It pays to have friends in awesome places

Two of the benefits of our extensive road trip is that we made many new friends and had the opportunity to visit old ones. The latter was the case when we landed in Anacortes to visit with Vince and Carol, photographer friends that Joe had met on his trip to China back in the ’80s. Not only was it amazing to be hosted by this warm couple in their home with breathtaking views, it was as if no time had passed for Joe, and like I also knew them for over 30 years.

Anacortes is a charming city on Fidalgo Island, located about halfway between Seattle and Vancouver BC. Our friends had relocated here from California after visiting another photographer friend from the same China trip.

Prior to our visit, Vince sent Joe an email with directions and a list of things we could do during our short four-day visit. The list was long and ended with “…or we could just sit in the backyard and enjoy the view.” Although we had a busy schedule and Vince and Carol were excellent tour guides, I chose that last option for our final day. I think you would, too. Imagine waking up to the view shown in the photo above every day!

Our whirlwind tour of Anacortes included a morning photo shoot of the Tulip Festival, a guided tour that encompassed downtown, the many beautiful scenic views of the island, and a trip to Port Townsend by ferry.

The Port Townsend excursion was a default trip after our planned ferry ride to the San Juan Islands was sidetracked when we arrived to learn the ferry wasn’t running that day, sorry! But all was well. Change happens, and we had a fabulous day anyway. Plus the drive from one ferry location to the other gave us a chance to see some of Whidbey Island.

We left Anacortes feeling we had only scratched the surface of this water-surrounded wonderland. Although I may return again by myself one day to see all that we did not on this trip, I treasure the memories of our days here together.

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I hope you enjoyed this issue. For the next several weeks, I’m going to continue with stories and pics from our two months in Seattle and the surrounding area.

Coming Next Week! Part 3: Seattle. Culture and color galore.

Until next time… my best, Shelley