San Juan Islands » Just 5 More Minutes

Dave Matthews and Mother’s Day Airstreaming, San Juan Island’s Style

May 102011

What a special treat.

Grammy award winning artist Dave Matthews and his lovely wife along with their darling twin girls were spending their Mother’s Day at one of their favorite venues as we were in the San Juan Islands.

It would be just as you would imagine having your family and friends over for a Sunday afternoon BBQ with hot dogs, s’mores, fruit salad, etc. I hope we are not tarnishing his Rock Star image.

Finishing off the experience of a lifetime with a “Shallow Bay – Sucia Island Style” sunset, we said our good-bye’s awakening the next morning as if it were a dream.

We are spellbound and rocked by David Matthews. We took no photos in respect of David and Ashley’s friends, family and the Islands.

Dungeonous Crab Cakes and our Journey Home to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands

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Apr 242011

Our trip to Vancouver Island in Canada with our destination being Tofino was such an incredible trip. We met so many wonderful people and everyone was so genuinely nice here. We caught the ferry from Sidney in Canada and then returned home to Orcas Island via the Friday Harbor ferry (pictured below is our Airstream in the waiting line).

When we finally unhitched at West Beach Resort, B and hubby went exploring on the beach and I began the tedius, but yet relaxing task of cracking the remainders of our freshly caught Dungenous Crab B and hubby caught while on their fishing trip with Lance. I was ready to prepare some Dungeonous Crab Cakes and I wanted these to be simple because I wanted the crab to the be the star! Less is more with this recipe — you could even omit the celery but I wanted some kind of “crunch” amongst the delicate crab meat. Maybe a freshly diced red bell pepper would be good instead of the celery — the possibliites are endless and all depend on what kind of mood you are in.

It is good to be home on Orcas Island and we are really looking forward to exploring the many farms this beautiful Island has to offer the public. B can’t stop talking about visitng a farm with chickens and baby lambs — maybe we will! All I know so far is that the folks here on this Island are so warm and welcoming!

Glorious South Beach on San Juan Island

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Jan 072011

You have arrived at South Beach. This is one of the most spectacular beaches you will find on San Juan Island. As you drive along the scenic winding roads on San Juan Island you approach a sign that reads, “South Beach.” It doesn’t look like a beach would be there, but as you turn and drive up the (long) hill, all of a sudden, you reach the top and subconsciously take your foot off the gas to slow down and for a moment time stands still and the entire world and the heavens seem to just open up right in front you. You hold your breath and can not believe what you are seeing. The beauty is absolutely unimaginable here, which is why everyone flocks to this destination and which is why, we towed our Airstream through ice and snow on the roads to get here early and to get a prime spot for a day camp.

Arriving at Friday Harbor, San Juan Island via Ferry

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Jan 032011

Friday Harbor here we come! Except forecast is calling for snow, “Don’t worry honey,” hubby says as he hitches up the Airstream. “It won’t stick, it’s too warm.” I knew him and knew him well, there was no changing his mind.

From the looks of these photos of our ferry ride, what do you think? Stick it did and for our entire trip. Melted during the day of course and then froze solid again at night. This song and dance lasted our entire trip although towards the end there was enough asphalt visible on the roads that we were able to negotiate some towing to San Juan County Park and South Beach.

Our first night though, we camped in the parking lot above the Marina. Can’t complain, at least we were safe and made it off the Ferry in one piece.

Here are some pictures of the ferry ride:

San Juan Island County Park

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Jan 032011

This park is where the movie Practical Magic was filmed. I absoultely love that movie so it was a real treat for me to be there. After researching a bit on the web I learned that beautiful house in the movie was built just for the movie and then destroyed after. What a pity — that house was amazing!

This is such an incredibly beautiful park with sweeping views across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. At night you can see the lights sparkling from Victoria to the South to Sidney to the North. Unfortunately we didn’t see any Orcas — the last sighting was at 9 am on October 10th, 2010.

One thing to keep in mind that if you plan on a trip here with a trailer, the maximum (and I mean maximum) length allowed is 25 feet. I wasn’t sure if our Airstream had 25 feet of living quarters or 25 feet total with the hitch. Well we found out, it is 25 feet hitch and all (the ranger actually measured it!).

Here are some pictures from our visit to San Juan County Park as well as a quick clip to our surroundings:

Simple Sole at South Beach, San Juan Island

Airstream Kitchen, San Juan Island, San Juan Islands 1 Response »

Jan 032011

After our big day at South Beach on San Juan Island we started a fire in the grill. What a great opportunity for B to make some s’mores and for me to get started on dinner in the Airstream. The sun was beginning to set and we were anticipating a pretty spectacular sunset.

For dinner I prepared a simple dish of sole. This was really an incredible recipe for two reasons. First, it is all prepared in one pan with just a handful of ingredients and second, it was so full of flavor and satisfying that even B, our 6 year old devoured it (and this was a proud moment for me since he has began to get rather picky!)

