Friends Come To The PNW
This is the closest we have been to Montana in 9 months. We have a lot of friends who have talked about wanting to come visit us on our journeys. Now that we are a day drive away and in a radical spot, we get to host some of our best friends from Whitefish. First up, we have Brian and Ashley Seefeldt coming into town, and then we have Craig and Amy Moore (and their dog Wally). Needless to say, this is going to be a great time filled with adventure, fun, lots of laughter and lots of memories shared with friends!
Mile: 22,893
Quote of the Blog: “Sometimes all you need is a great friend and a full tank of gas.” - Thelma & Louise
Song of the Blog: “With A Little Help From My Friends” - The Beatles
We had a quick transition from landing in Anacortes, and our first set of visitors arriving. Ashley and Brian Seefeldt stayed with us just 6 days after moving into our new place. We had a blast exploring town and getting to know the area with them! We all enjoyed a ferry ride out to Orcas Island. We did some exploring around the island. We started with some delicious Beignets at The Orcas Hotel. Amity really enjoyed her time exploring the Rosario Resort in Rosario Bay. Then we headed to the foot of Mount Constitution. We hiked around the trail that goes from Cascade Lake to Mount Constitution. It was really weird that the trail sign was preciously facing the wrong way. We lost a lot of our vigor and desire to do the entire hike, because we learned at the trailhead that you can drive to the top of the trail. So, we got about 4 miles of walking in through a dense Cedar and Fern forest, before getting back to the car and heading up to the top. At the top of Mount Constitution there is a rad lookout. We battled the thousands of bees to get up to the top to see the views. Another catch to the adventure, was that some local fires have brought in some thick smoke. This really put a hamper on the views. Still an awesome spot, and we will be back! After snagging some ice cream at the Lopez Island Creamery ended our afternoon on Orcas Island with beers at the White Horse Pub in Eastsound.
Getting back to Anacortes, we went to Nonna Luisa Ristorante for dinner. This is an amazing Italian Restaurant. The atmosphere is on point! The food is delicious, but I was a little turned off by the fact that I had to shell the shrimp that had been cooked into the pasta sauce; kind of messy! After this, we headed over to the Swinomish Casino. Brian slayed the Blackjack tables! It was fun to see him play like a little kid in a candy shop.
The next day we started with walking down to town for an “Open Streets” event. The city closed the main street to cars for people to walk around. It really wasn’t much, and we all laughed at the number of shops that were closed for the day. We then headed down to Deception Pass to take on some sea kayaking. This was really fun! Brian and I took up one of the tandem kayaks, while Amity and Ashley took up the other. We had a nice guide, who was very overwhelmed by the other half of our group. She killed it though, and we got out into the ocean via Bowman Bay. It was really cool to get out into some long and larger waves, which were about 5-7 feet high. It was also cool to get out into a kelp forest, where we could just chill and the currents wouldn’t mess with us. I felt much more confident and comfortable with kayaking in the ocean after that. I expect us to this again. We finished the night off with a solid plate of nachos and massive Pacifico’s at a local Mexican spot!
Amity had to work the next day, so we took the day to check out a local brewery (Rockfish Grill & Anacortes Brewery). The food and beer were great. They have blended the two businesses, so you wouldn’t tell the difference between them once you’re inside. After lunch, we headed down to Deception Pass. I have found this area to be one of the few shore fishing spots. I still have had no luck, but we did have some muffins from The Store in Anacortes. It was a nice afternoon of explore around the area. We capped the last night off with dinner at our place. We often have bunked up at their place while we are in Whitefish, so it was nice to be able to return the favor.
Saying our goodbyes, we both took the week to really settle into our lives here in Anacortes. I started working at The Store baking, which has been an interesting and pretty easy job. Curated is still going, but we are on the tail end of the summer season and starting to see things pick up as we move toward winter. Amity has started to get into the swing of her new clinic. Her largest challenge is adjusting to a new setting and a new documentation platform. She’s a pro though, and already has a strong handle of it. It felt like we were able to get the sheets in our spare room cleaned just in time for our next round of guests.
The following Saturday Craig, Amy and Wally Moore made their way out from Montana. Amy is on her first days of a two-month sabbatical from work. We are stoked to be able to host them while they are here and give them some pointers on where to go as they continue their explorations in the Pacific Northwest. Wally is their doggy. He is a Blue Heeler, and my best dog friend in the world!
We have some great adventures planned for while they are here. Our first one is to a new dinner spot we have not tried out yet called, The Secret Cove. This was a really nice spot. It was not too fancy and had great seafood options. It was right on the coast, which is actually rare to find in Anacortes. The main event for the night was a 9:00pm round of glow golf at Deception Pass Golf Center. This was EPIC! The give you balls that light up when you hit them and then you go play on a par 3 course that is lit up with led lights and glow sticks. This is something that everyone should put on their lifetime bucket lists, it is so fun!
