Diggin' the 4th

Independence Day found us on the tidal flats of Westcott Bay, San Juan Island, foraging for our food. Coronas in hand, we dug, hauled buckets, launched our motorized 'canoe,' and dropped crab pots.


Ken with Thea and John, friends of his from Portland who came up for the long weekend.


Me with John and Thea in the little aluminum boat on the way out to drop the crab pot, round 1.


Round 2, checking and resetting pots. I'll make a long story short here by saying despite repeated tries and our best efforts (without spilling our beers, of course), the pot remained empty, save for the chicken carcass I deposited earlier. Sigh...


Thea and John's dog did her best to scare up crabs for us, howling at the water on the way back from round 3... to no avail.


John enjoys the fruits of our mudflat labors, littleneck clams steamed with wine and lemon.


The next day we foraged for more certain finds, stones and driftwood on South Beach.


John and Thea find each other...


I find this cute fox...


...and some equally cute limestone outcrops.


I was very attached to this gray karst.


Ken tires of fighting nature and puts his bum on the karst with me.


Soon all 4 of us were attempting to immortalize this lovely piece of geologic history. Unfortunately the tourists who took our photo must have been drunk because it's all a blur.


We picknicked on beautiful, sunny Deadman Beach one afternoon... completely alone with the sun and surf.




...until a minion of kayakers beached themselves in our serenity (here comes the first wave of 20, in the upper left).

We enjoyed fireworks at Roche Harbor from a deck overlooking the water, drinks in hand, empty crab pots and beached kayakers a distant memory. Hope you all enjoyed a fun Independence Day!