Finally, a new adventure! It was my 30th birthday over this weekend, and I wanted to do something fun. So we decided to take a trip to Orcas Island! Which is part of the San Juan Islands. To make sure it was still safe, we had a home rental to ourselves (Just me, Grave, and our dogs!), the transportation was our own vehicle only (We drive onto the ferries of course but even still), we took all our own food to cook so we didn't have to eat out, and all of our activities were outdoors. We also had masks and hand sanitizer with us at all times.
The journey began Thursday morning, we woke up early, packed up the car, got the dogs in, and headed out! It was going to be a long journey. Thankfully the mountain pass was dry, so we didn't have to worry about winter weather!
The journey began Thursday morning, we woke up early, packed up the car, got the dogs in, and headed out! It was going to be a long journey. Thankfully the mountain pass was dry, so we didn't have to worry about winter weather!
We made it to the west side in great time, we made a pit stop at a park to let the dogs stretch and stuff before we continued on. We made the journey north towards Anacortes. We got there earlier than we expected, so we had some time to mess around before our ferry ride. We decided to see if Mount Erie was open, as last time we tried to go they had it closed. So we drove there and luckily, it was open! So we drove all the way to the top, and thankfully there was only 1 other car there and it was leaving. So we parked, and we decided to bring out the dogs because they had never been here before. It was quite windy at the top, so we left suits in the car. Even though it was very windy and Very cold, I was so happy to be up here again. It's one of my favorite places.
We ended up walking around a while and letting the dogs explore until the frigid wind was just too much and we headed back to the car. We went and found a place to hang out for a bit before deciding to go to the ferry terminal and wait in line. There wasn't anywhere to walk around where we were parked, so we kinda just chilled in our car and had a snack. Played Pokemon Go haha. We waited here quite a while, as our boat was delayed. They ended up bringing a different ferry for our trip instead so soon enough we finally were being told we were loading soon. So we got situated in the car and waited for our turn, then our lane was told to load on. I was so excited! I love the Ferries so much, and riding them is so fun!
We were loaded onto the side of the boat right next to the open windows. Yes! I was very excited I could look out safely. I figured the upper deck would have a lot of people so I was glad we were near a window for me to still get out and look around. We got parked and turned the car off and we chilled out for a bit. The weather was still not fantastic, and I noticed they were not putting cars in the very front of the boat, which meant this was gonna be a bumpy ride!
Once the boat took off, I stayed in the car for a couple minutes then put on my mask and beanie. I got out and stood at the window near our car. I was so happy and excited to be on the ferry! The wind sure was frigid but I was excited. The water was very choppy, huge waves slamming against the side of the ferry, and the ferry was rocking a bit too. Made the ride very exciting! Hahaha. I was having so much fun!
Once the boat took off, I stayed in the car for a couple minutes then put on my mask and beanie. I got out and stood at the window near our car. I was so happy and excited to be on the ferry! The wind sure was frigid but I was excited. The water was very choppy, huge waves slamming against the side of the ferry, and the ferry was rocking a bit too. Made the ride very exciting! Hahaha. I was having so much fun!
After a while I was feeling super cold so I took a quick break and sat in the car with Grave to warm up. This ferry had multiple stops on a couple other islands, we were the last stop. So we got to ride it for quite some time! We made stops at Lopez Island, and Shaw Island. After the stop on Lopez Island, a lot of the middle part of the ferry ended up being cleared, so we decided after we took off we would take the dogs out and walk around the empty spaces. So we waited then leashed them up and took them out. They had never been on a ferry before, and because I love the ferries so much I was excited to have them on there. We walked all around the empty parts of the ferry, the dogs loved it, my dog kept poking her head out of the port hole on the side of the ferry haha. Once they announced we were making another stop, we decided to walk back to the window near our car to keep out of the way. We watched the landing from the window, looked around at the views until we took off yet again. We watched the take off from the window then returned to walking around the empty parts of the ferry. Thankfully by this time the wind and waves had calmed down so the ride wasn't so bumpy. Soon enough we could see the terminal we'd be getting off at. We stood at the front of the ferry for a bit before taking the dogs back to the car. Grave got back in with them while I watched the landing from the window before getting back into the car myself. We were on that ferry for about an hour and a half! But I had so much fun, I was wagging like crazy! I didn't get my suit out at all, I didn't want anyone to come up to us for safety. But I still had fun!
