Trip to mainland...

I am showing you the Commercial Costco that I purchase most of my baked goods at. The Truck in the picture is my Sugar Cup truck...it is parked in my bank parking lot waiting to hit the road again.

~ how many trips do you have to make?Not every day?

My daughter Heather and I go over together on Tuesday...She on the other hand makes this trip 5 days a week as her clothing shop is on the mainland. Many people make this commute..the drive to the ferry is 40-50 minutes, the ferry ride is 25 minutes and the town she is in is right where the ferry lands so that is not so bad.

~where are you crossing from and to Catfinch?Lake or river?Are you on an island?

It is Puget Sound..which is fed by the Pacific Ocean through the Straits of Juan De Fuca.We live on a peninsula and the ferry takes us to the mainland.

Wonderfull pics. - In the one taken through the car window with you (?) in it , I could swear I was moving with the sea.
I think you live in a wonderfull place. I love to see your photos. So interesting to hear of diferent ways of life.

great photos CJ , thanks for taking all of us to the mainland with you.

Cat – Thanks for the directions. This string of lovely photos without words encapsulates the trip concisely and encourages or brings the viewer with you on the outward journey too. Might I suggest a most welcome addition to the photos – a picture of the land whence the journey began as you leave. Down to important business - the little ship mate on top of the hat – is he a horse – he reminds me of a horse on children’s TV when I was a child – that narrows it down to 50 years. His name was muffin the mule – your friend is probably called Flash junior – but he is not a cabbage patch doll on the real Flash is he. The fab hat looks as it fits on someone with a big head – who is always blowing off steam as three vent holes are present – who does the hat belong to? Is it someone on the way to the mad hatters tea party perhaps? I do believe the photo of the gorgeous lady in the car must be your daughter Heather. My monitor is not very good so I have bought a new one but need a new lead to connect it up to fully appreciate the photos. The head and face appears on my screen as a black silhouette, it is most beguiling. Sugar cup looks champagne or a pale golden colour. What colour is it?

What a wonderful journey to take us on Catfinch , it,s amazing to see how other people live. Does it ever get to rough to cross so that you have to rely on stored supplies ?

Gardeningfr. don,t remind me of Muffin the Mule ..I had one a puppet on strings I adored it .

I am happy that you are enjoying this blog...I have lived in the San Juan islands and this peninsula for over 20 years now and have become accustomed to this mode of transport to the oint of taking it for granted...your comments are making me realize its uniqueness all over again. Thank you...as to the questions and suggestions, thank you Dear Shaun..and I will add those ideas that you have mentioned after my trip next week...as to who the person in the driver seat..it is me...thank you for the compliment Shaun again...LOL..Heather took the picture of course. The hat is mine, but was given to me by a dear friend...and now you know I have a big steamy head....actually the hat landed there after my grand daughters birthday party to which I wore it to impress her for her 2nd birthday as she is quite taken with horsies etc. I liked where it landed and it has not left there since sometime in October..the horsie hanging from my mirror is something I have had for a time and suits me to have it there. The color of Sugar Cup could be called Champagne or a very soft pale brown sugar color...I do love that truck..it helps me it is almost like have a man around...LOL
It was a little tiny bit rough this day but not really..the seas here can get very heavey..this was not bad at all. This ferry rarely gets shut down...the one by my store gets shuts down often because of the straits being part of the journey there and with the tides coming in and out and the big rolling waves that can funnel through it can become qu8ite treacherous...we have a very small ferry making that sailing there now and cannot even go into that fact now or I will blow steam that you will be able to see on your continent and you wll know it is from me...bad government planning is all I can say for now. It has affected our town and my business in a very bad way. What closes down more often than the ferry you saw me on is the Hood Canal Bridge..if you type in Hood Canal Bridge on google you will find stories etc. about it...it is a floating bridge that has sunk before and it is the link between our peninsula at our end that we take to get to this ferry that we are on. When the wind reachs 40 miles per hour they close the bridge because of slapping waves that cover the bridge in storms, this happens quite often in the winter...

~ just checked out a site on San Juan Islands~Washingtons Gem and it sounds great Catfinch! birds and whales etc~sounds like a lovely place to live!

I lived on SanJuan Island for a bit while living on a boat in the Harbor of Friday Harbor. It was a grand experience for myself and my children....the beauty of the Islands is dramatic and fairy tale like...a favorite for many vacationers and famous sorts like to hide out in them too...We have had movies made in our town and if you have seen the move "An Officer and a Gentleman" it was filmed where I live. The song for that song reminds me very much of what I have found here as well..."Love lift us up where we belong, where eagles fly on mountains high." sung by one of my favorite singer artists of all time good ole "Joe Cocker."

Brilliant ~ of course we've seen it!With Richard Gere?

That is the one....great movie...the whole thing is shot here....the barraks is our Ft. Worden State Park..the beaches the water....all here, the bar fight scene was filmed in the Town Tavern that my late husband owned at that time...the painting in the back ground of the bar was actually comissioned my my husband for the bar wasn't what he had wanted exactly but it has become famous.
The mill is actually our own paper mill...the motel is down the street form my store....the list goes on and on...also the movie "Ring" was done on the ferry dock that is by my store and also the movie "Enough" with Jennifer Lopez....the crew spent time in my store buying mochas etc. on both of them...It is always a lot of fun when the film crews and stars come to town...

Very good pictures Cj. I felt like I was with you.

Hi Betty!...did you take the Kingston/Edmonds ferry when you and Gregg were up here?

That is a very sad blog. The beginnings here were beautiful as your first photos show. My Sequim is becoming the GORST of WA. Read the ugliest, most paved over town on the Peninsula. We so continue down that path.

Upon visiting another San Jaun Island, my L.A. girl said this is what America must have been like in the 50's. So astute and so sad, for the history and community spirit we have lost.

Drug store fountains. Local grocery shop. No fast food outlets. No Safeway’s and best of all no box stores. Pt. Townsend is somewhere in-between.

Still it is a battle, and I am so sorry that ferry infrastructure problems have so crippled your community. The same and even worse could happen to the San Juans.

Herb

Hey, I'm planning a move from Chicago to Sequim and can't wait to live and GARDEN there! Any advice on what fruit grows really well???

Hi Suji...berries grow well in the Sequim area..strawberries, black berries, raspberries, apples, plums, pears...
When do you plan to move this direction?
Welcome to GOY
~Cat