Holidays and Ferries

In planning for a visit by my kids and grandkids for the holiday, we were faced with one of the ever present realities of island life - arranging your plans around the ferry schedules.  I understand that it seems to be a bit of a hassle for them, but it's just a fact of life for us.  And I'm definitely of the persuasion, that to make it even less of an issue, maybe I just won't ever leave the island!!! (Oh I so wish....)

We are still getting used to island life ourselves, and the following part of an article explains it well, and mentions the lovely feeling I have every single time that I get on the ferry in Anacortes to head to the island. It's my transition to my island world.

Lifestyle in the San Juan Islands Life in the San Juan Island is different from life on the mainland. Everything is a little slower in the islands. It doesn’t matter if you live there or are visiting; life in the islands isn’t high speed. That slower pace starts with getting on or off the islands. On the mainland when you want to go somewhere you just get in your car, on the islands you consult the ferry schedule and then try to figure out how early you must leave to go wait in line to catch the ferry. In summer and on weekends the line can be two or three ferries waits.

In the islands the slower more relaxed life permeates everything. The fact that every move needs to be planned in advance changes the way people live and the way they do business. The slower pace of life on the islands makes them a good choice for a vacation where you want to relax. There are no busy highways or rush hour traffic here. A 30 minute to one hour ferry ride seems to take you a million miles from the nearest freeway.

http://northwestplaces.com/trips001/1-SanJuan/1-SanJuanIslands.htm