They unloaded the ferry and we had made it, we were on Orcas Island! I have never been here before so I was very excited. We decided to head strait for the rental house because it was to get dark soon. This island is amazing! We drove from the landing into forest. Both of us talking about how amazing it smelled haha. Mix fresh forest smell with ocean air. Literally perfect. The house we were staying in was in the center of the island. So we got to drive up half of the island. We thankfully found it quite easily and made it safely. Quite the journey we had today!
We arrived to the home, got the dogs out to walk around a bit before we went inside. The big windows were open and the view was amazing!
We arrived to the home, got the dogs out to walk around a bit before we went inside. The big windows were open and the view was amazing!
We unloaded the car, got us and the dogs settled in, then we chilled out a bit. We made our dinner and watched TV. It had been a heckin day of traveling. The dogs were exhausted as well haha, they fell asleep. After dinner we watched more TV before deciding to call it a night. We had a weekend full of adventure ahead! It was a rough night tho as there was a severe wind storm overnight. It sure was loud!
The next morning we woke up, took the dogs out then got ready to do my testosterone injection. Gotta say, definitely my most scenic HRT shot to date! Haha I don't think I'd have as much anxiety every week about them if I could look at a view like that!
(Content warning, there is a covered needle in the next photo, scroll past if needed!)
The next morning we woke up, took the dogs out then got ready to do my testosterone injection. Gotta say, definitely my most scenic HRT shot to date! Haha I don't think I'd have as much anxiety every week about them if I could look at a view like that!
(Content warning, there is a covered needle in the next photo, scroll past if needed!)
After we successfully did my injection, we cleaned up (Don't worry, we took the needles back home with us and disposed of them in our own sharps container, we did not leave them behind!) then got started on breakfast. We had a big breakfast which was delicious, then we decided to head out. It was quite stormy this morning. But the wind was clearing the clouds a bit and we decided to try and go up to Mount Constitution. So we loaded our suits and the dogs into the car and left.
Mount Constitution is the highest point on the island, and in the middle of Moran State Park. This park had a neat entry way!
We drove into the park and followed the signs towards the road that takes us to the top of the mountain. The drive was through forest which was beautiful. About halfway to the top we noticed a wide spot in the road, we turned to see one of the best views I've ever seen!
We parked in the wide spot and took in the view. We could see the other side of the Island we were on, along with several other parts of the San Juan Islands, and even the peninsula! And to think, we weren't even at the top yet! It was windy, but I knew we needed some fursuit photos here. Grave helped me get some photos and videos before I helped him get some photos as well.
After taking in the view a bit more, we hopped back into the car and continued up the road. The higher we got, the more we saw snow! We were quite surprised to see it honestly, haha. But we went through a couple of switchbacks before making it up to a parking lot. We parked the car and decided to let the dogs walk around first. We walked back behind the parking lot a bit to see an amazing view through the trees!
The dogs hopped around in the deep snow a bit and we took in the view. I knew tho, that there was a tower here somewhere to see an even better view. I was quite confused as to where it was. There was construction going on at the top, and oops, one of the trucks was blocking a walking path. Then I looked up and through the trees I could see the tower. So we went back to the car, got the suits packed up into their bags, then walked up the trail. The trail wasn't too long, but there was frozen slush, so it took us a bit to get up there. But we made it to the top and found the tower.
It was pretty windy and stormy up here, but we checked it out anyway. After walking around a bit we could see we could go into the tower. So we walked in and started climbing up. Along the way were rooms to learn about the tower. We stopped in one of them because it was actually shielded from the frigid wind. So we stayed in there for a couple minutes to warm up a bit before continuing up. Soon enough we made it to the top!