We have started to embrace muffins from The Store as a staple of our breakfast and snacking. Especially when we are heading out on a ferry. They are so big and they come in almost 50 different flavors. Next level stuff! So, we got our muffins and headed down to the ferry terminal to head out to Lopez Island. Unfortunately, Wally had to stay in the car on the ferry. The girls on the other hand found the puzzles and were hooked. Craig and I walked around and enjoyed the views. On Lopez Island, we hiked out to Iceberg Point. This was a really cool area along the southwestern point of the island. Following this, we got some local beers at Lopez Island Brewing Company. We drove all around the island, checking out different areas along the way. We beat the only rain we had all day by wasting it away when we were waiting for the ferry back to Anacortes. We finished the night with drinks and dinner at our place.
We continued our exploring the next morning by getting too many muffins!! Then we headed out to another area of Deception Pass we have not explored yet. This is the Cornet Bay area and the Hoypus Point Trail system. We all started out thinking we would be doing a little day walk, but this turned into a little more of a day hike than we expected. Not that it was challenging, but I was personally wearing strap sandals, which gives you the idea of how prepared we were. We killed it though! Wally did the best! He is so much fun to have around. That night we went into the Union Tavern. This is a little bar & grill downtown Anacortes. We love the atmosphere and have had some great conversations about Montana with the bartenders.
That next morning, the Moore’s pushed out to continue their journey around the San Juan Islands and over to the Olympic Peninsula. Amity and I had one night together before she left for Kansas City for the week to help her sister with a surgical operation. This left me hanging out in Anacortes by myself. I learned really quickly that my favorite spot to get a beer in town is called Bastion Brewing Company. I also had to work all week making thousands of cookies, muffins and other baked goods. Doing things I would have never thought I would do, but here we are!
The next weekend, Amity did not fly into Seattle until 10pm. At this time the Moore’s were over in the Port Townsend area. They had found a golf course that allowed dog to be with you on the course. Wally has always been to the golf course, but he has had to stay in the truck and wait for his parent to get back. Today was his day to play! I walked onto the Port Townsend ferry with my golf gear (a very strong local looking move), and met them on the other side. We played at the Discovery Bay Golf Course. This was a pretty modest golf course. It was well kept, and in great condition. We loved having Wally playing with us. He was not a big fan of us teeing off, but he loved to run between the golf carts. He even was sitting next to the hole and his paw helped my missed putt go in!! Thanks Wally, for the great day! Craig and Amy, we will see you again soon.
I quickly boogied back across the ferry and to my car in time to get Amity from the airport in Seattle. Driving Interstate 5 north of Seattle sucks! It doesn’t matter what time of the day and what direction you are going. It’s always busy! We got back pretty late, and had only a couple hours to rest and recoup before getting up for the work week. We were able to get things back to a sense of normal by the end of the week; just before the Moore’s made their way back through Anacortes for another couple nights at our place.
We started our weekend festivities with beers at Bastion Brewery. The next morning, we started with a run to the local fish market; called Black Rock Seafood. This spot is awesome! It is a place where the owner has renovated his garage into a sales floor with a massive cooler and a few freezers and refrigerators full of all kinds of fish, sea food and smoked goodies. We picked up some fresh Halibut for the night. We got home and started marinating it for the day. We went on to hike up to the Oyster Dome Overlook. This is a beautiful hike just outside of Bellingham. It overlooks Bellingham Bay and has great views of Mount Baker. We capped the night off with another awesome round of glow golf at Deception Pass! It was just as fun as it was the first time. If not a little better, because we knew what to expect.
For the last day we had them in town, we split up. The girls stayed in Anacortes, while Craig and I went up the Skagit River to a fishing hole outside of Rockport, WA I have found. Amity & I are training for a Half Marathon. She still had to do a 12-mile run to prepare for the race, so today was her day to do this. Amy & Wally joined her for half of it (don’t tell Wally he missed out on half the run. He would be devastated!). I have been to this fishing spot once before. A friend from whitefish, who used to live out here gave me the tip to head up to the Rockport area. I definitely found a honey hole! After some early struggling and figuring out the local technique, I started to dial things in. Craig is a professional photographer, so we nailed some rad shots!!! Thanks Craig, for coming out and geek’ing out with me. Check out his photography on his website; Glacier World Photography!!! Catching costal running Pink Salmon is like nothing I have ever caught before. They are larger, and take time to bring them in. The moment to try to muscle time or drop tension, they are gone. This challenge makes landing them that much more fun! While we were doing this, Amity and Amy had gotten everything necessary to make dinner at home. All we had to do was throw everything together on the stove and watch some Sunday football.
As we got up and ready for work in the morning, the Moore’s and Wally packed up and headed out. They have a lot more exploring to do before Amy’s sabbatical comes to an end. Enjoy Africa!!!!! Time to clean the house up and take on the work week before my mom arrives as our next guest.
It has been an absolute blast having our friends come out to join in on our adventures. We have missed them all so much. It has been a treat to have them here. We have dozens of new memories to share with them all and countless more to come. We are now tired, hungry and washing the sheets to be ready for my mom’s arrival in 5 days.