Day 1: I try to get a lot in one my first day there. First, I Get picked up at the airport and go to little Korea town. We stop at the Korean grocery store and then eat a Korean restaurant. Not my favorite food.Afterwards, we head to the "gum wall" which is literally covered in gum and of course I stuck a piece on and then off to Pike's Market! I loved Pike's Market. Farmers markets are so fun to me, and they had so many options. Fruit, Fish, Honey, Flowers, Pasta, Jams,etc. and at every stop that had a free sample I sure tried a piece. There is such a thing as chocolate pasta, so of course i bought a package and now i need to make it and then add some vanilla ice cream on top. I am a bit hesitant to make it though, which is why i still haven't. Then we made about a 1.5 trek to REI. This was a legit REI, it was hidden in trees and had a mountain bike/hike trail right outside to test out the gear. Then inside was just massive but then we made it down to dinner and this weird restaurant with awful service and then got back to the rental car and went to an amazingly, beautiful park and then off to bed to start the big kayaking trip.
Day 2: Got up early and headed off to Anacortes Ferry. We made it just in time to drive onto the ferry so we could have a car when we got to Lopez Island. The ferry ride was beautiful. And not too long, it only took about an hour, and then we made it to Lopez Island and found the kayak shop. The kid who was working (Marcus) looked like he was about 15-16, and had a broken front tooth, unibrow, he was a real winner. Anyway, we asked him how long he had been working there and he said, "I've been working here for about 9 summers." First thought that went through my head... "How old is this kid?!" Anyway he told us there were some caves to go into and he was supposed to give us a little lesson before we headed into the water, and he didn't. Marcus just sent us on our way..he was interesting. We started into the water, and after the first couple hours i thought i would never make it through this 3 day kayaking trip, but as we continued it got better. As we were kayaking we looked over and saw a bald eagle!!! So of course we pulled onto shore to get a closer look and he was eating an eye out of a dead seal. (Gross, I know) But he was so distracted with the seal we got to really see him and admire him. It was absolutely amazing. And then as we started to pull out our lunch to eat another Eagle swooped down and caught a crab out of the water! Trips like this are so amazing to me because you get to see things that you normally wouldn't. After we admired the eagle, we started paddling back out and saw a bunch of seals and we would yell "Loose Seal" from Arrested Development. After a long day of kayaking about 20 miles we pulled up to a beach and set up our "kitchen" for dinner and then set up camp. While we were preparing our Mountain House meals (which are surprisingly really tasty) I LOST my CTR ring. :( I hope one of Bill Gates' kids finds it and asks what it means.
Day 3:The next morning though we wake up to a security guard saying, "Good Morning, can i help you kids out? Is anyone injured?" We wake up and say, "No, all of us our safe, none injured."
Security Guard: "Well you know this is private property right?
Us: "We saw the signs, but it was dark and we didn't think it was safe to keep paddling"
Security Guard: "Understandable, we just wanted to make sure that you guys were safe."
Us: "Who owns this beach?"
Security Guard: "I'm not allowed to tell you that, but you can probably guess. Anyway just wanted to check on you guys, I'll let the next guy coming on shift let you know your here."
He left and we wanted to know who the heck the beach was owned by, we came to find out Bill Gates owned it!!! So we slept on Bill Gates' property. Pretty stinkin' awesome if you ask me! About 30 minutes pass and the new security guard comes to see us.
Security Guard #2: "There's a deer checking out your kayaks, i just wanted to make sure you guys had packed your food good."
Us: "Thank you so much! We put it all away." (Boring part)
Security Guard #2: "Where you guys from?"
Us: "UTAH"
Security Guard #2: "Where the heck do you kayak in Utah?"
Us: "In rivers?..."
Security Guard #2: "Well continue on safely."
I do not think there could possibly nicer people anywhere else. I am so happy they let us sleep all night on the beach and didn't kick us off immediately and just came and talked with us about where we were going and told us about their kayaking trips also. Day 3 was packed with paddling to next island called Orcas Island. By this time I was sore as heck and it hurt like heck to paddle and to even hold the paddle. I'm pretty sure i was not very much help to my partner Kort. But we made it the Orcas Island which is more like a resort island and found a spot to hide our kayaks and then went off to explore for the day. I was so happy they had nice bathrooms with showers!! But I wasn't able to shower, but i did take a sponge bath and i was more excited than anything to use a flushing toilet. That day we ended up doing a hike up Mt. Constitution which overlooks all the islands and the border of Canada. The view was amazing and so was the hike. I forget how much of a desert Utah is because this hike and all of Washington was just covered in huge green trees, and plants, and i could go on and on. Anyway, the view was amazing!!!! So worth the long hike. Also, i was thrilled to not be kayaking all day, my upper body needed a break. But we set up camp for the night and got some good sleep...
Day 4: The end of the kayaking adventure. We had to get the kayaks back to shop on Lopez Island by 12:00pm. So we went, and went with hardly any stops. All of us wanted to be done and rest but we didn't really have time. But we made it back to Marcus in time. We unloaded our kayaks, which i was quite surprised by how much those things hold, and got in the car to rush to catch the ferry back to Anacortes. We drove right on and parked the car and I didn't even make it out of the car. I fell asleep sitting in the car and woke up at the end of the ferry ride. The 50 miles of kayaking really took it out of me. We had a delicious meal in Anacortes and then headed back to Seattle. That night we went to get Gelato at the Fainting Goat and then went to see the Space Needle. It was quite fun, and I'm glad I went at night because it looked awesome with the lights on.
Day 5: Jim, Matthew, and Logan left early that morning to start their road trip back to utah, and Kort was just so lucky to take me around Seattle. We went to Pike's Market to see them throw the fish, and both times I went I didn't see it happen. then off to the Smith Building which is just as high as the Space Needle but only 5 dollars instead of 20. Then we went to China town and ate dim sun (?) and I did not like it, much too authentic for me. Then we went shopping the rest of the day. Then Kort called a cab and we went back to his house, got my bags then back to the bus station to rid to the metro to get me to the airport. Thank goodness Kort was there because I would have gotten so lost!
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