Small Town 4th of July

After having a big city Canada Day experience in Vancouver, we decided to have a small town Independence Day experience on San Juan Island.  The island is in the Salish Sea and has a population of less than 7,000.  After making breakfast in our cottage, we drove down to Cattle Point for a couple of early morning pictures.

Since we didn't pack folding chairs in our luggage, we hunkered down for the 4th of July parade on the sidewalk. 

That proved to be perfect for us as we had great views and were just a block away from a bake sale.

The parade was a lot of fun with a mixture of patriotic floats, rural vehicles, local bands, kids, animals, and lots of advertisements for local businesses.  Some of the parade participants threw candy to the kids, and Ava collected over 20 pieces of candy!

After the parade we walked down to the Whale Museum where we learned all about the orcas that we hoped to see later in the day. 

On the grounds of the San Juan Historical Museum we joined a record setting 1,600 people for hot dogs and live music at the annual Pig War Picnic. 

We spent most of our afternoon at Lime Kiln Point State Park (aka Whale Watch Park).  While we were unsuccessful in our efforts to spot killer whales, and despite rain beginning to fall, we spent a lot of time scrambling over the rocky shores, viewing the tide pools, and hiking to the light house.  

Driving around the island, we ran into an alpaca farm where we saw herds of alpaca playing, lounging, and being fed.  We decided not to buy a souvenir stuffed alpaca because it wasn't even made in Washington, but made in Peru. 

For 13 years (1859-1872), American and English forces occupied parts of San Juan Island in a dispute over the boundary of the US and the British Empire triggered by the shooting of a pig.  This confrontation was known as the Pig War and is remembered at the San Juan Island National Historical Park.

Ava wandered about the remains of the English Camp and through the surrounding forest. 

Throughout the day we saw deer, cattle, horses, and hens, but our big surprise of the day was getting to see a flock of bald eagles up close as they perched on trees and soared through the sky.  It was an amazing sight and quite fitting to see them on the 4th of July.