The view was incredible! But let me tell you, I have never felt wind like this in my whole life, haha. In both temperature and speed. The wind at the top of the tower was unbearable. I didn't want to dare bring my suit head out, it was so windy I knew it would catch his ears, I even worried it would take his hair off! Haha, since this suit has changeable hair it's held on by magnets. But the wind was just so strong, there was no way I felt comfortable to take him out. We both decided to get back into the tower, we couldn't feel our hands, or faces haha. So we walked back inside, and had to catch our breath. The wind truly knocked the air right out of you. We both decided it was too windy and frigid to wanna take the suits out right now, not to mention the wind brought in some clouds. So we decided to come back later when the wind had calmed down. So we walked back down the tower, then the trail to our car. We got the dogs in and the suits as well, then hopped in to warm up. My hands were so red from how cold it was! Haha. So we drove back down the mountain, we stopped at the one lookout again to take photos of the dogs before continuing down. We did however see Ferries way off the distance, Grave tried his best to capture them haha.
After we got photos of the dogs we headed down the mountain. We didn't wanna go back to the house yet, so we decided to find a beach. We found one public one, the area we could explore was Super small, like, super small. But we got the dogs out anyway and walked around the small area.
We ended up finding lots of cool shells here, and we enjoyed listening to the waves. After a while of checking it out we sat at a bench and chilled out there for a while. After about 30 minutes we both agreed we were hungry, so we headed back towards the house to have some lunch. We ate, and let the dogs get a little nap in before we decided to head back out again. The wind had calmed, so we thought we could try the mountain again. We got the dogs and suits back into the car and headed back up. It was still a little breezy, but so much better this time! We climbed to the top of the tower, and we checked out the view again before I got my suit out. This time we could see farther, and we were stoked that we could see Vancouver, Canada from up here! Not the best photo, but still cool!
After checking out the scenery, I got my suit out. So glad we waited until it was calmer! I suited up and Grave helped me get photos.
We took lots of photos and videos of me up here, Grave decided he didn't want to get into suit up there so I kept my suit on, and we started descending. We had an idea for photos inside the tower, so Grave went all the way to the bottom while I stayed inside and we got some neat photos!
Thank goodness my head didn't get stuck, hahaha! I then joined Grave at the bottom and we got some photos of me with the tower.
After we got lots of photos of me in suit, Grave decided to get into suit now. Unfortunately, the clouds blew in and he couldn't get any with the view. But we did get lots of him with the tower!
After we got his photos, we decided to pack up and head down, the clouds were coming in and it was getting super cold. So we got our suits packed up and headed back to the car. We drove back down, and ended up stopping at the other view point again. This quickly became our favorite spot on the island haha.
We stayed here for a while, we walked down a small path a bit before returning to the car and hanging out until we knew we had to go. They close the gates to this area when it gets dark.
We decided to drive around a bit and explore before heading back to the house, so we went out the other side of the park.
We decided to drive around a bit and explore before heading back to the house, so we went out the other side of the park.
We drove around a while, just seeing what we could see.
After driving a while, we decided to head back for the house as it was supposed to get dark soon. We had already seen several deer near the roads and didn't want to endanger them and us in the dark. We made it back to the house safely as the sun was starting to set.
After settling back in, we started making our dinner. We also had an online show date with our friends, Greyscale and Toner. We had been watching WandaVision together for the last few weeks, and today was the finale! So we got it all set up to watch and chat together, made our dinner, then watched the show. Was a crazy finale! That show was a very emotional ride haha. Anyway, when it was done we cleaned up from dinner then sat and watched TV for a while. I made a quick TikTok with one of the videos we took at the top of the mountain today. After we started feeling really tired, we showered and went to bed.
The next morning we woke up, it was my birthday today! My Dirty 30 as my sister called it haha. We got up, took the dogs out, then Grave made me a birthday breakfast which was delicious. Before heading out, he had me open my gifts. He got me a Harry Styles Tshirt (YAY!), and a new Zoid! Thanks Grave <3. After the gifts we got dressed, I put on my brand new shirt and we loaded the car with suits and dogs and headed out. It was a nice sunny morning! I had a list of places we could check out, otherwise we planned to just drive around the island today and see what we could see.
