Andy and I both grew up camping, but as the official non-rainy season in Seattle is pretty short, we have never managed to go camping together. We finally found the time, rummaged through our old gear, spent too much money at REI, and packed up a very confused dachshund into the car and off we went.

Because we had also never been to the San Juan Islands, we thought we would go camping on Orcas Island at Moran State Park (and yes, we made several Moron State Park jokes). The drive up there was a bit long, but the wait for the ferry boat was even longer! While Andy was out looking at maps and buying interesting items from vending machines, I snapped pictures of Goobers looking for Andy:

The boat ride was about an hour and absolutely gorgeous. We had parked on at outside lane, so I was able to roll down my window and Goobers was able to sniff the ocean air, which he LOVED. He kept looking down at the ferry boat floor and then out to moving scenery, apparently trying to figure out how we were moving!

The ferry terminal is at the opposite end of the island from the park, which gave us the chance to see a good portion of the island before arriving at a lovely campsite (which I had picked out online, which is such a fun feature! I knew what our site looked like and what view it had before we even booked a reservation.). The trip had taken us a good chunk of Saturday, so we set up camp, ate taco soup (yum!), and headed up to Mt. Constitution for sunset, as it was a rare clear night. Here we are at the top, with Mt. Baker and the San Juan Islands behind us:

It was amazing to be able to see the Cascade Mountain range, Olympic Mountain range, the San Juan Islands, the Olympic Peninsula, mainland Washington, and Vancouver Island, B.C. all at once!

We saw countless deer that evening, and they were all smart enough to not leap in front of the jeep. We even saw one in the camp site across from us when we returned. Goobers, just so you know, does not like deer. Or squirrels. Or birds. Especially when the birds eat his breakfast when he is napping!

Andy built a fire and we ate gooey chocolately things while Goobers kept trying to get back in the car, as he apparently thought we needed to go home. At first he did not like that we were staying, but once he realized that he got to sleep with us in the tent, he was wriggling, whining, and sitting up on his hind legs. He started the night sleeping between us, but as the night got colder, he ended up inside my sleeping bag. He loved being in there and I appreciated his warmth!

Andy is a great campfire cook, so we had chocolate chip pancakes with Vermont maple syrup in the morning (this was the first meal he ever made for me, back when we had just met and 8 months before we started dating). He later made steak and potatos that were out of this world!

Goobers was grumpy, so we finally convinced him to take a nap in the sun.

We went hiking to see some gorgeous waterfalls, and of course, by then the camera memory was full and the batteries had died– we KNEW we had forgotten to do something before we left to go camping! It was beautiful, but Goobers was still grumpy (he likes hiking, but does not like it when big dogs also decide to go hiking), so we decided to pack up and begin finding our way to the ferry terminal.

It was a VERY good thing that we did, as when we arrived we learned that the next scheduled ferry, two hours away still, was full already and we would have to wait in overflow. I am used to taking ferries that run pretty frequently, so this was a surprise to me (major note to self for next time). We parked and I read while Andy took Goobers for a walk and then went to the shops nearby to find ice cream. It could have been worse– we had a cooler of food and drinks with us, cards, books, board games, and plenty of doggie bones! Surprisingly, time passed quickly, perhaps due to the gorgeous sparkling blue water in front of us, and the proximity of ice cream and bathrooms. Miraculously, we made it on with at least a dozen more cars behind us. Otherwise we wouldn’t have made it off the island until 7 pm, with a long drive ahead of us! Instead, we headed home, stopping long enough to pick up pizza from our favorite place on Camano Island (yes, Andy has it in his phone and we called ahead– yay for technology!).

Andy and I had a fun time and hope to go longer next time. We’re not sure if Goobers wants to go camping again…