I'm not sure if you've ever been to the San Juans or not, but if you haven't, then get your arse moving. They are glorious. The ferry ride is beautiful, and supposedly you can do a little whale watching while aboard. But what we do is this: Michael hunkers down in a booth with work stuff while I chase Emilia this way and that. She runs to the race car video game where she can sit for ages, even with no quarters it is apparently very exciting, 'Going to Aunt Denise's!' Once mama has had her fill we then run around the rest of the ferry -- people watching**, and randomly dashing out onto the very windy deck.
Friday Harbor itself is wonderful. Once the ferry docks, you can literally walk off the boat and up the street to your hotel. It is a small town, so if you aren't paying attention you will walk yourself right out of it. But that's alright because you will most likely run into cows and the lavender fields. Pelindaba Lavender is based here and rumour has it that their farm is not to be missed. That being said, we keep seeming to miss it. (You need to drive there, and the only time we ever get in the car is to get back on the ferry. Even though our hotel would have loaned us some bikes, it would have been way too ambitious.) The Pelindaba Lavender shop is lovely though, and their lavender products are both unfettered and organic -- which means the smell is so pure they will nearly make you weep. Miss Milia's hair likes the shampoo and conditioner, and I like the culinary lavender. I also just bought a bottle of their Hydrosol cleaner, which promises to be a wonder product. (Apart from cleaning fruit and veggies, it also polishes chrome, countertops, and wards off bugs.)
So as Michael was testifying about something-or-other-law-related, Emilia and I busied ourselves about the town. We ran around the dock and looked at the boats, visited both the 'scary mermaid' and the other mermaid ('that one ok!') several times, nosed about in the bookstore, and had a grand time sitting in The Bean coffee-shop, where we had freshly baked muffins and lattes. Actually, I had the latte. Emilia had the hot chocolate with whip cream, which she perversely wouldn't touch. Maybe she was too fascinated with the woman who was carrying the muffins from the kitchen out to the countertop to cool (they must have had nearly ten different varieties.) She kept yelling, 'That Miss Clavel Right There!' and pointing back to the kitchen. (You know, Miss Clavel from the Madeline books by Ludwig Bemelmans. Next to the Olivia books, Madeline is the greatest series written for kids. However, other than having blonde hair and maybe wearing black, the resemblance was lost on me. Besides, last time I checked, nuns weren't allowed to work full-time as bakers in coffee-shops.)
Going home, Michael took over on the ferry. We spent half the ride outside on the sunny deck, knowing full well we were returning to the rain. And Emilia, being worn out and without a nap, slept nearly the whole car ride home. And so, even though it was a short little trip, it was lovely.
**As a side note, it is the oddest thing to do people watching on the ferry system. If the ride is longer than 30 minutes it seems most of the passengers either take on the role of the slob or the role of the hobo. It annoys me to no end when people treat public spaces like their living room. Either sleeping on the nasty ol' floor with 25 backpacks surrounding them, or worse, when one person is stretched across a single booth in the most unflattering and vulgar position. (You know, too tight jeans and practically spread eagle. Meanwhile, I don't think I'll ever be able to get the image of that woman out of my head. I think it's burned in there forever.) I find it unseemly and I don't care how extraordinarily snobby I sound.
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