Seattle and the San Juan Islands from Helicopter

I spent this past Thanksgiving visiting friends in the state of Washington and was especially happy to go on a helicopter tour of the San Juan Islands.  Located in the Pacific off of the northwest corner of the United States, this archipelago comprises more than 700 pristine islands, many of which are only visible at low tide.  Originally, the San Juan Islands were part of a mountain range that was greatly altered and compressed into the sea by huge glaciers during the Ice Age.  Today, the islands vary from flat land to small mountains, with plunging deep channels beneath the sea.

A popular tourist destination, the San Juan Islands are home to many species of wildlife.  You’ll find porpoises, seals, sea lions, and whales, including the orca, or killer whale.  And all sorts of furry animals live there such as otters, rabbits, foxes, and deer.  The archipelago is home to many different kinds of birds and migratory birds often stop there to rest.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when we flew over a field of thousands and thousands of snow geese.  From the helicopter, it looked as though someone had planted a crop of white fluff!  I would very much like to return to the San Juan Islands only next time, it will be in warm weather and in a kayak for a more up close and in depth exploration.      

View of Seattle From Helicopter

Lake Washington waterfront – wonderful views, boat docks, lovely lifestyle

Timber and lumber is BIG business, here is a logging facility

A giant Native American gambling casino

Kevin on right bench seat, the earphones allow communication with other travelers over the noise.

A “Field of White” – I thought at first It was a crop – But indeed it is a resting place for snow geese

Huge tulip farms north of Seattle adjacent to Puget Sound – Barley is grown here too

A large oil refinery – giant tanks hold a lot of oil

A massive oil tanker – to load and unload at the refinery

First glimpse of the San Juan Islands

734 islands make up this archipelago – many are unseen at high tide

Wes, Martha, and Charles in front of the twin-engine helicopter – a great way to sightsee!

The first building one comes to on the short walk from the grass airfield to town. It looks like a school house.

Directional sign to Roche Harbor

Rental units at a summer colony on the outskirts of Roche Harbor

Towering trees line the paved road to town

The Church in Roche Harbor

The town square is paved with hand made bricks – stamped with many different names

Here I am in the town square - the overcast day was actually perfect for sightseeing at this time of year

Two limestone pillars in the center of town

The local eatery – Kevin had fried oysters, I had leek & potato soup, after the holiday feasting, Charles and Wes only felt like sipping coffee

A colony of sea lions basking on a rock. These giant sea creatures are just some of the great mammals seen here in the archipelago

The coastline of the islands are often cluttered with lost cut timber – which has escaped while being boated from forest to lumber yard

Here is a photo of the lock system in Seattle - it's path from the Puget Sound to Lake Washington is substantially higher in elevation

Two stadiums, side by side - one for football - the other for baseball - both have retractable roofs

All of Seattle is surrounded by cloverleaves and complex highway systems - sometimes very confusing to navigate

Comments

[Rebecca C.]

Driving on those cloverleafs would blow my mind. I love the "roundabouts" they have in the road system in the UK, now those I can handle, but the Seattle cloverleafs, I'll just leave to them! Thanks for the wonderful pics from high above!

[Maya]

Really nice photos. Love the geese and the bricks especially.

Thanks for sharing.

[deezie]

Those pictures were amazing!
Yes those highways look scary if I ever go there I will have my husband drive. I have a friend who lives in Washington state, what a beautiful place. Looks like you enjoyed your visit
dee lotz

[Robb]

What a great holiday spending time with those close to you. It looks like you had a wonderful time. You prompted me to look up snow geese, I found a nice page from Cornell University:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Snow_Goose_dtl.html

Thank you so much for sharing.

[Elaine]

I have always wanted to go to Washington and now, after seeing your photos, I am defintely going to go! So glad that you got away for the Thanksgiving holiday and it looks like you had a wonderful time.

[Chris]

You're always very good at sharing a lot of photos. We all really enjoy that. Alexis said you were mobbed at Pikes Market! It's always a great place to visit, despite the stir of your presence!

[Carolyn]

I love your "field trips" pictures and the information you tell us. Keep up the good work.

