We have lived here for 17 years and have never been to this island. It is amazing at how much we
have yet to see in our area.  We've reached the time in life when we can only gather a kid or two to go with us.  Job is off on his own spring break adventure, Isaac has to work and is about to end his spring break. This time it was only Lona and it definitely changes things on family adventures. John spent about an hour testing out bikes, airing up tires and getting things ready for our adventure.  The day before I had checked out a book from the library called, Cycling the Islands, by John Crouch. I perused the book, discussing it with John to narrow down an island. We chose Lopez Island due to it's "relative" flatness compared to the other islands. Make sure to know what you are comparing it to.  It is hillier than the Skagit Flats for sure. I thought it would be more like Lummi Island, which it was not. I and my backside are not in biking shape. This may take days to recuperate from this.  I am now shopping for a bike seat, the big fat, cushy seat. I don't see those road bike torture devices on my bike ever.  Anyhow, being an island we needed to schedule our time around the ferry schedule which was also a factor in choosing our island. We arrived about 20 minutes before the ferry, purchased our tickets and pretty much walked onto the ferry.  Lunch was on the ferry and then a few minutes working on the many jigsaw puzzle. Ideally we could do the 37 mile tour of the island but in reality there was no way. We decided to start small and do the North Island Loop with some minor changes. We started at the ferry terminal instead of Lopez Village. From the ferry terminal, we climbed the hill on ferry road and then descended to Port Stanley Road.  We followed that road around to Hummel Lake Road and then cut across the island to Lopez Village. This was our snack and moral stop. Lona thought it smelled a lot like Cannon Beach.  Small town, on the beach, wind blowing, sand everywhere, a coffee shop and bakery.  I could smell it too. From Lopez Village we followed Lopez Road as it turning into Military Road and Fisherman Bay Road.  Turning onto Ferry Road, we followed that back to the ferry terminal. I headed up the hill while John and Lona checked out Odlin Park.  I wasn't sure I could make it. We all arrived around 4:00 and with the ferry being 20 minutes late, we had enough time to get organized for the ferry ride home.
Note: the ferry cost is around $14.00 plus $2 for the bikes.  All fares going to the islands are paid, westbound.  Eastbound from the island is free. You really can't go anywhere from the islands except back to the mainland.






















I'm a sucker for cute signs.  So simple, yet absolutely adorable.


My friend has a skeleton that she has named Frankie.  When she does something, Frankie is posing too.  When I saw this pharmacy with the skeleton, I had to take a photo.  I really like the way the window pops out and the cute roof to it. Of course this wasn't your typical rectangular pharmacy building, it was very cute.  Part of the island charm.































Thoughts:  I like how friendly everyone is.  Every car or bike or runner waves or says hello.  Kind of like Montana. The roads aren't busy so it's easy to ride on them. We biked the longest route to the village since I knew I was going to need the rest when we got there.

This is an island I would love to explore more, we only saw the northern tip. I am wondering what it would be like to camp and explore via bike (if my seat allows it).  I should put it on my bucket list.

I love the variety of houses on the island, from very plain trailer houses to vintage farm houses to architectural designed modern homes.  I needed more time to photograph those. There were beach houses and a kind of commune with solar panels everywhere.

Then when we almost reached our exit on the interstate, we were passed by some friends who had been out of town for a week.  How fun is that.

Well, she's been asked.
By one of her brother's friends.
With her boyfriend's knowledge.
And now needs to find a dress.
Let the games begin.

Yep, we are in full swing of soccer.  It feels as though we haven't stopped and we haven't. We've gone from Ranger Soccer, overlapping with wrestling to Varsity High School Soccer. I will admit that when he came home and told me that he made varsity, I was excited for him but apprehensive about his playing time. Would he be a bench warmer? Would he play only 5 minutes? Would he contribute to the team? He definitely has his strengths.  He isn't a ball hog, which is both good and bad.  Good in the sense that he will make passes but bad because he could hang onto the ball longer and allow his teammates to get into better positions. It will be interesting to see how the season progresses.

So I have always wondered how bakers get the buns to be so round and perfect.  Mine usually end up lopsided and ugly, with cracks.  I knew there had to be a way, just like the perfectly round cookies people create. 


Mine are never perfect and round unless they are cutouts and still even then I get the imperfect ones.  I would love to take some baking classes that last longer than two hours, maybe two hours a week for a month or two.  I'm not interested in going back to school for culinary. It just isn't what I want to do, but I like to bake. 



So as I was getting ready to bake my second batch of Danish Birthday
Buns for the day, I found a video that explained tight rolls and loose rolls.  Wow, was this a game changer for me.  Now all I want to bake are buns, just to practice this.