San Juan Islands National Historical Park

Well … I had always thought I had been here, but apparently I had not. I counted it as my #2 NPS Unit and now a few decades later, I realized that there was no way we could have docked here during my grade school visit.

So that reminds me of a life lesson I try to live by and to teach my children. My best moments as a parent are when I have honestly admitted when I’ve been wrong. And now one of my best moments as a human is to admit I am wrong. The Universe brought me back here in September of 2023 after taking Ryder to college. Auntie Lola and I scheduled our annual post college drop-off adventure … and the San Juan Islands were calling! They are so stunning and a visit to the island would complete my NPS Washington Section … and be a guaranteed fun island weekend of exploration!

Hello San Juan Islands National Historical Park, I love you!

A super fun and cool realization was that Lola had been here with her Brother and Grandmother on a San Juan Island tour when she was in grade school. So the hike to Grandma’s Cove was extra special.

And later in the day, we landed at English Camp.

And from my first post, when I thought I had been here before …

I need to dig deep into the photo albums to find the photographic proof of our late 1970’s trip to the San Juan Islands … but I have the verbal proof from my family. After many successful trips to Lake Shasta, our parents, along with Papa’s best friend and adventure traveller, Jim Green decided we needed to rent a big boat and cruise around the San Juan Islands. So together with their five kids and Jim’s two kids, we loaded onto a big boat and sailed out from Friday Harbor.

One big memory from that trip was when the adults were out having dinner in Roche Harbor, we kids decided we needed to do some fishing off of the boat in the harbor. My brother Troy quickly caught something and then endured hours of trying to reel it in. Once it got close to the surface, we realized he had a skate on his line. A nearby boater quickly offered him money for the exotic creature, but we all agreed that the skate needed to skedaddle back to his home in the cold depths of the Puget Sound waters.

My love of the San Juans has taken me back a few times. And with my brother now living in Bellingham, Washington, we’d take the ferry over to hike, visit art studios or to see friends. When Mak and Ryder were both in 5th grade, I sent them to the San Juans to an OMSI camp to share with them my love of the islands. Sam missed out on this opportunity as they cancelled the camp when it was his turn. So I will have to take him back some summer to get my official stamp.

In the meantime, I’ve placed this awesome poster by The Landmark Project as my placeholder.