Day 2 - Thursday July 10, 2008

Diablo Lake turned out a great nights sleep. The morning was moist with dew on ground and Ben was fast asleep. We had to make the ferry in Anacortes by noon and with Annabelle averaging roughly 40mph it would be a few more hours on WA 20 before we got there.

If you've never driven WA 20 I suggest that you do. It is an amazing journey across the Cascades with many places to stop and get fine crafted goods, foods and conversation. We stopped at a Strawberry farm that has been in the same family for nearly 100 years growing organically. (Although General Mills bought them out 20 years ago)

Nonetheless, they are managing the farm and doing so in a very positive way. They were supporting a local roaster so I thought I'd buy a bag of coffee since I'd run out of my Stumptown and an americano to get my day going. Of particular note was the old growth from the farmland used to make the buildings for the farm and the wash rooms. Large curved cedar logs formed the arched, almost Asian, roof line of these buildings, with cedar siding and shingles. Gorgeous.

We made it to Anacortes in plenty of time to have doughnuts at the should be world famous doughnut spot in Anacortes. I LOVE their raspberry glazed bow-ties. Money.

Next we had to get rid of the weed. This was a humorous process as we needed to either smoke a copious amount or we needed to decide on a place to stash what we had left for the trip back. Either way, this was going to be an adventure...for someone.

We headed to the ferry the requisite 2 hours before schedule and found that we were simply WAY too early. Fuck, I am always early. So we headed out to one of my favorite spots on Anacortes, Giuseppe's for lunch. Mike the owner is a trained butler with worldly flare and a wicked eye for good Italian cuisine. He makes his own sauces and pasta and serves up huge Sammy's on fresh baked focaccia bread. We buy some pasta and sauce for the evenings meal and a mountainous meatball sandwich for the ferry.

The ferry ride was momentous for Ben. I slept. Ben took what seems to be 1001 pictures of the San Juan Islands as we weaved our way to Sidney. I was happy for him, this level of excitement was new for me. I could only hope that he'd find some sense of clarity on this trip and possibly find something that he is passionate about. More than anything, I hope he finds some clarity and sense of independence.
We arrived in Sidney with little trouble. The customs officer in Sidney didn't seem that interested in us and we moved through the process quite quickly and made our way to Victoria for a stop and then off to French Beach for our first night on the Island. We whipped up our fresh pasta and roasted red pepper sauce and called it an early night given the miles that we ticked off today.

I slept very well, very well indeed.