LOPEZ ISLAND

as the weather gets chillier

i find myself looking back to summer

and the fun and frolic we enjoyed,

and some of it even in the sunshine!

we like to camp.

and we are a bit particular

about our campgrounds.

we're not big fans of the

cigarette smoke wafting,

curse words flying,

pit bull leash pulling,

boom box tunes blasting

crowd.

that's why heading to lopez island

in the san juans is a great place.

it takes some effort to get there.

planning in advance.

making a reservation.

and taking the ferry,

which ain't cheap.
but all that planning
means that campgrounds in the san juans
tend to attract a certain crowd
that we don't mind being around
for a weekend.
it's snobbish, perhaps,
but i like to think of it as
self-preservation,
or more specifically,
vacation-preservation.

and speaking of, ehem, planning,

we did not plan to miss the ferry this year.

we did not plan to get on a different ferry

than our friends we were meeting.

we did not plan to sit in line for 6.5 hours

waiting for the next one to our island to sail.

but that's what happened.

and it sucked.

but thank the heavens for friends...

friends who present you with a pitcher of margaritas

and a fully set picnic table with a hot meal

waiting when we arrive

at the campsite.

friends who greet us like this:

friends like the swensons,

some of our favorite folk

in all the land.

we did a little jelly fish crafting...

and the boys took the opportunity

to spit

at the end of spencer spit.

you gotta do that.

you just gotta.

we did some rock collecting...

and farmer's market visiting.

we did a lot of this...

and perhaps even more of this.

it was a great weekend.

greater than great.

super dee duper great.