Orcas Island

Thursday dawned bright and clear. It was a good day to travel so we didn't sleep in, but got up and made the 8:30 inter-island ferry to Orcas Island which is the other big island in the San Juan Island group. As the crow flies, it is about 5 miles from ferry landing to ferry landing, but because Shaw Island is in the way, it takes about 45 minutes to get there.

Although, Orcas Is. is about the same size as SJ ( actually a few square miles larger) I felt totally different there. Scenically, I believe it offers more to do than SJ, of example, the large Moran State Park and Rosario and Eastsound areas and several small village areas such as; Olga, Deer Harbor and West Sound. Because of the several large bays there is more shoreline on Orca also. Its population is 60% of SJ so it feels much more rural to me. The precentage of "normal" homes is greater on Orcas I bet. [ Normal being houses that are of normal construction and not designed by an architect, but still overpriced because of having to be brought from the mainland. Aslo normal houses are occupied by the owners full time and not just a "vacation home" to lived in for a a couple of weeks or months a year. ]

We drove up the great curving road to the top of Mt Constitution and took in the great views, snapping numerous pictures. The clouds cleared during the half-hour we were there. Mount Rainier was visible to the south and Vancouver, BC to the north. Mount Baker was almost touchable to the east.

Then it was lunch at the Olga Cafe. Good organic locally grown food, slow service, not inexpensive. On to Rosario. Rosario was the home of ship builder Robert Moran, who build the mansion with arts and crafts in mind. The craftsmanship is amazing, the woodwork beautiful, the stained glass fabulous. There are 22 rooms and suites available for rent, a spa, and restaurant. The building is over one hundred years old but is still quite beautiful. Walking around inside is like a trip to a museum.

Mr Moran donated over 5000 acres of his land to the state of Washington to become Maron Stae Park, the fourth largest state park in Washington. The parks contains many miles of trails and over two hundred small campsites.

By 4:00 we were in line at the ferry landing waiting for our trip back to SJ. A pleasant day trip.