Gas Be Damned! Cars Still Offer Thrills

Forget what everybody's saying for a second and remember that driving a car still can be fun. Open country roads, bright-shining sun, no cops in sight--there isn’t a replacement for this experience. Gas be damned.

Orcas Island, an hour-long ferry ride from Anacortes, is only 27 miles of road from one end to the other, but don’t mistake the limited land mass for a lack of good gravel and pavement. No stop lights, minimal police, a handful of locals, miles of clear-country highways, and the occasional red-painted barns right off the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. A portrait of rural America before meth and Metallica.

On a sunny day, when the ferry hasn’t just unloaded a weekend arrival, the open roads of Orcas are ripe for the cruising. Don’t feel guilty when you pass handfuls of ambitious bicyclists. Orcas is hilly and therefore well-suited for the automobile . While the spandex-clad exercise crowd will be tuning their hearts, you can pass leisurely and chuckle. Neighboring San Juan and Shaw Islands are much flatter and more bicycle-friendly, so Orcas is fair game for those lazy consumers who still enjoy the freedom of exploring the open road.

Orcas is a contained wonderland of mountains, lakes, harbors, small villages, and sweeping views of neighboring islands that appear suddenly around sharp turns. The diversity of attractions coupled with the laid-back air of the islands makes it hard not to speed excessively, but this is Orcas and there is no need to rush. The vacation is being here, so look around and breathe it in. This isn’t the city, and that alone is an escape of sorts.

You can basically drive to the summit of Mount Constitution—the highest peak in the San Juan Islands—which features some of the most breathtaking views available anywhere. Look north towards Sucia and Patos Islands or beyond those to the Canadian Gulf Islands. If you look east, Bellingham and Mt. Baker come into view. To the south, old, reliable Mt. Rainier can be seen hazily in the distance.

Since you drove, you won’t be all sweaty and delirious, so you can enjoy the views alongside hikers and bicyclists who almost killed themselves to get to the same place you casually rolled into. Which, in and of itself, justifies the fuel expense of making the trip.

Photograph courtesy of Slightly North from the Seattlest Flickr Pool