Tag: Whidbey Island

Family Reunion on Whidbey Island

On July 8 we all congregated at my brother’s place on Whidby Island for our biannual family reunion. Sixteen of us, my two brothers, and their families. Missing were one nephew and his wife that were in the midst of moving and job hunting. We came from Texas, California and Hawaii.

Johnson family reunion 2024

My brother has 25 acres of beachfront property, which I like to refer to as the Johnson resort. His place would not accommodate all of us, we rented a house in Langley, a short drive from Kurt’s place.

For food we feasted on oysters which Kurt grows on his beach, clams that inhabit the same beach, as well as crab and leg of lamb; Kurt raises a few lambs as well.

Making sandcastles, flying kites and making forts out of driftwood were all fun activities. Kurt roasted up a delicious leg of lamb for one of our meals. And one morning when donuts were on the mind we piled into our cars and drove to Whidbey Doughnuts, a short drive from our rental property in Langley.

On the beach it took no time to collect clams and oysters, and we spent quite a few hours telling family stories, looking at family photo albums, and looking at maps to plan the next leg of our road trip.

It was such a delight to spend time together and to watch the grand kids playing together so famously. I’m looking forward to our next get together, sometime in 2026.

To Lopez Island and Back

On June 29 we loaded our kayaks on our rig and headed north for the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest. We gave ourselves five days to make our way to Spencer Spit campground. There we rendezvoused with fellow members of our kayaking club, Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASK), for the biannual Casey Walker Memorial Campout. The night of June 29 we camped near Greenhorn Reservoir just outside of Yreka in a space we found on Hipcamp, one of the resources we use for locating camping sites. Then it was on to Portland, Oregon, where we spent the night at Rossi Farms. At Rossi Farms we gorged ourselves on the raspberries that were growing next to our campsite.

From Portland we made our way to Whidbey Island where we spent two days with my brother, feasting on fresh seafood including crab and oysters.

From Whidbey it was on to Anacortes where we caught the ferry to Lopez Island. It wasn’t too surprising to have Brad, a fellow BASK member pull up right behind us while waiting for the ferry.

We arrived on the island on July 3, so for the 4th we went into town to enjoy the Independence Day festivities.

The focus of the trip was kayaking with fellow BASK members. I’ve already written about a couple of those adventures, Lopez Island: Makaye and Ice Cream Paddle. Of course, eating together is a big part of any group camping adventure. BASK is sometimes referred to as an eating club with a kayaking disorder. We feasted on a finger-licking-good potluck dinner one evening. We also took time to do some hiking, including a wonderful outing to Iceberg Point, and we enjoyed a whale watching expedition.

On July 10 we started our return journey, getting an early start in order to be at the ferry terminal for the 8:30 a.m. ferry. We were just two cars short of making that ferry. We pulled out our camp chairs and spent the wait visiting with fellow kayakers and reading. With some ferry mishaps, it was 4 p.m. when we finally rolled onto the ferry, bringing to mind a common acronym we’d been seeing: FTF (where’s the ferry). It was 6:10 p.m. when we arrived back at my brother’s place on Widbey Island. Fortunately, he had dinner ready with freshly caught prawns.

From Whidbey Island we took the Port Townsend Ferry and headed south where we spent the night at Scenic Beach State Park on the Hood Canal. There I got up early and captured an image that I’m calling Morning View from Scenic Beach (fine art prints are available in my art store). From Scenic Beach our drive took us through Raymond where we stopped for a quick picnic lunch and a walk around town to admire the town’s metal people.

Then on to Cape Disappointment where we watched the setting sun sink into the sea. From Cape Disappointment we decided to follow the Columbia River Gorge as far as The Dalles where we turned south. We found a campsite at Prairie Camp near the town of La Pine. In the morning, we discovered that we were close to a little lake, East Lake, where we managed to get our kayaks on the water for one last paddle. We were not too anxious to head south into California’s Central Valley where extreme temperatures were predicted.

Our last night we boondocked, locating a site near Mount Shasta that iOverlander identified at Shasta View in the Trees. This site had a spectacular view of Mount Shasta. Our trip covered 1065 miles over 16 days. More photos are available in an online gallery.

Family Time!

Family at Kurt and Beth’s place on Whidbey Island. Treve, Kurt, Beth, Arlen, Ann, Merrick, Toland, Serena, Aaron (kneeling), Sue, Joann, and dogs, Oscar and Winston.
Serena making Pizza
Arlen enjoying a pedal power kayak on Holmes Harbor
Moss at Putney Woods County Park
Pedal power kayaking with Arlen in the red boat.
The road through the woods
Kurt showing off some young oysters.
Ann serves up some fresh vegatable soup with ingredients from the garden.
The woods at Kurt and Beth’s place

With a father that’s now 95, I think my two brothers and our families are realizing that we need something more than visiting dad to keep us together. We recently got together on Whidbey Island where my brother Kurt and his wife Beth have a house.  A perfect setting for a reunion, with 28 acres to play in, including beach, woods, meadow, and hiking trails within a short distance. With a bountiful garden fresh seafood we had a lovely time. Dining on fresh crab caught in the harbor, oysters from Kurt’s oyster garden. We managed to get most of the kids, and Aunt Sue in on the festivities as well. Each of the brothers,  Arlen and Kurt and myself each have two kids and we managed to get all of them to join us, with the exception of two, my daughter and our foster sister Laurie, both of whom were not able to get time off of work. I think we tend to be an independent clan, we have varied interest, and it seems we’d rather go our own ways most of the time, so getting  the group of us together is a challenge, and I think the two years we spend in dialog and planning paid off. If you want to see a few more photos from our get-together click here.