Yesterday we visited San Juan Island, hoping to see the Orcas off Lime Kiln State Park (that’s where the lighthouse at right is). We got into Friday Harbor at about 11:30am and gave a young man named Forrest a lift to Friday Harbor High School, where he was going to have a baseball game later in the day.

While on San Juan Island, we visited an Alpaca Farm and a Vineyard. We didn’t see those elusive Orcas, but were able to drive around the perimeter of the entire island. The town of Friday Harbor felt like a city after the quietude of Eastsound where we’ve spent most of our time.

Later when we were riding back to Orcas Island on the last ferry of the day, a school bus loaded with the Orcas High School baseball team was in line right behiind us. Watching those kids coming home from their away game by ferry reminded me of my son, Dillon. Also on the Ferry were a little class of kids, maybe 7 - 8 years old, who walked on with their teacher, probably coming back after a field trip to Friday Harbor. Once onboard, they gathered chairs into a circle and their teacher read a story to them all the way back. Other adults were reading or working puzzles that are set out for riders, or gazing out the windows of the ferry as we silently moved toward home.

Tomorrow we’ll begin our journey back to Arzona, by way of Washington, Idaho, and Utah. Examining the plant and animal life all along the way made me realize that to make sense of what we’re seeing, we start with the familiar. Then we compare everything we notice along the way with the things we know, in order to make sense of what we’re experiencing. But that, in the end, we discover that all communities must deal with issues such as waste management, water issues, growth and infrastructure, and how to provide things for teens to do. Though the scene has been ever-changing, we are all working on many of the same issues.