, the Pacific Ocean, Seattle, Skiing, Kayaking, River Rafting, Hiking, Horse Riding, Mountain Biking, Pacific Northwest Native Culture and Leavenworth.

Betty Jo Bouvier & the Skagit Valley Food Co-op in Mount Vernon Washington

A few weeks ago I verbalized the sad lament that in my current location in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, with around 6 million people, there is nothing quite like the Skagit Valley Food Co-op.

The Skagit Valley Food Co-op is located in Mount Vernon, in the Skagit Valley of Washington.

There are Whole Foods Markets here in the D/FW zone. And Central Markets. And a lame "health food" store or two.

But nothing like the Skagit Valley Food Co-op.

I don't remember, exactly, when the Skagit Valley Food Co-op first opened. I know it was in the early 1970s. I do remember the location, near the County Courthouse. At that point in time the Co-op was a totally hippie affected, counter culture, very granola, Mother Jones, Mother Earth type of place.

The original Skagit Valley Food Co-op was the first place I ever saw a baby being breast fed.

Over the years the Co-op became more and more mainstream. At some point in time the Co-op moved to a new, big location in the old J.C. Penney's building. Modern cash registers showed up. You could use your debit card.

In the new location a restaurant was added to the Co-op. I remember Friday's Spaghetti Night as a real good thing. I wonder if they still have Spaghetti Night.

It is at least 11 years since I set foot in the Skagit Valley Food Co-op.

After I lamented the lack of such a store here in my zone of Texas, Betty Jo Bouvier, she being one of the Wild Women of Woolley (that's Sedro Woolley to you unfamiliar with the Skagit Valley), mailed me the Skagit Valley Food Co-op's November advertisement.

So, the Skagit Valley Food Co-op has gone even more mainstream since I moved. I don't recollect seeing Co-op ads when I lived in the Valley.

The Skagit Valley Food Co-op also now has a very well-done website. That also did not exist when I lived in the Valley.

The Co-op also has a blog. Blogs had not yet been invented when I still lived in Washington.

Wingsuit Bat Flying Over Seattle and the Space Needle

Just this morning I found myself saying I was thinking it was time to move from Dallas, back to Seattle. Here in Texas I can not go Wingsuit Flying by a Space Needle. It has been so long, I really can not remember the last time I jumped out of a plane to fly my Wingsuit by the Seattle Space Needle.

I miss that type of adventure. And I miss Seattle. Seattle is scenic in a way that the towns I see in Texas are sadly lacking. Seattle is like being in one big theme park. Where the rides include flying a Wingsuit over the city.

Just minutes ago I blogged on one of my other blogs, DurangObese, about America's Fattest and Fittest Cities. Four cities in Texas are in the Top 25 Fattest. Only one is on the Top 25 Fittest list, that being Austin.

Seattle is the 8th Fittest.

Watch the YouTube video below and you will see why I greatly miss Wingsuit Flying over Seattle...

Tiptoeing Through The Skagit Valley Tulips

You are looking at a field of tulips in the Skagit Valley in Washington. Up til about 11 years ago I lived in the Skagit Valley. The Skagit Valley, even without all the flowers, is one of the most scenic areas in America, which makes it one of the most scenic areas of the world.

The Skagit Valley is also one of the most productive agricultural areas of the world, growing all sorts of produce besides flowers. And blackberries grow wild, free for the picking.

For many many years now the Skagit Valley has been flooded annually with around a million visitors, coming to the valley to experience the month long Skagit Tulip Festival, April 1 through April 30.

Traffic can get a bit heavy in the valley during the Skagit Tulip Festival. That problem used to be much worse, but solutions were devised that keeps the traffic moving.

I remember a few years when it was so bad I wished the Skagit Tulip Festival would go away. I remember having to go from Mount Vernon to La Conner, while the festival was underway, several days in a row. It made what should have been about a 15 minute drive into well over an hour.

I recollect going to an Easter sunrise service at Roozengaarde, with my mom and dad. I don't know how I got talked into that. I do remember it was foggy. Roozengaarde is such a big deal in tulip world that their website domain is simply tulips.com. 

Below is a YouTube video that gives you an idea of what a Skagit Valley tulip field looks like...

Fort Casey State Park & the Keystone Ferry to Port Townsend

You are looking west, across Admiralty Inlet at the Olympic Mountains, from Fort Casey State Park.

Way back in the 1890s Admiralty Inlet was determined to be a vulnerable point on Puget Sound, strategically speaking. To protect Puget Sound from an invasion from the sea, three forts were built to create a "Triangle of Fire" with really big guns that would put a stop to any fleet up to no good.

The three forts were Fort Casey, on the Whidbey Island side of Admiralty Inlet, Fort Worden on the Port Townsend/Olympic Peninsula side of Admiralty Inlet and Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island.

By the time the three forts were built they were already obsolete due to airplanes becoming part of the military arsenal.

There are also abandoned gun emplacements and pillboxes at Fort Ebey State Park. Fort Ebey was a World War II coastal defense fort.

If I remember right the last time I was at Fort Casey was when my nephew Joey and I rode our bikes on to the Keystone/Port Townsend Ferry. I remember it was a real rough rock and roll passing on the way back to Whidbey Island. When the tides get a bit on the extreme side it can create rough seas in Admiralty Inlet. So much so, that sometimes the ferry can not sail. I have crossed twice in rough seas. It's an incredible experience. Better than any carnival ride I've ever been on.

The Keystone/Port Townsend Ferry is my favorite of the Washington Ferry routes.

You can explore all over Fort Casey and Fort Worden. Fort Casey is the bigger of the two. There is a maze of underground passages, above ground catwalks, ladders, stairways, underground rooms, gun emplacements, ammunition depots and a lighthouse to explore.

A flash light is a necessary accessory when exploring Fort Casey.

Below is a really good YouTube video, waiting to get on the Keystone Ferry to cross to Port Townsend.