One of the nice things about traveling is seeing friends and family. The natural beauty is reason enough to go but visiting those you haven't seen in a while is icing on the cake. We spent the morning enjoying the company of our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson at their home in Poulsbo (photo 1).

Today is the Fourth of July, Independence Day, and we have plans to go to Anacortes. There are bound to be lots of people on the road and waiting for the ferries. This sparks the debate that travelers seem to constantly have with themselves; do we go the short route or the scenic route? We opt for the scenic and head north to Pt. Townsend.

Brian is now a local so, as such; he knows some of the local back roads. We leave Poulsbo on Big Valley Road, which we've never been on, a great little road that is a short connector to the larger, faster SR 3. When I tell the boy, scenic, he takes me at my word. As with most of western Washington, there are a plethora of greens and yellows and earth tones enough to please every nature lover's palette. You like plethora? See what watching the Three Amigos can do for your vocabulary?

Western Washington is like eating a gourmet meal. It is just too rich and too exotic to consume quickly. You want to savor the flavor. We cross the Hood Canal Floating Bridge and when we get to the first turn, we make a right and take Paradise Valley Road to Port Ludlow. Port Ludlow is a planned development without gates. It overlooks Ludlow Bay and temps me something terrible. I wouldn't mind owning a condo here. I understand the salmon fishing and crabbing here is great. Hell, I could spend all of my time either fishing for salmon or smoking salmon.

We take SR 20 East to Port Townsend and get in line for the ferry to Whidbey Island (photos 2 & 3). Now here's the nice thing about riding a motorcycle in Washington. They try and let you on the ferry first. That way you can fill up the small spaces up front and they can get more cars on. At least that's what I've been told. Maybe they just like motorcycles. As we're waiting and I'm taking pictures, I meet Bob, a worker for the Washington State Ferry System (photo 4). He's a Harley rider, or a least he was. He just recently sold his Harley so he could put some money down on a house. That tells you something about the prices of Harley's compared to the prices of houses in Washington. Bob still has a shovelhead he's trying to restore but he's got a ways to go yet. Bob put some serious miles on his Harley, and it was the only transportation he had for about four years. What he really wants is to do some intense long distance touring and he thinks maybe his next bike will be a BMW. He says that he really wants to get another bike soon. It is clear the man has the obsession. Good for him.

They finally load the Keystone ferry; we pass the Pt. Wilson lighthouse (photo 5) and leave Port Townsend behind (photos 6). What a great day to be on the water (photos 7 & 8). We lounge around the deck and take pictures of each other (photos 9,10, 11) before docking 30 minutes later on Whidbey Island, then head north to Anacortes.

One of the reasons for starting this trip by going north, was to attend the Northwest Gold Wing Touring Association's state rally in Anacortes on the fourth (photo 12) and, of course, we thought it would be a great excuse to stop in Anacortes. Stop we did. This is the first ever rally for Linda and I and it was fun to see the vendors (photo 13), and of course I bought a couple of tee shirts. I've never seen so much Goldwing stuff in one place. I'm glad I'm visiting from out of state because it keeps me from buying anymore than I did. No room to carry it. I have no idea what they do at other rallies but there were sure a bunch of tent campers camped out on the local high school football field (photos 14 & 15). We kept passing Goldwings all over town. Now I know how the Harley guys feel when they see so many others riding their chosen bike.

We grabbed a little dinner at the Flounder Bay Café, a place I recommend (photo 16) and headed out to Washington Park to play a little softball, skip rocks, and just enjoy the day. Washington Park would be a great asset for any city. Remember the three keys to success, location, location, and location. Well, Washington Park definitely has location. It jumps right off to the San Juan Islands, for those who have a boat, and you can camp for a very reasonable price. There are lots of things to do for the family. Brian, Tami, Chris and Linda hit a softball around while I took pictures of the island scenery (photos 17, 18 19 20). I may need to get a part time job with the Chamber of Commerce if I don't stop praising this place. Of course, I'm retired, so a part time job may not be so bad.

It was time to try and find a spot to see the fireworks on the other side of the island; this is the fourth of July after all. Since it doesn't get dark until about 10:00 this far north, this made for a cool evening as we waited on some steel steps of a local office complex. Finally, at about 10:30 the fireworks started and we couldn't have picked a better spot. To our surprise and delight they were going off directly over our heads. The concussion from the explosions could be felt and must have had every dog in Anacortes hiding under the bed. I did the best I could trying to capture on film some of the grandeur of the fireworks, but it was an impossible task. Here are a few of what I got (photos 21, 22, 23, 24).

Another end to another perfect day. Damn! I'm really starting to enjoy this retirement stuff.