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All done!

Posted by Andrew on August 17th, 2009 - 2 Comments...  

And that’s it, I’m done.

Back in NJ at the moment sorting through mail, cleaning up some gear, and planning my move to Boston.  I’ve got plenty of pictures that need to get sorted and posted, so look out for those in the coming week or two.  I’ve got a few posts about the end of the trip in the works right now, and I’ll write a few things about the overall experience too.

Overall, it was excellent - the US is big.

San Juan Islands

Posted by Andrew on July 28th, 2009 - No Comments;  

I asked several friends for suggestions once I made it to the coast and heard, “go to the San Juans!” from all of them. So here I am, on Orcas, just wandering around for a few days.

I arrived in Anacortes just in time to catch a Ferry to San Juan Island, so I figured that might as well be my first stop. I spent the night at Lakedale Resort (campground), just about 3 miles from the ferry terminal. As I’ve found with several other popular campgrounds, the “hiker/biker” sites are way off in the outskirts of the grounds, the sites are typically lousy, and I end up walking to water/power. At $20 for the night + $2 for a shower, I figured the showers would be nice… they were, until the water slowed to a trickle and stopped mid-shower. Wet, soapy, and a little grumpy, I walked back to the main lodge and learned that the “water system was broken.”

They did OK by me though - a got a 3 gallon jug from the office to drink and cook (and rinse off a bit), and $10 off my site when I asked the next morning.  I can’t imagine the complaints they must have dealt with that night though - it was at least an hour before they decided to hang a sign at the bathhouse mentioning that the water didn’t work!

San Juan was fun - I saw all of the sights: a pod of killer whales from the west coast, the large alpaca farm, a random camel (yes, camel on the island), English Camp, the American Camp, and explored Friday Harbor.  Good riding a very cool landscape: hot and dry in some places and wet, dense, cool forests in the valleys.  I’d like to come back and see the island having not slept on the ground the night before!