Anniversary Trip - Day 2

So, now where had we left off? Oh yes, we were heading off to Friday Harbor on the ferry! Usually we both traipse up to the passenger portion of the ferry and admire the view and pick out the islands we want to buy with the millions we intend to have later, but this time we had the Beast in tow. Apparently WA state ferries frown upon critters wandering around above the car deck, even if they are dutifully tethered to their owners. So the dog was stuck in the car, and being the overprotective dog parents that we are, we didn't want to leave him there by himself! (because, you know, he could somehow unlock the door and get out and then see shinies in the waves and jump off the ferry and end up like the horse in The Ring...and we don't want that) Mr. B dutifully volunteered to babysit the Beast, because that meant he could catch up on some sleep that he missed while being held over at work the night before. So I left the snoozing boys to go admire the lovely land we live in (or rather, hunks of land in water, but you know what I mean). I quickly got bored of my own company however, and trekked back down to the car to join the napping cuddle puddle.

Blared awake by the loudspeaker announcing our arrival, we were here! Driving off onto land and then off to...the dog park! Yes, we were on vacation and we were off to the dog park. But I tell you what, you stick the Beast in the car for almost 2 hours and then on the ferry for another and you try and interact with society with him in tow without some good fetch time in between and then you tell me what you think! Anyhow, we were pretty impressed overall with the Friday Harbor dog park (though apparently not impressed enough to take pictures, I'm still not used to this blog thing yet). It's right next to the fire station and is a giant fenced in square with a smaller square in the corner fenced off for small dogs (which, when we got there, was inhabited by an elderly lady and her Jack Russel which made this horrible high pitched squeaky bark that I was convinced was some kind of ill bird crying, until Mr. B told me it was the dog). The Beast got to run around to his little heart's content, and chase plenty of tennis balls. There were definitely less dogs at this park than we are used to in Seattle, but I suppose most of the people on the island actually have yards for their dogs (as we explain to the Beast - personal dog parks!). After we drained off some of his energy we needed to catch up on ours and find some lunch.

At this point we realized that it was still a bit to early to get keys to our place, and so we had no where to stow the Beast while we ate (no desire for boiled dog later by leaving him in the car). So we found ourselves a nice fish and chips place (where neither of us had fish or chips) that had some outdoor seating, where several sets of parents had already set up camp with their small children. While we ate our somewhat artery clogging but tasty meal, we reflected on our luck that at least our pest of a small creature (who would not sit still, needed to sniff anyone that came near, eat napkins if possible and lick the floor) was able to be tethered to the railing while all the (adorable and yet incredibly distractable and moderately destructive) toddlers ran amuck.

After eating we walked over to our studio vacation condo and let ourselves in. It was a nice little place with a kitchen, flat screen TV (unfortunately with cable, bah, Mr. B has some sort of disease that makes him compulsively channel surf whenever he comes within 3 feet of a remote control) and a very comfy bed that was taller than the Beast (no wet nose torpedos in the morning!). Once I wrenched my husband away from Mythbusters we decided to troop out to Limekiln Park (aka Whale Watch park, apparently it has some of the best on shore Orca watching in the world) and start our goal of eventually seeing some whales. We first had to introduce the Beast to the idea of whales, so that he could use his keen doggy senses to let us know when the Orcas appeared. Being a country dog from the middle of the state he was still getting used to the giant body of water thing, so we started slowly. He particularly thought he sort of resembled the coloring of an Orca, at least compared to this sculpture!

This is the park at which we spent most of our time looking (in vain) for whales on our honeymoon, so we started with our traditional hike down to the lighthouse to see when the last whale sighting was. Of course it was much earlier in the day and not where we were right then. Oh well, we got some fun pictures of the dog in front of the trees Mr. B likes (does anyone know what kind these are?) and got the only picture we have of the both of us together on the trip! We didn't see any whales, but we stuck around for the sunset and were not disappointed! Though I was slightly jealous of the cruise ship we saw intercepting our lovely view.