Our first stop was Deer Harbor. Our stop here was quick, but it was neat to see all the boats! There was a little walking trail, but it was Very muddy, us and the dogs would of been a mess had we walked it. But I did get a quick fursuit photo.
The next morning we woke up, it was my birthday today! My Dirty 30 as my sister called it haha. We got up, took the dogs out, then Grave made me a birthday breakfast which was delicious. Before heading out, he had me open my gifts. He got me a Harry Styles Tshirt (YAY!), and a new Zoid! Thanks Grave <3. After the gifts we got dressed, I put on my brand new shirt and we loaded the car with suits and dogs and headed out. It was a nice sunny morning! I had a list of places we could check out, otherwise we planned to just drive around the island today and see what we could see.
Our first stop was Deer Harbor. Our stop here was quick, but it was neat to see all the boats! There was a little walking trail, but it was Very muddy, us and the dogs would of been a mess had we walked it. But I did get a quick fursuit photo.
After checking this spot out a bit, we got back into the car and then kept driving. Grave told me part of my birthday gift today was taking me to a gift shop where I could hopefully find lots of neat Ferry stuff. (I Love the Washington State Ferries and have a small collection of Ferry related stuff). So we drove down to the gift shop, which is actually right next to the ferry dock we landed on the other day haha. Thankfully they were open, and there was no one else inside so we could shop safely. I found so much awesome stuff! I was so stoked! We left buying almost everything I could find with the ferries on it haha. After we finished in there, we walked out, used hand sanitizer on our hands then decided to walk around this area for a bit. We left the suits in the car for now (Don't worry, we could see the car the suits were safe) and walked the dogs around. We were able to watch a couple ferries land and take off from this little park.
We walked around for a while, I honestly don't know why I never got my suit out for photos here but I sadly did not. We got the dogs back into the car and continued driving around. I found another public beach access on maps, and we decided to go check it out. The drive there was great, I love driving around this island!
We made it to the beach, and sadly this one is just like the other where the public area is very small and there are signs on either side saying private property. But we got the dogs out and explored the little bit we could. We found more neat shells and listened to the waves for a while.
After a while I asked Grave to take the dogs back to the car and grab my suit head. It was quite cold on this beach because the sun couldn't shine on it. He came back down with my suit head, I didn't cover my arms at all, oops haha. But I wanted the pics quickly.
After getting pics and video, we decided to head out. We went back to the house again to have some lunch and rest for just a bit. Then we headed out yet again! This time we wanted to explore the couple of beaches close to the house. I ended up not getting my suit out at either beach, but we had fun exploring both!
After the second beach, we decided to head back up to that view point on the side of Mount Constitution. So we drove back up, and chilled out.
We sat in the car for a while before I decided I wanted to walk that little trail again and maybe see where it went. So we got the dogs out and walked it. We left suits in the car because it was trying to rain. We wouldn't be going too far from it so I was not worried. The path got very narrow after a while, so we turned around, then found a spot on the hillside and we sat down. (We could see the car so suits were safe!) We ended up sitting here on the mountainside for an hour and a half. Watching ferries, watching the rain come in, and just enjoying the scenery.
I have always loved the west side of Washington, but something about the Washington Sound feels like home to me. I felt very at peace up here looking around the islands, the sound, and even the peninsula and Olympic mountains in the distance.
I have always loved the west side of Washington, but something about the Washington Sound feels like home to me. I felt very at peace up here looking around the islands, the sound, and even the peninsula and Olympic mountains in the distance.
We could see the sun starting to set, and they were to lock the gates soon. Grave really had to convince me to leave this spot. I could sit there all day long. Soon enough, I took a deep breath and we walked back down the car and headed back to the house. This was our final night on the island.
We got back to the house, and I asked Grave to take some photos of me in suit around the home before we settled in for the night.
