Continuing our series of travel reports during a challenging year, we chose to visit an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest that has immense naturally beauty, charming towns and ports, and a very low population density (93 person per square mile compared to San Diego’s 4,326!) We flew from San Diego, safely as always on Southwest Airlines to Seattle where we rented a car. Southwest Airlines is taking all measures so that guests are safe and feel comfortable flying.

The San Juan Islands are accessible by ferries and offer old forests and waterfalls, quaint villages, miles of sandy beaches, and spectacular views of mountain ranges. The beauty of visiting all the islands is you can do so by car as all the ferries allow vehicles. The Washington State Ferries allowed us to island hop and explore the area in our own car.

Bainbridge was the first island we visited. A picture-perfect island known for its wineries, shopping, and miles of hiking and biking trials. We enjoyed walking the waterfront trail which offers various restaurants with views to the marina. We then drove 20 minutes on the island to get to Poulsbo. A quaint town, founded by Norwegian immigrants, keeps that character to this day. Not to be missed is the famous Sluys Poulsbo Bakery, don’t worry, you will see a long line, but it is worth the wait for donuts, cookies and house specialty Viking Cups- cinnamon rolls overfilled with frosting. This charming town offers a growing arts district and several waterfront restaurants.

Continuing our island hopping we ferried to Whidbey Island where we explored Deception Pass State Park. At 4,134 acres, the park has many different areas and trails above rocky coastlines, rushing tides and marine life. We walked the narrow path across the bridge to enjoy a morning of hiking with spectacular views of the ocean, mountain, and forest.

About an hour away from Whidbey Island is Anacortes the embarkation port for the San Juan Islands where the ferry runs a couple times a day. Two hours on the ferry later we arrived at Orca Island, the largest of the San Juan Islands. It is home to quaint villages as well as Moran State Park, where we enjoyed a day of hiking through the miles of trails in the forest.

The Washington Islands is the place to visit to re-connect with nature, explore quaint towns and enjoy the best wines and food making it a perfect ESCAPADITA.