Thanks!
Carolyn

[Leona in Nova Scotia,Canada]

Martha I so enjoyed your pictures and am so pleased that you care to share them with us.

[Kayte]

Fantastic photos...thanks for sharing!

[Trish]

Martha,
I didn't have a clue about the San Juan Islands before today. How interesting and I bet they would be great to visit via Kayak, for you though; you're much braver than I am! Your pictures are great and I really appreciate all the info. You promised to keep your blog up and you are certainly doing that! Thanks again. Trish

[Patia]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I love Seattle and the San Juans, but I've never seen them from the air like this. You should definitely come back and kayak -- I've sailed the San Juans and they are gorgeous up close.

And if you haven't been to the Empress Hotel in Victoria for tea, you must!

[Sherry B.]

Martha, I also enjoy tagging along on your field trips. It's just like we are there with you. Let us know where we're going next....

[Mike]

Seattle is amazing! I love it there. I'm from Oregon so we go as often as we can. I heard Alexis talking about Pike Place Market. Why no pictures from there? :)

Looks like you had fun! Thank you for sharing.

[Vivian Love]

My family held a family reunion on Decatur Island (part of the San Juans) many years ago. Happy times. Beautiful place. Decatur Island is a private island and my sister-in-law knew the caretakers. So small an island, there are no cars, just golf carts. We love that part of the country! I'm glad you had a nice time. Thanks for sharing, it brought back good memories!

[Pam From CA]

Hi Martha,
Thank you for sharing the neat photos of Seattle and surrounding area by air. Have you ever visited Ashball Park and floated the river great fun? Also we used to hike Mt. Rainier in the summer time great photo opts and wonderful hiking . I used to drive those Seattle freeways much like the ones we have down in LA,did you find the roads confusing to get around Seattle? Are these photos taken with your new camera pretty good shots?
Pam From CA

[Kathy Rambow]

Martha, I have lived in Seattle all my life and would never leave. The cloverleafs are not bad at all. Now Roundabouts I had to deal with in Andover, Mass. when I was on a business trip, in the dark, those were scary!

[Margie]

Kevin, what a trooper you are. I hope you do not have bouts of air sickness. Your clothing makes one hope there was heat in the helicopter. My toes got cold just looking at the pictures.
Thanks for keeping your blog fun.

[Timothy Edwin]

Thanks for the great pictures, Washington looks incredible!

n.b. - the Orca (or Killer Whale) is in fact a dolphin, not a whale.

[marcia]

Your pictures make me homesick!
We lived in Wa. for 20 years and now have been in Ca 20 years.The San Juans are a slice of heaven, all be it, a tad dampish. Glad you enjoyed it!
marcia

[grandmajo]

Mighty fine tour. It was very refreshing. Thanks for sharing your downtime with us, its why I check out your blog everyday.

[Brandy]

Hi Martha,
Thank you for sharing your pictures with us. Like others have said, I too feel like I am there!

[Steve & Brenda Shelton]

Thanks for sharing the pictures and your life. By the way, is that Wes that was the chef on your TV program?

[Pippy]

Martha,
Thanks for the helicopter ride. There were beautiful sites that I would have never seen if you had not taken the time to take the pictures and then put them on the blog. Thanks again.

[Jan Erickson]

Hi Martha, Wow! What a fantastic blog. I am a native Washingtonian and have lived in the Seattle area for about 47 years and it is so nice to know you spent your Thanksgiving holiday in our area. Your beautiful photos are certainly a great travelogue for this beautiful part of our country. I am so glad our weather cooperated while you were here. Right now it is raining with a chance of snow tonight. I hope you come back to our area again soon and can enjoy kayaking in the San Juans. Just one aside: the baseball stadium has a retractable roof but the football stadium does not. Thanks again for sharing. Jan

[Moxiegrrl]

I've lived in Washington State my entire life and love it here. We hail from the northwestern-most county, but my children and I relocated this spring to the Eastside Seattle area and are just getting used to the cloverleaves on the freeways. Daunting at first, to be sure. Your photos are gorgeous and showcase the state beautifully. Glad to read you had a nice visit here.