We got back to the house, and I asked Grave to take some photos of me in suit around the home before we settled in for the night.
I also took a quick photo with my birthday "cake", which is actually my family's recipe for fudge topped brownies, they're my favorite haha.
After we got all the pics I could think to get, I desuited and got into comfy clothes as we were in for the night now. Grave made me a birthday dinner, and then we watched TV and hung out for a while. I spent a while going through the photos we had gotten over the weekend. After a while we started to slowly pack some things up, as we were to leave in the morning. I truly wasn't ready to leave yet. That night tho we had an even bigger wind storm than the other night, woke us up a lot and even cut the power to the house! Haha thankfully, it came back within the hour. But it did make for a bit of a rough night.
The next morning we cleaned the house up, finished packing, and said goodbye to the home. We were very comfortable there all weekend, very glad to of stayed there! It was hard to say goodbye to the view.
The next morning we cleaned the house up, finished packing, and said goodbye to the home. We were very comfortable there all weekend, very glad to of stayed there! It was hard to say goodbye to the view.
We got all of our stuff packed back up into the car, as well as the dogs and we headed out. I was very sad to be leaving today. On the way to the ferry docks, I remembered a barn with a neat ferry painting on it when we arrived days before, and I wanted a photo with it! So we found it, pulled over and I took a quick photo.
After getting that photo, and having many goats intrigued by me haha, we headed off and got in line for the ferry. We were very early, so we chilled out for a while. Then went into the little store to get a snack. Thankfully, there was hardly anyone in there so we could be safe. After getting snacks we went back up to the car and got the dogs out. We walked around, watched a couple other ferries come and go.
Soon enough our ferry came in, we got us and the dogs ready to board and waited patiently to be loaded on.
They loaded the boat up smoothly, and we got put in the very front, neat!!
We waited patiently for us to take off, chilled out in the car. When we started moving we both still stayed in the car for a bit. After a while, I wanted to walk the dogs around a bit if we could, we luckily were able to a bit without getting close to anybody. We even got to take them to the upper deck for a bit. We didn't stay too long because the wind was strong and cold. We walked back down to the car deck, and walked around in front of our car for a bit before putting the dogs back into the car and getting in ourselves. Once we got into more open water, the ride got very choppy. The wind was howling and creating large wakes in the water. They came over the intercom and asked everyone to get into their vehicles, or into the indoor cabin of the boat due to the waves and wind. It made for an exciting last part of our ferry ride! This is a smaller ferry than our ride over, so we were rocking a lot more this time. And being in the front of the boat made it very exciting as well haha. The staff knew what they were doing of course, and we landed in Anacortes safely. We patiently waited to be ushered off the boat and then we were on land again.
We decided to say hello to Matrices, who was in town as well. We met up at a park and kept our distance from each other to keep safe. But it was so great to sit and chat with her for a while, we even got a socially distanced fursuit selfie, haha.
We decided to say hello to Matrices, who was in town as well. We met up at a park and kept our distance from each other to keep safe. But it was so great to sit and chat with her for a while, we even got a socially distanced fursuit selfie, haha.
After chatting with her a while we said our goodbyes and then headed south. We also decided to (safely) see Greyscale and Toner. We got some food from our favorite place and then went to a park. I was sad to be going home today, but very happy to see the friends we could today, even if we had to keep distance and stuff. I have missed all of these friends so much, it was great to even just be in their presence. After hanging out with Greyscale and Toner, we knew we should go as we still had a long journey ahead of us. So we said our goodbyes again, and headed off. We got over the mountain safely, even tho it was snowing. We definitely saw all kinds of weather today, haha.
We made it home safe and sound, and our suits of course got put back into the fursuit room safely as well. We very much enjoyed our trip to Orcas Island, and hope to go back as soon as we can!
Until next adventure!
We made it home safe and sound, and our suits of course got put back into the fursuit room safely as well. We very much enjoyed our trip to Orcas Island, and hope to go back as soon as we can!
Until next adventure!