May 31 - Orcas Island and Ferry Ride

We got up on the early side again this morning because we were determined to get onto the 10am ferry from Anacortes to Orcas Island. It was a 90-minute drive to Anacortes, and we knew that the unreserved capacity would be limited. We made it there in the expected time and were able to get on the ferry we wanted.

The idea behind making this 60 to 90 minute ferry ride was to, hopefully, spot orcas and other marine mammal life. There are resident pods that live around this area, so we were willing to take the chance. It turned into a lightly rainy morning, and the temperature dropped as the day went on. I stayed inside and watched for orcas, while Leon spent more time out on the deck. Unfortunately, we were not successful in seeing any orcas - though Leon saw one sea lion on the first leg of the journey.

When we reached Orcas Island, we headed to a small town in the middle of the island for lunch. We went to an unassuming tavern/sports bar, which had good food and the Champions' League Championship game on! We had lost track of the season and didn't even know that the final game was going to be on. 

We headed back to the ferry terminal after lunch and had another uneventful crossing on the way back to Anacortes. Unfortunately, the traffic situation was worse, so we had a 2+ hour drive back to our place in Beacon Hill.

By this time, it was around 5pm and we decided to head to dinner to try to beat the Saturday night crowd. Leon had spotted a place that looked like it had really good wood-fired pizza, so we walked there for dinner. We were seated at the bar since we didn't have a reservation - and it was more like an Italian bistro than a pizza place. The meal was so delicious and well-prepared - so much better that some of the food that we have had getting through the parks and touristy places.

We returned to our place to do one last load of laundry and get packed up for our 3 weeks in Alaska - we need to pare down what we were taking to be more mobile but still have the clothes we would need for the variable weather conditions in AK. Tomorrow, we rise on the early side to make our way by car to Vancouver. We will park in long-term parking at the airport, take the train to the cruise port and board the ship!