This is the sea....
That was the river...and the plains and the mountains and the desert...but this is the sea...after 4000 miles of wonderful, surprising but almost always beautiful America, we have reached the San Juan islands on the Pacific Ocean...at the North Widbey Island State Park we lunched on a strip of unspoiled beach with a freshwater lake to our left, salt water to our right and the Olympic mountains in the distance...Sunset over the San Juan islands was magnificent and we were unwitting observers of a final farewell ceremony that a family performed for a loved one...with the sun setting...the tide going out...they placed the ashes on a makeshift driftwood boat...accompanied by roses and a candle they watched it carried out to sea...nosy seals inspecting...as if also paying final respect...it was the most beautiful and moving ceremony...
vlog in the extended entry as always...tomorrow it is on to the Olympic mountains and the first leg of our trip where the general direction is South, no longer West...