Travel Across US: WHIDBEY ISLAND, WEEK 12

Week 12: July 30th - August 5th
Trips to Bainbridge Island and Whidbey Island.
The end of our stay in Washington in coming up.
The rest of the days this week: not much.
Getting too warm.
Some thinking a about packing.
Looking for next destination.

August 4th 2012

The drive on 405 North and then 5 North. Sunny and warm day, again. Still the same joy from just driving around here. For quite a while we were seeing Mt. Baker and North Cascades.

It was not long drive, but if felt like forever. And ... a lot of sun.

A lot of smaller farms, many barns and road stands offering fruit and vegetables. Very mixed views and pictures. There were couple of casinos along the way. There is a lot of construction going on (like roads and bridges). Some places look very tacky and strange. The farms look pretty nice though, mountains in the visible distance, ocean just behind the corner. What more you would want to?

View Larger Map

In the town of La Conner, we cross the water (just now, on the map I found, that it is ocean, dividing the land and Fidalgo Island). We tried to follow the shore, but it was mostly developed (houses). It was still nice drive. We got back on the main road and head on road 20 towards Whidbey Island. We stopped by the Pass Lake, looked around, stretched and continue less then half a mile to the Rosario Beach.

Really nice place, nicely made for picnicking as well. There are some special tidal pools (honestly, I did not read all the information boards, so I do not know what exactly that is). Really nice views. A lot of water. And small puddles of water between the rocks (I guess pools) with a lot of small creatures. It was really cool and interesting.

There was as well interesting statue (wooden) and four displays telling the story:

After we left Rosario Beach, we were heading towards the bridge to Whidbey Island. Deception Pass bridge. In the Deception Pass Park. Incredible views from the bridge. As well (by wikipedia) more then 2 millions visitors yearly. We had troubles to find parking, so we had to turn around, park and did some sightseeing. We did see this part of Washington two years ago, when we were here on vacation. Still, the views are amazing.

Very short drive into State park. A lot of camping sites and as well a lot of people (peak of the season right now). We visited North beach, where we could see the bridge.

We briefly stopped by West beach, but there was so many people, that we did not enjoy this stop. After this, we followed the road and wanted to grab the lunch in Oak Harbor. Unfortunately, the town was kind of weird and we did not find the place to eat. So we ended up in nicer Coupeville. We found super busy restaurant and had fish and chips. Not bad. A bit of wandering around, hot weather, pretty nice.

Coupeville waterfront. The dock, with some shops, small displays (skeletons of few animals) and boat gas station. And great views ...

It got too warm. Quick stop at Ebey's Landing state park. More views ...

Following the road to Clinton (ferry to Mukilteo). Stopped by Fort Casey state park. Formal military site. Interesting. Lighthouse. Stopped by some farm changed into some shops and non-profit farming community.