Port towns are the cutest things. We love our local Port Jefferson, for it's ferry boat and cheap and generous ice cream shop. (I just realized I'll have to wait another 6-7 months for PJ ice cream. Sigh.) But the port towns out West were even more enchanting - less crowded, more remote.
After traipsing about Port Townsend for the morning, we boarded our last ferry to cross over to Whidbey Island, our last jaunt before driving on to Seattle.
We had to do some adventuring at Whidbey, so we headed to a fairly awesome lighthouse that stood behind a fairly old fort - built in the early 1800's to protect the US from the unpredictable Canadians, who were under British rule. The armory was fortified during WWI and manned during WWII to protect the valuable waterways. Interesting.
My hopes of every being a "Keeper of the Light," romantic though it sounds, were ruined when I got nauseous and disoriented at the top of the tower. Another dream dashed. :)
From there we were itching to get to a restaurant that Jess had been telling me about for days. In the small town of Coupeville, a local tavern served mussels plucked from the bay out back. A big bowl o' mussels? Yes, please! We also had some outstanding fish and chips. It didn't hurt that it was our first meal we didn't have to scrape together ourselves!
Penn Cove
A little later in the fall, orcas supposedly swim into this bay. I was sorry to have missed them.
From there we headed back toward the mainland, over Deception Pass. The bridge was quite interesting and Jess and Glenn knew enough about the bridge and the water around it to give us an informative tour.
The water in the pass was a beautiful blue-green. A sign nearby read that it was 30 fathoms deep, and was named Deception Pass by Captain Vancouver because of the swiftness of the current and the changes it makes with the tide. We climbed all over the little island between the bridges and even spotted a seal swimming through the channel!
Our last commune with nature was at a little beach nearby.
We spent some time discussing whether we could see clouds or mountains on the horizon.
We discussed camping again, but the drone of planes from a nearby base and the close proximity of Seattle convinced us to just head back.
Despite how I might sound, it was a wonderful trip and such a joy to be out in the wild. It's amazing how large this country is and the vast variety of terrain it offers. I'm often to busy to stop and thank God for his awesome creation, but when I think of what I've seen in even my short life, I am thrilled by both His grandeur and attention to the minute details. My photographs do little to capture the vastness of it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment