San Juan Island

This past weekend Mr. V and I headed out to San Juan Island. Its one of several islands that make up the San Juan Islands, and it has the largest town - Friday Harbor - of all of the islands on it. A family member asked me a few weeks ago where I actually lived, so thanks to screen shots and the paint application, I created a map to answer that question:

This first map is a google map of the state of Washington. I circled Whidbey Island on it. As you can see, I live in the center of the Puget Sound (you may have to click the picture to see it a little larger):
The second map is of the Puget Sound, with a star on Oak Harbor - the town I live in - on Whidbey Island, and an arrow pointing to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island:
Oh and that gray line to the left of the map? That's the United States/Canada border, something that also fascinates me. You can see Vancouver Island from Whidbey Island and the fact that I live closer to the Canadian border than I do to Seattle is something that I've loved since we moved here. I've come to love the city of Vancouver so its something that I will miss when we move away from here. (note: Vancouver Island is home of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. The city of Vancouver is a city, not an island, that's on the mainland of Canada. I've noticed that this seems to confuse people for some reason. Basically, the island and the city are 2 very different things.)

I'm fascinated by the San Juan Islands because you can only get to them by boat or plane (a small plane), yet people still live there. I'm not sure why its so fascinating to me, but I can't imagine living in a place that I couldn't get on or off of without a boat or a plane. Granted, you can drive your car onto the ferry to get there, but there is no bridge or tunnel to get you there, so if the ferries are out of service (which seems to happen more often than one would think) you're basically stranded. All of the San Juan Islands are like this, but the larger ones have a large ferry going in and out of them, while the smaller ones have nothing except personal small watercraft. I just can't wrap my mind around the idea of living somewhere like that. But with that being said, I love visiting this area. Last summer I went to San Juan Island for the first time when my friend came out to visit me. Mr. V was deployed at the time and its a place he had been wanting to go to, so this past weekend we finally had the chance to go together.

(View from the ferry of the San Juan Islands)

(a house on one of the smaller San Juan Islands - I can't even imagine living like this!)

(a boat and a plane - the only methods of transportation out here)

(arriving in Friday Harbor)

Our first stop was at the San Juan National Park American Camp. Back in the mid 1800's the island was jointly occupied by American and British troops who got into a little scuffle over a pig that someone shot. Basically both sides claimed that they owned the island, one guy shot a pig that belonged to a guy on the other side, they built forts/camps to protect each side, then lived there peacefully on opposite ends of the island for several years until the German Kaiser settled the dispute and awarded the island to the Americans. Thats a really crappy version of the history there, but if you feel the need, google "Pig War" for the more educated version of the story :-).

(American Camp on the southern end of the island)

(Officer's Quarters - one of 2 surviving buildings left)

(Laundress Quarters)

Our next stop was the town of Roche Harbor at the northern end of the island. I've been trying to find out how many people live in Roche Harbor, but its apparently so small that I can only find the entire population of San Juan Island itself (2,152), and no information on Roche Harbor on its own. So basically, its REALLY small. And I'm not going to lie - I sort of got a Twilight Zone feeling upon entering this town. It starts with a large sign over the road welcoming you to Roche Harbor Resort, which I sadly didn't take a picture of. I just found it odd, because it functions like the whole town is a resort, even though it has actual permanent residents.Then once you get into the town its just...weird. I don't know how to explain it. Its just so small, that you feel like you're walking into someone's backyard, except its a town. If you've ever read the Weird Washington book, its also in there. As in, the entire town is listed as one of Washington's weird places. It was an old company town, built around a lime kiln, that is still standing in ruins today (the lime kiln is in ruins, not the town). Also, one of the town's original residents built this enormous, way overdone, mausoleum for his whole family.

So let's recap. The town itself is in the Weird Washington book. The McMillan Mausoleum is also in the book. This is a town that apparently doesn't even have enough residents to even bother coming up with a town population count, yet it appears in the book twice. I'd say that makes it pretty weird.

Aside from the weirdness though, it was a pretty cute town that we explored for a while. When I went to San Juan Island last summer, we didn't make it up to Roche Harbor, so it was something pretty interesting to see this time around.

(part of the old lime kiln)

(another part of the old lime kiln)

(Hotel de Haro - an original wooden hotel. We went inside to look around and its so old that guests have to share a hallway bathroom with only one toilet and one shower. The floors and stairs are crooked and it just has an overall spooky atmosphere.)

(I think the size of the post office speaks for itself. I didn't notice if any of the houses in town had mailboxes so my guess is that if you count the number of mailboxes you can probably count the number of families that live in the town [and I didn't cut out any of the mailboxes in this picture - thats all of them].)

("downtown" Roche Harbor)

(after getting hooked on geocaching a few weeks ago, we've been playing around with some phone apps for it and we found that Roche Harbor has some. So we went looking for them and this is the first one we found.)

(2nd cache of the day)

(the McMillan Mausoleum - crazy and elaborate for such a tiny little town)

(me at the table in the mausoleum - each chair has the remains of his family members. Slightly creepy.)

(before we left Roche Harbor, we found a 3rd cache. Geocaching is definitely an addictive hobby!)

Our third stop was the English camp at San Juan National Park. The English camp is on the northern end of the island and was better maintained than the American camp, so a large part of it is still standing today.

(English Camp- San Juan National Park)

(We got there as they were getting ready to close the visitor's center and one of the park rangers started recruiting everyone around to help out with the flag lowering ceremony.)

(folding the British flag)

(Mr. V helping to fold the flag)

(the park ranger getting ready to put the flag away for the night)

(view of the English camp from the hill where the Officer's quarters used to be)

(Mr. V in the old carriage lane leading to the Officer housing. The trees lining it were planted by the English who lived there in the 1800s.)

Our next stop was at an alpaca farm just to take some pictures - I want one :-).



Our final stop of the day was at Lime Kiln State Park. This is apparently a great place to go whale watching, though I can't say that I agree. Last year we arrived at the park exactly 4 minutes after a huge pod of whales had swam by - talk about bad timing. This year we were told that no whales had been spotted for 3 days. Maybe one day we'll get to see them!

(Lime Kiln State Park and lighthouse)

(view from Lime Kiln State Park)

(Mr. V and me)

(me - its so beautiful at this park!)

(back in Friday Harbor - one of the ferries arriving at the dock)

All in all a great day!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #9

Here are this week's questions for the Friday Fill-In from Wife of a Sailor:

Last week one of the questions was asking the participants to ask their own questions, so this week, that's where the questions come from.

1. If you could be a fugitive from the law for whatever reason, what would your crime be? (from It’s a Hooah Life)

A bank robber, because let's face it...who doesn't want more money?

2. How long do you think you will be a military family? (from Julie the Army Wife)

This has been debated back and forth between us, but we're probably in it until retirement (20 years). Mr. V's initial commitment is slightly longer than average due to the fact that he went through flight school. He had to commit to 8 years after receiving his wings, plus the 2 years of flight school before that. Right now we're at the point where we still have just under 6 more years before we can even begin to think about getting out. And by that point, he'll be halfway to retirement (or possibly more because apparently sometimes years spent at the Naval Academy will count towards retirement, but I don't completely understand how that works), and it kind of seems pointless to get out at that point (at least in our minds). So yep...we're probably a lifetime military family.

3. What’s your favorite recipe? (from Keep Calm and Soldier On)

Its a recipe that my Grandma used to make for me any time I was over at her house. You take chicken breast and cut it up into small nugget sized pieces, coat them in melted butter and then roll them in Ritz cracker crumbs. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and you have a somewhat unhealthy but very yummy dinner. Of course the meal is only complete with chicken gravy, corn and mashed potatoes with a dollop of sour cream in them. No other side dishes are acceptable as part of the meal :-).

4. What would you want your last five words to be when you leave this life? (from My Goal is Simple)

"I had a great life". I suppose thats a simple answer, but I really don't want to die if I haven't enjoyed my life yet, so when that time comes I want to remember and point out that I have lived a great life :-).

5. Where do you hope to retire? (from Pennies from Heaven)

North Carolina in the Charlotte area. That's where I went to college and I absolutely love it there. Whether or not that happens will be up for debate I suppose. Mr. V wants to retire back here to Washington, or go back to his home in New Orleans. I want neither of those options, so I'm sure we'll have to come to some kind of compromise when that time comes up.

MilSpouse Friday FIll-In #8

The 8th week of the MilSpouse Friday Fill-In from Wife of a Sailor:

1. What is ONE thing you’d like civilians to understand about being a military family?

That when your spouse is away on a business trip or vacation without you, its NOT THE SAME as having your spouse in Iraq or any war zone. While I appreciate the attempt at empathy, it makes me mad. My own mother told me that going away from her husband for 4 days was just as bad as having Mr. V in Iraq for 7 months. I COMPLETELY understand that people miss their spouses, and everyone has a right to that, but missing your husband because he's on a business trip just isn't the same. Yes, he's gone, and you miss him, and you're sad. But you're not afraid for his life at the same time. For me, it has nothing to do with the amount of time that has gone by. Everyone is different and while some people think 7 months is a long time, others feel the same way about 2 weeks, and thats understandable to me. But when one husband is on a business trip in a nice hotel, and my husband is in Iraq at a base with frequent rocket attacks - thats what makes the difference. You miss your spouse. I miss mine, but I also fear for his life at the same time.

2. What is your favorite mistake?

Moving to Corpus Christi with my ex-fiance. If I had listened to my gut, I wouldn't have gone, and I would have left him much sooner than I actually did. Instead, I ignored my gut feeling, moved with him anyway, and went through a very rough time down there. However, if I hadn't gone with him, I would have never met Mr. V. So a bad situation turned out to be a great thing, since it led me to my husband :-).

3. What indulgence could you give up for a year?

Probably soda. Its not my biggest indulgence or most favorite, but I think its the only one I could give up without having unbearable cravings for it constantly.

4. If you could be a winged animal, what would you be?

A penguin because they have wings, but they don't fly. I'm terrified of flying (and yes I'm very aware that I married a pilot), so the idea that I could have wings and fly on my own is really not an exciting thought to me. Its actually quite terrifying. Penguins are cute and they have wings. So I would choose being a cute winged animal that couldn't fly, over anything that can actually fly.

5. What is one question you’d like to see asked in a future MFF?

If money wasn't a factor and you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? And why?

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Week in Review

Its hard to not love Washington at this time of the year. The only thing I still have trouble wrapping my mind around is the fact that many people here think that the months of miserable weather, are worth it, just to be here for the approximate 2 months of nice weather in the summer. I can't argue with the fact that its beautiful here in the summer. I just think I'd rather take a vacation here in the summer instead of suffering through 10 months of miserable rain, fog, gray skies, 9:30am sunrises and 3:30pm sunsets, just to be here for the nice summer (which isn't 2 full months of niceness - if you look at some of the pictures I'm posting in this blog, you'll see that we're actually in jackets and sweatshirts in some of them).

I'm always amazed at the fact that whenever Mr. V leaves for a while, I go through the same pattern. First, I'm miserable and lonely, but then I quickly get into a new routine. Since he's wasn't the only one from the squadron gone, the other wives and I are always quick to make ourselves busy, which is easy to do during a beautiful Washington summer.

Sunday: The week started out on a scary note. Finding a black widow spider in my bathroom on Sunday morning was not how I thought my day was going to start, so that thoroughly freaked me out. Now I just have to hope that there aren't more of them living in my house, and that the cats will stay away from them if there are.

Monday: Monday was pretty entertaining. Several weeks ago, a friend of mine had her Ipod stolen out of her car, that was parked in her driveway. Within a few nights of that happening, several other people in her neighborhood also had Ipods and GPS systems stolen from their cars. The neighbors all reported the thefts, but the cops that came to check up on things didn't seem to be too interested in catching whoever was doing this, so no one thought anything would come of it. Well, it turns out that the kid who was stealing from cars, got a little too confident and decided to try shoplifting from the Kmart in town, which got him arrested. From what we can understand, he was arrested because of his Kmart shoplifting, and then they figured out that he was also the Ipod thief. So my friend and her neighbors had to write victim statements, and deliver them to the county courthouse if they wanted money for their stolen property. My friend also wanted to go see this kid's arraignment, and I went along with her so I could take her 18 month old son out of the courtroom if he started to get fussy. She didn't want to miss a minute of this guy's testimony.

The entertaining part of the whole day was juvenile court itself. We were shocked at how these kids came dressed. Apparently, its appropriate to show up in court wearing pants that are falling off your butt, with your boxers showing. Because, you know, thats clearly going to make a good impression on the judge. Thats pretty much what every kid looked like, minus the one and only kid who showed up in a suit and tie.

Not only were the kids inappropriately dressed for court, but the Ipod thief was arraigned on several charges, all of which he pleaded "not guilty" to, which definitely irritated my friend (her Ipod was her first ever mother's day gift, so aside from it being expensive, it also had sentimental value to her).

I think the final kicker of the day was the conversation we heard outside of the courtroom between the prosecutor, a juvenile delinquent, his mother and his lawyer. The prosecutor was explaining what was going to happen in the courtroom, and the mother kept interrupting saying "my son is NOT guilty" in a voice way too obnoxious to ever be taken seriously. Then when the lawyer told the kid to spit his gum out because the judge didn't like people chewing gum while talking to him, the kid said "Oh its ok. The last time I was here I just hid it under my tongue." Something about the mother's attitude, the fact that this kid nonchalantly admitted that this was not his first time in juvenile court, and the fact that the Ipod thief, with piles of evidence against him, pleaded not guilty to all accounts, just made it a very entertaining, yet disturbing, day as a whole.

Tuesday: Tuesday was pretty uneventful. I spent a lot of time working around the house, and playing with my new dustbuster, which is a purchase I should have made years ago. I no longer have to lug around an entire vacuum clear just to suck up some stray cat fur and litter tracked outside of the boxes. Mr. V likes to do things cheaply, and so do I, so he's fine with lugging the large vacuum cleaner around if it saves us some money. I finally decided that he's the one who is always gone, and I'm the one who cleans the house most of the time, so I didn't care if I had to spend more money. I was buying the dustbuster to make things much easier to accomplish for me.

That afternoon, I brought Moe, back to my friend's house. Remember my foster kittens from last summer? If you go back to that blog post, Moe is the little one climbing up my leg in one of the pictures. When I had the foster kittens, I also had Larry, a cat I was babysitting for the length of the deployment for a friend, while she went home to Indiana. Larry loved Moe. He followed him around and mothered him, and was pretty obsessed with him, so when the kittens went up for adoption, my friend adopted Moe so that Larry would have a friend.

Fast forward to several months ago. Suddenly Moe decided that he had had enough of Larry and started violently attacking him, in the vicinity of my friend's 8 month old daughter. My friend obviously didn't want her baby injured, so she panicked a little, and I took Moe back from her. This was around the time when Moe had reached the age of needing to be neutered, so I took him and got him neutered for her, and we hoped that his hormones would calm down a bit, and it would be possible to reintroduce him to Larry.

The first reintroduction didn't go well. So I kept him longer, in the hopes that we could reintroduce them as two new cats, instead of cats that already knew each other. The idea was to try to make them forget about each other, then let them hiss and growl at each other for a few days, then hopefully they would adapt, and Larry would start to stand up for himself a little more. This is the point we're at now. So far, the second re-introduction hasn't gone well, but we're giving it a few more days before giving up for good, and just letting Moe come live with me for the rest of his life.(He looks sweet and innocent doesn't he?)

Wednesday: Wednesday was one of those days that I love in Washington. Absolutely perfect beautiful weather. So a group of friends and I headed to one of the beaches in town to hang out. Even though the weather was nice, the beaches here aren't really swimming beaches. Most of them have rocks instead of sand. A few beaches have sand, like the one we went to this day, but the water temperature is still way too cold to actually swim in it. The ladies who had dogs, brought them along, and we spent a while just playing with the dogs and soaking up some sun. I actually had a slight sunburn when I came home, which was slightly shocking, because I think its the first time I've been burnt like that since moving up here. Typically, I burn pretty easily, so that should tell you something about the lack of sunlight here and/or the lack of nice days that I can spend outside.

Thursday: Thursday was spent on my new favorite hobby - geocaching! Apparently, this is something thats been pretty popular for years now, but the first time I ever heard of it was a week ago. Our spouse club set up a geocaching hike, which I went on, because I was bored and it sounded interesting. If you haven't heard of it before, basically you get coordinates, and use a GPS to locate a cache at the location given. The caches range in size from micro to large, and they have been placed there by random people. There is an official website - Geocaching: The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site - where you can look up your area and find where the caches are in that area. So last week, I went on my first geocaching hike, and this past Thursday a couple friends and I set off to find the caches that we couldn't find the week before.

(Melanie with a micro cache - the cache was the size of a finger nail and this piece of paper was rolled up in side of it for people to write their names on.)

(Allison and Karin [and Elaina]) with another cache)

Thursday afternoon was the highlight of my week. The week before I had gone with a friend to look at a dog at the local animal shelter. Everyone who knows me knows that I love cats, so of course, when I walked into that shelter I wanted to take every single cat home with me. I resisted though, until we walked into the 2nd shelter (there are 2 locations on the island). There I found a little gray kitten that looked and acted just like Cledus, my kitten who died from leukemia about 3 years ago. I've truly believe that if an animal is meant to come into your life, they will. So while looking at all the cats, I felt sorry for all of them, and I wanted to save them all, but I didn't feel a strong connection with any of them until I saw little Emily. When I went to pet her, she started purring loudly, and she screamed for me when I eventually walked away. I obviously know that she's not Cledus, but she is just so much like him, that I actually cried when I left the shelter. Mr. V was gone, so I texted him to tell him about her. I expected an argument from him, but instead he texted back "Go ahead and adopt her". Even from far away he could already tell that there was something special about her! So I adopted her the next day, but I couldn't take her home until she was spayed, which is why I picked her up on Thursday afternoon. She fit into this house instantly, and Mr. V fell in love with her as soon as he walked in the door yesterday. She's exactly like Cledus, and its almost scary. She definitely has her own personality, but there is so much Cledus in her, which I can't help but love! We changed her name to Angelina, because she's like an angel of Cledus :-). Some people are probably going to think that we're crazy for getting another cat. But we realized a while ago that we have the means to take proper care of 10 cats, and when Meepers died back in April, that left us with 9. Mr. V had said at the time, that we'll know it, when we're meant to have another cat, and I truly believe that little Angelina was the cat that was meant to fill that empty spot in our home!

(the resident cats checking out the new arrival)

(Angelina - her ear is green because its ink from a tattoo that is now wearing off. She wasn't so sure about this house at first, but it only took her about 10 minutes before she was bouncing around like she owned the place!)

Friday: Another geocaching day! This time we went to a park up in Anacortes, the town on the island just north of Whidbey. It was freezing on this day though, but we still had a lot of fun.

(The first cache we found)

(View from Washington Park)

(View from Washington Park)

(Karin and me where we found the 2nd cache. We thought this was pretty cool - this area was carved by an ancient glacier.)

(The 2nd cache of the day)

(Our self portrait of us with the 2nd cache)

Saturday: We ended the week on a fun note. The show Deadliest Catch is pretty popular around here because some of the boats are based out of Seattle, and 2 of the guys from the boat the Northwestern live in Anacortes (again -the town directly north of where I live). I have to admit that I don't watch the show, other than stopping on it while I channel surf occasionally, but my friend is obsessed with the show, so when she heard that some of the guys would be at the Market in Anacortes signing autographs as part of a fundraiser (Jake Anderson's father disappeared several months ago and they were raising funds to continue searching for him), we of course had to head up there to meet them.

(Nick Mavar,me, Karin & Elaina, Captain Jonathan Hillstrand, Jake Anderson)

And that concludes my week! Very busy, but very fun!