We wanted to spend a few days in Friday Harbor with friends Steve and Tracey and since it’s winter break for her, this past week seemed like the perfect time.

We had the little boys for an overnight, then after their parents picked them up late Monday afternoon, we hit the road for Anacortes. Driving at night is not our usual thing but the traffic was nonexistent. We arrived at Skyline just in time to hit the hay.

Tuesday morning we started up the boat and made our way across the strait to Friday Harbor. What a difference! We were in the islands after an hour of boating, rather than 2 days.

Steve and Tracey drove up and stayed at Nick’s sister Kit’s house and we all had an enjoyable three days seeking out some of our favorite haunts. It was a little rainy but we finally saw some sun on Thursday.

Saw two foxes at American Camp:

Didn’t make it to Mount Grant – saving this for next time:

Finally made it to The Whale Museum. This is a little window with a big view:

And of course:

A local we walked by referred to this as “dock sausage:”

We lunched at Wescott Shellfish, made a couple of wonderful meals at Kit’s house, and generally enjoyed ourselves.

Steve and Tracey caught the ferry home Thursday; we spent one more night at the marina and made our way back to Skyline and then home on Saturday. Crossings to and from were smooth.

The Port of Friday Harbor is now using Molo for marina reservations. They are still working out how to manage their paper-based “stay 4 nights, get one free” but hope to have that system up and running soon.

On our way out of town we stopped at the Waggoner office, picked up our copy of the 2024 Cruising Guide, and bought a Chart Atlas that I’ve always wanted.

Not bad for our first trip of the year!