July 16, 2013

  • YMCA Camp Orkila

    On Saturday we loaded up the car and headed off to Camp Orkila. We traditionally send the kids off to a one week overnight camp run by the YMCA. Specialty camps have included Drama, Mountain Biking, and Jedi Knight Academy. This year Veronica is attending Biking the San Juan Islands and Carlton will participate in Traditional Explorers. This is our first time attending this camp so we opted to drive all the way up to the camp and drop off the kids. In the future we can drop the kids off at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal where the Orkila counslers escort the campers the rest of the way. 

      

    No trip starts without a stop at Larsen's Bakery for a sugary treat. We drove one and a half hours to the Anacortes ferry terminal.

      

    Jane joined us for this day trip. We had six passengers and all the camp gear in the car. Here you see I laid down the bicycle to avoid a height surcharge on the ferry. Once we pulled off the ferry I put the bike back on properly.

     

    While waiting in the queue at Anacortes, Carlton had a sit in this classic. I am reminded of the SLS he got to sit in last year.

       

    The views from the ferry kept our attention. For one hour we motored through the San Juan Islands. For those campers that were dropped off at the terminal, the camp staff herded them into one of the lounges where they could eat lunch, play games, and visit. There must have been about 200 campers on the ferry, and this is only one of abut four trips! The ferry staff made a ship wide announcement as we pulled away from the terminal. "Attention Camp Orkila: We have three rules on this ship. One, no running. Two, No Running. Three, NO RUNNING."

      

    On the car deck below, the MG and one of several Orkila busses wait to disembark.

      

    The camp is located on the North edge of Orcas Island. From these benches the campers look across the sound at Canada. This camp offers kayaking and sailing specialty camps. As for the tree like building on the left, I look forward to hearing what it is from the kids when they get home.

    While at camp, the staff posts random pictures to Smugmug. The kids can be found under the Summer 2013 -> Session 2 folder. Feel free to contact us for the password and you too can review the pictures. They update often.