Weekend Update: San Juan Island Journal

Detail, Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, California

The morning of the 23rd of last month (March), our friend, Nancy who resides in La Conner, Washington sent Steven a Facebook Messenger message with a link to a Facebook posting that  was recruiting for a volunteer couple for San Juan Island National Historical Park.

Your intrepid wandering couple, sipping their morning brew in the back of Miranda, pondered the offer for a few minutes, talked about postponing their much anticipated summer adventure to Alaska for at least another year, and agreed the offer might just be a great way to spend five months assisting the National Park Service, exploring a part of the country they love, and spending more time with those they love in the PNW.

So we each got online, filled out the required application, and sent them on their way. Neither of us expected to hear back from the Park Service. I mean it was March, only two months before the starting time for the positions in May. We chatted about what it would be like to live on an Island, San Juan Island in Puget Sound, exploring the nearby islands too. 

Fifteen minutes after both applications were sent, Steven's cell phone rang. It was Ranger Jeff inquiring if we were serious about taking the position and could we be available the next day for a Microsoft Teams' interview. Yes and yes.

To say we were joyful about the then real possibility of getting the positions is an understatement. We were preparing to go out for the day on a bike ride to the California coast when the call came and for most of the remainder of the day we talked intermittently about the "what ifs" should Ranger Jeff tell us we were chosen.

The next day we spoke with Jeff, and yada yada yada, we got the job!

We've already made our reservations for both the ferry ride across from Anacortes, Washington to Friday Harbor on May 2nd and reserved time at La Conner Marina and RV Park for a few weeks prior.

Currently we're on the Oregon coast working our way north. It's still cool and rainy along the Pacific Coast and looks to remain that way for a bit yet. We'll have stops along the way at a few favorite places of ours, a stop in Oregon wine country and a maintenance stop in Salem, Oregon for Sprinter service before we arrive in La Conner the middle of April.

We've decided this will be the start of some regular journaling, not just by Steven. We hope our combined efforts will be informative and engaging. Watch this space.