Sarah Comes to Friday Harbor!

There’s no better excuse to explore than having a friend come to visit. My best friend of many years, Sarah, came all the way from Colorado to visit me in Friday Harbor. Of course, being in the San Juan Islands, we had to go sea kayaking. I took her on a day trip with Karrie, one of my favorite guides. Luckily it was a gorgeous, sunny day on the water. Along the way we spotted a harbor seal pup,some bald eagles, and purple sea stars. While at lunch, a pod of orcas passed by to the excitement of Sarah and our other guests.

The next day we wandered around downtown Friday Harbor, poking around all of the cool shops like Serendipity Book Store, Second Act Consignment Shop, and King’s Marine. Naturally, we checked out the Whale Museum and learned some awesome facts about the orcas that are so famous here.

Later on we headed over to Pelindaba Lavender Farm. The lavender was in full bloom and looked like Unfortunately, no woman can subsist on lavender shortbread cookies alone, so we decided to grab some seafood for dinner. We took a short trip on Roche Harbor Road to Westcott Bay Oyster Farms for fresh seafood provisions. a sea of purple spread out over the hillside. Sarah bought a package of lavender shortbread cookies that were Deeeee-licious. Yum!
This is the last season that the oyster farm will be here, so I was glad that we were able to experience some mollusk magic. A man that worked there gave Sarah and me each a free oyster on the half shell. It was expectedly slimy yet surprisingly scrumptious. We bought a half pound and cooked them up later that night. It was an interesting experience to say the least.

On Sarah’s last day here we went down to South Beach on the southwest side of San Juan Island and walked along the beach for awhile, enjoying the sun and the amazing view of the Olympic mountain range. Eventually it came time for her to leave on the ferry and begin her journey back to Colorado. Although I was sad that Sarah had to leave so soon, it had been a great chance for us to catch up, relax, and experience the grandeur of San Juan Island.

Behind the Scenes!
-Lauren

When you are on the water with an Outdoor Odysseys sea kayaking trip in the San Juan Islands enjoying the scenery and cuisine, it’s easy to overlook the amount of work that goes into prepping for a trip. The day before a trip, the guide(s) are hard at work shopping for food, making sure that dietary concerns are met, packing food into compartments, loading boats and gear, and checking off their checklists down to the very last spatula.

Each guide has their own style of prep depending on the kind of trip, who he/she is working with, and the number of people on the trip. For example, Magda likes to get her gear together first. She sets up tents to make sure they are working properly, gathers up her utensils, puts together a “buzz bag” full of tea, coffee, and hot chocolate, and loads life vests and spray skirts into the trailer. Nikken, on the other hand, has her food prep down to a fine art. After creating the menu for the trip, she makes a mini grocery spreadsheet that she takes shopping with her and then organizes all of the food by meal.

Even the office staff pitches in to help get ready for trips. We harvest a variety of fresh lettuce and herbs from the garden like arugula, red oakleaf, rosemary, lemon thyme and flat leaf parsley. We also have a Rainier cherry tree that is currently in prime harvest season. Soon to follow will be plums, apples, and peaches that are ripening on the tree. Growing some of our own food helps us to live up to our eco-friendly reputation and guests love our home-grown produce.
Getting ready for a trip takes a lot of “behind the scenes” effort in order to run smoothly. With a lot of hard work and attention to detail, we try to give guests the best trip possible.

Women on the Water June 30th-July 2nd
-Lauren


I could feel a few butterflies fluttering around in my stomach as Laura, Nikken, and I drove into Friday Harbor to meet our first Women on the Water (WOW) guests of the season. Anxious? Excited? Super-excited? I was definitely a mixture of all of the above when we picked up our nine rambunctious ladies and headed toward San Juan County Park. As the fog burned off to reveal a glorious sunny day, everyone, including me, was ready to get out on the water and sea kayak in the San Juan Islands. After packing up all of our food and gear, we launched!

Our adventurous group consisted of Judy and Laura, a dynamic and athletic duo who came with us to celebrate Judy’s birthday. Shannon and Izzy were an adventurous couple as were Laura and Carol, two friends from Oregon. My paddling partner was Carole, an easy-going and experienced traveler, and last but certainly not least were our two intrepid adventurers Carole and Alix.

As we paddled out of Small Pox Bay and the Olympic Range came into view, I discovered that everyone in our group had a talent, or rather, a love for singing. We sang everything from James Taylor to old camp songs and by then end of the trip we even planned on producing our own platinum album. Perhaps it was our beautiful voices that lured the wildlife toward our boats because we saw bald eagles, rhinoceros auklets, harbor seals, and even Dall’s Porpoises surfacing behind us.

We pulled our kayaks into Prevost Harbor of Stuart Island and set up camp in a site overlooking the boats below. The three of us guides started cooking dinner, our guest Laura whipped up a killer salad dressing, and the rest of the women explored
the surrounding trails and beaches. Over savory tortilla soup followed by a fresh blueberry peach cobbler I listened to some of the women share about their lives. Despite everyone’s unique backgrounds, it was amazing how quickly we were able to connect with one another through a love of the outdoors and the satisfaction of having a full belly of delicious food.

The next day, we woke up to a bright, cloudless sky. After a spinach and goat cheese frittata breakfast, we consulted the tides and weather for the day and decided to circumnavigate John’s Island. It was low tide when we left which provided us with great opportunities to see some marine life. The rocky shore was dotted with purple sea stars and a few blood stars and below us were forests of seaweed and kelp. There were some rough paddle spots, but we powered through with some muscle and cheered on Laura and Carole’s boat yelling “Go C7! C7 in the lead!” We even made sure to take a break and blow some blueberry scented bubbles while on the water. Back at camp, Laura and Nikken stayed behind to make dinner while the rest of the women and I went on a hike to Lover’s Leap and Turn Point Lighthouse, two great scenic spots on Stuart Island. When we looked out from the cliffs at Lover’s Leap out onto the open ocean and the Canadian Gulf Islands we were all left speechless. The view was gorgeous and a few of the ladies spotted two porpoises in the water below.

As much as we wanted to stay and take in the view, our stomachs were rumbling so we booked it back to camp like “horses to the barn” (as Alix put it). Of course, according to Stuart Island tradition, we all had to throw a rock at the old rusted car on the way back while making a wish.

That night, after dinner, we had a special surprise for Judy’s birthday: A double layer chocolate cake with blueberries and whipped cream. Yum! It turned out to be a festive night filled with lots of laughter and WOW spirit. The all women group allowed for a relaxed atmosphere— it was easy to connect with one another and laugh and talk about anything. As one of the ladies commented, “What happens on the WOW trip, stays on the WOW trip.”

We slept well that night with tired muscles and full bellies and woke up the next day refreshed and ready for one more day of paddling. Once we launched our boats in Prevost Harbor, our guest Laura led the group in coordinated “paddle calisthenics.” We entertained the curious gawkers from the surrounding yachts and ended with the grand finale move of “right fish stab.” After our warm up, we paddled from Stuart Island back to our final destination: Roche Harbor on San Juan Island.

Three days went by so quickly! I was sad to see these ladies go, but it was a hilariously fun and memorable trip. I can’t wait to meet other fun and unique women on more Women on the Water adventures this summer. Go WOW!