Simple Sole

You will need:

about a pound of sole (tilapia and/or snapper would also work really well)
one can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
half of a yellow onion, sliced
a cup of cherry or grape tomatoes
big handful of fresh spinach
garlic powder (to your liking)
parmesan cheese (to your liking)
dash of olive oil
parsley (to your liking)

Instructions:

Take a medium sized skillet and add a dash of olive oil and layer the sliced onions, tomatoes and sprinkle the spinach on top.

Add some salt, pepper and garlic powder to your liking on the sole (or fish of your choice) and delicately lay the fish atop the veggies. I told B to “put the veggies to bed” and use the fish as the blanket. That method worked really well for him (prior he was literally throwing the fish on top and I sensed a real mess ahead).

Cover your pan and turn on the burner while letting the veggies steam the fish until it is no longer pink (about 5 minutes). At this point, uncover the pan and add the can of garbanzo beans and add some grated parmesan cheese to your liking. Cover for a minute for the cheese to melt and then uncover and let simmer for a few more minutes until half of the liquid has evaporated. Sprinkle some parsley on top and serve immediately. Some hot crusty bread fresh out of the Airstream oven would be delicious as an accompaniment (stay tuned for that recipe).

Serves 4

Simple Apple Tarte Tatin at South Beach, San Juan Island

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Jan 032011

Winter camping in an Airstream certainly has its rewards and this was definitely one of them. Sure it was 27 degrees on the first morning of the New Year with ice all over the roads (in patches, at least) that we decided to tow our Airstream to South Beach on San Juan
Island< st1place>. We were on a mission. After all, if you snooze, you loose and in this case, there was no time to waste. We were after a prime spot to camp our Airstream for the day that had amazing views at this glorious beach. After a few white knuckle moments on the road (and my heart pounding nearly out of my chest), our mission was accomplished and a hot breakfast of Simple Apple Tarte Tatin followed by beachcombing and a day hike was about to begin.

Simple Apple Tarte Tatin

You will need:

an ovenproof pan (cast iron is excellent)
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons of butter
3 large apples (I suggest honeycrisp) – peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400F

Melt the butter in your ovenproof pan and add the sugar cooking both until the mixture starts to caramelize.

Once the mixture has caramelized, add the sliced apples and cinnamon. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the apples start to turn tender.

While the apple mixture is cooking, roll out your pastry dough into a circle that is big enough to cover the surface of your ovenproof pan.

Once your apple mixture is ready, drape your pastry over the apples in the pan and tuck in the edges of the pastry down inbetween the apples and sides of your pan. Poke a few holes in the top of the crust and bake for approximately 25 minutes (or until the pastry turns a beautiful golden brown).

Cool the tarte tain for as long as you possibly can stand (the smell is amaznig) and then invert onto a serving platter. In our case, we didn’t wait and devoured it piping hot.

This will serve about 8 people, or less depending on how hungry everyone is.

West Beach Resort on Orcas Island with our Airstream

Orcas Island, San Juan Islands 2 Responses »

Dec 012010

Now I’m not sure what happened to me over this Thanksgiving trip of ours, but something inside me changed. I became more calm, more relaxed and more, well….happy?. I can’t remember the last time I came home from vacation where I have felt so reenergized. Typically I feel like I need a vacation to get over the vacation we just had. Hopefully all of our trips will be wonderful like this one.

Record Breaking Temperatures

Orcas Island, San Juan Islands 2 Responses »

Nov 292010

THANKFUL we were that our Airstream survived the record breaking temps here in the San Juan Islands just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Apparently temps were down into the low teens with gusts of winds up to 50 mph. Luckily we learned that when our furnace runs, not only does it keep the inside of the Airstream nice and toasty warm, but the furnace is also “ducted” so it blows warm air on the pipes as well.

An Airstream Thanksgiving on Orcas Island

Airstream Kitchen, Holidays, Orcas Island, San Juan Islands 1 Response »

Nov 292010

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we decided to opt out of the traditional big family get together and celebrate the holiday on our Airstream, just the three of us up on the San Juan Islands here in Washington State. I have been very excited about the idea of cooking a traditional Thanksgiving feast in a small space on our Airstream and I am happy to say everything turned out perfectly. As a matter of fact, I think this is probably the best Thanksgiving dinner I have ever made.

We shopped at Orcas Homegrown Market & Deli for our (special) turkey. This is an incredible market as they carry everything you can possibly imagine from exotic hard to find herbs to fresh caught seafood and a plethora of meticulously arranged produce.

Our Thanksgiving menu consisted of roast turkey, baked mashed potatoes and brown sugar glazed carrots along with my own cranberry sauce and gravy.

Probe thermometer, makes life a little easier.

Our turkey from Shelton’s thanks to Orcas Homegrown Market & Deli. I should mention that never, ever again will I buy a turkey that is not organic/free range. After years of buying supermarket turkey’s, this one was so different in every way. The texture of the meat was so long and lean and incredibly tender; there was literally no fat to trim and the taste was something I have never experienced before.

Fully prepped — btw, that is my iPad in the background with the best (in my opinion) recipe organizer app called Paprika.

I didn’t follow the roasted turkey recipe exactly. I subsitutted sage and rosemary from my garden and I didn’t melt the butter. Instead (since the turkey was so lean) I put pats of butter under the skin of the breast.