San Juan Biking

San Juan Biking Bike camping trip to San Juan Island.

Here's Hans, Holly, Angela, and Eric (Bultemeier) at the start of the trip in Friday harbor. After 3 weeks of bright sunshine, the 22nd dawned rainy and cool.		Angela and Eric take a look at the view on the road towards Limekiln State Park.


You can see Vancouver Island, Canada in the background here.		This is at Limekiln State Park, on the west side of San Juan Island. We asked a guy to take a group picture of us in front of this Madrona tree, but when we looked at the camera, it turned out that it didn't take. So we did one with the self timer.


We went looking around in the tidepools at Limekiln, and found this unusual starfish, with skinny red arms.		The park contained numerous madrona trees. The outer bark of these trees peels away, and leaves a very smooth reddish inner back


The Limekiln lighthouse.		Limekiln is supposed to be a really good place to watch for killer whales (orcas). We didn't see any, but one of the park rangers was doing a program about the whales, and had this handy display of a dorsal fin as a visual aid, so here's the next best thing to a whale.


I thought this tree looks a lot like a face...		The weather started clearing a bit as we left Limekiln State Park. Here's some views south down the coast--some very desirable real estate.


		Next we biked to San Juan County Park. It used to be an old farm--below is one of the barns, now used as a signpost..


Eric found a crab, and was playing with it. (okay, okay, it was a dead crab--it's a posed picture)		This park, like Limekiln, is big with scuba divers.


The view looking north of San Juan County Park.		This was a funny little structure right off the road on the way back to the campground (Lakedale). I believe it's a bus shelter for kids to stand in.


Fixing dinner at the campground.		Marshmallows on an open flame.


The next morning dawned a lot brighter.		On the way to English Camp National Historical Park, we found a big patch of thimbleberries. Thimbleberries are very similar to raspberries, but sweeter, with almost a nutty taste. They're very delicate, too, and are usually crushed in the process of being picked. This is probably why they're not commercially grown.


		This is English camp. They restored a lot of the buildings to just how they looked when the camp was in operation, all whitewashed.








		The camp also includes a formal english garden.





This is a huge broadleaf maple tree on the grounds. Very impressive.		All too soon, we were headed back. It was completely sunny by now. Below are our bikes on the ferry. With bikes, there's no wait whatsoever to get on the ferry. With a car, though, you could wait for hours.


This is the condo we stayed in during our last trip to San Juan Island.		This floatplane says Expedia.com on it. That's some expensive advertising...


Bye bye, San Juan Island!