Orcas

I was back on the road once again destined for Orcas Island with no specific plan as to where I would stay. Somehow I procrastinated this little detail once again.

It's only about an hour and a half from Seattle to Anacortes, the jumping off point to take the ferry to the island.

I heard that there are no reservations needed for the ferry, but that you should get there about ninety minutes before departure to secure a spot for your car on the boat. So that doubles the travel time, really.

I used that downtime to check the island for campgrounds and to see if I could make a reservation. I noted that Moran State Park wasn't sold out, but I figured I'd toot around and then end up there if I didn't see anything else.

I have never driven a car onto a ferry before so this was a new one for me. I liked watching how they load cars on strategically since the ferry makes more than one stop.

I couldn't help but be a little nervous that this would be a horrible time for Rusty to break down. I crossed my fingers that she wouldn't give me another "click" when it was time to drive off.

But she didn't. After an hour or so of cruising, about forty cars rolled off the boat and onto the island.

I guess I expected to see a town greeting me. It was really just the ferry port and a couple of food and trinket vendors. Someone directing traffic just sent us all off onto the little highway that circles the island. I sure was glad I had my car for this trip. If you don't have a car or a serious road bike, you're kind of stranded. This was really the country.

I drove and drove along the highway hoping to see something hospitable. There are lots of little ranches and roads winding off into pretty meadows, but nothing resembling accommodations for visitors.

After about twenty minutes on the highway I saw a sign pointing to some visitor information. I stopped at a big weathered wooden sign with a simple map of the island just showing dots for the three towns. The little box attached which promised more information contained exactly one dirty diaper.

So I kept driving.

I got to Moran State Park and it was getting late so I decided to snag a campsite. The girl at the booth said they had three left and only a few for tomorrow. I knew I was staying two days so I reserved both nights, happy once again that I'd have at least one day off from home searching.

Moran State Park is lovely. The campground stretches around a calm picturesque lake with a couple of cute little docks for paddle boating or kayaking. Part of the park is reserved for Camp Moran, a classic overnight camp for groups of kids or adults with bunks and kitchens and its own private area of the lake. One night I actually heard a crew of kids off in the distance belting out some camp songs. I felt like I had traveled back in time about thirty years when people really still did stuff like this.

I settled in and cooked myself one of my Trader Joe's Indian food packets - I like the blue ones - and cracked open a beer. I picked up Michael's hot springs book just to see if there happened to be anything around these parts.

Miraculously, besides the springs I had already visited in Olympic park, there was one other listed in the northwest part of Washington.

And it was on Orcas Island!

What a great coincidence. I probably should have checked this before I picked an island. But I totally lucked out. They aren't natural, they are part of a commercial resort, but I'd go looking for it the next day.

The next morning while I was doing some writing inside the van, I heard some young teens arguing outside my campsite about the meaning of the word "ghetto". I wrote it off as inane chatter, but soon realized that they were probably referring to Rusty. They were right. Rusty is ghetto. She actually has a pair of cotton Dockers patching a hole in her pop top canvas. But she was definitely the coolest thing in that campground, Dockers and all. I remembered what it was like to be a teen and envying the wrong things.

Before heading to the hot springs, I took a detour up Mount Constitution to the lookout tower built by a conservation corps in the 30's. It looks out over all the surrounding islands and off into Canada.

It also contained a mini museum that gave a brief history of Robert Moran, the park's founder. I was intrigued to learn that he moved to Seattle from New York penniless, started a ship building company, and eventually became the mayor of Seattle. After that his shipbuilding company became so large, they actually built the USS Nebraska, the flagship of the US Navy in World War I.

Moran was so stressed by the job that, at the age of 47 , he developed a severe heart condition and had to quit the company. He wasn't expected to live more than a few years, so he moved out to Rosario, a house he had built on this island to spend his last days.

But he didn't die. The calm of the island cured him. And he lived another forty years.

He tried for years to donate his land on the island to the State of Washington, but they had no concept of land conservation at the time. It wasn't until the 30's when the national park system took off that he was able to convince Washington to create a state park with his land.

The whole story brought an extra dimension to the island for me.

From there I set out to find Doe Bay Resort & Retreat, the home of these hot spring pools I read about.

The resort is in the town of Olga, which reminds me of Bolinas, only more sparse. The kind of place the "real" hippies scooted off to when they gave up on the rest of society. It's a journey to get there. But it's relaxed, rural, and peaceful, with a bit of a sense of humor. A sign along the road reads, "You are now entering the O zone."

The Doe Bay resort fits that mold quite well. It's super relaxed. It's a WWOOF site, where volunteers can work for their room and board. They serve food from their organic garden in their restaurant. The rates for guests are not cheap though. I found out I could camp on their grounds, but it would cost $55 - more than double what I was paying for the state park. The pools, however, are cheap to use. $15 for half a day. For that, you get use of their dry sauna and three soaking pools, which are quite pleasant, but far from natural. I think they even chlorinate them. Still the best $15 you can spend in the area, I imagine.

I had a good time there chatting with folks that worked there and others that had been long time visitors. It's that kind of place that people come back to again and again and bring their friends and family.

I might just do that myself someday.