We flew into Portland International instead of Seattle this time. This was primarily schedule driven however we also thought it would be fun to drive through Washington on our way to Bellingham for a change. After arriving in Portland, we picked up the rental van and headed north. Then at Olympia we took a left off of I-5 and hooked up with 101 for a drive along the Hood Canal to Port Townsend where we planned to take the ferry over to Whidbey Island. Gorgeous drive and everything went as planned. After arriving in Keystone on Whidbey Island we drove down to the island to Freeland and checked into our hotel (inn... aka motel). We did some shopping and exploring for the rest of the day and had dinner at a fun little mexican restuarant near Bayview between Freeland and Langley. Whidbey Island is lovely and doesn't seem like an island at all. Actually in my view, it's island status is a mere technicality since it is connected by bridge to the rest of Washington at Deception Pass. However I will go ahead and humor them and call it an island.
The next day, after checking out of the hotel, we headed off to Bellingham to pick up our charter. Along the way we dilly dallied in Anacourtes to find the best place to meet up with the Stevens when they arrived later in the trip. But the leisurely pace that we started the day ended up being the usual rush to get to the San Juan Sailing skippers meeting by four thirty. We made it barely on time. And as has become our routine, as I was at the skippers meeting and checking out the boat, Donna was taking the boys to do the food shopping. This little routine has come to work out very well. Unfortunately this night, everything took longer than usual with the boat checkout so we didn't get the car returned that night as we usually do. But it wasn't a big deal, since we were going to be charged for two days anyway, I'd just take it back the next morning. I think San Juan Sailing is getting to be a really popular charter business so they have become VERY busy on Fridays during the summer. But after the boat checkout was complete, we moved ourselves, our belongings and the food aboard. Safe at last! The boat pickup is always hectic and has resisted all my efforts to make it less so.
It was quite pleasant though once we were aboard. The Bellingham yacht basin has a lot of seagulls. They're a raucaus bunch with all their caterwauling and carrying on. But it's also comforting in a loud sort of way. Anyway, the seagulls have become a big part of my impression of staying overnight at the Bellingham marina. The family settled in for the night.
Usually I am up at the crack of dawn on that first day of the charter so that we can leave the marina before people start showing up on the docks. This is because I preferred to keep the audience for any disembarking mishaps to a minimum. However this time I was feeling quite a bit more confident so we just dilly dallied. We had breakfast, showered, I returned the van, got a crab license and just sorta hung out. I probably should be embarrassed to admit that we didn't leave the marina until around noon. And then upon leaving had absolutely no idea where we were going that day. This trip was already becoming quite a bit more laid back than normal. I hoped that was a good thing.
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| Waiting for the ferry | All lined up next to a whole pack of motorcycles | |
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| Driving aboard | Port Townsend receding in our wake | |
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| Jack with Port Townsend behind him | ||
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| Ducking out of the wind... | Spencer ducking away from his dad chasing him with the camera | |
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| The Point Wilson Lighthouse | The ferry coming from Keystone and going to Port Townsend | |
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| Our ferry was the Quinault | The Keystone ferry dock | |
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| Driving out of the ferry | ||
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| Our ferry loading up with cars returning to Port Townsend | ||
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| Adams MFG 5 Position Adirondack Plastic Chair... ACE SKU 8192338 or 8192346 for 3 of them or Amazon 5Pos HGRN Adirondack... why is this picture here you ask... well we thought this chair was very comfortable and I don't want to forget which one it was in case we decide to order it. | A fun comeback to those annoying fish symbols... Not sure who took this picture (one of the boys or Donna) or why I'm even posting it... it was on a car that was waiting for us in the ferry line | |
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| This was the inn where we stayed the night before picking up our charter | The inn... motel is in Freeland, WA on Whidbey Island. We enjoyed our stay | |
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| The Admiralty Head Lighthouse | These are the gun emplacements at Fort Casey | |
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| Better view of the lighthouse | Looking across the opening of the Admiralty Inlet toward Point Wilson | |
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| Jack checking out the inside of the gun | Jack checking out the "dangerous drop off" - Hmmm.... this would be a great drop on my bike! | |
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| Fort Casey is a park now but these guns used to guard the entrance to the Admiralty Inlet | This entrance is the gateway to Seattle from the sea so was of some strategic importance back in the day | |
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| The guns were engineering marvels... they could be retracted for loading as can be seen here then could emerge from behind the fortifications for firing | This is the view towards Point Wilson that the guns enjoyed | |
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| The counter balance for the guns. This is a massive piece of steel that would counter balance the gun to absorb the recoil and allow the gun to be depressed for loading | Jack checking out the gun sight | |
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| This is the structure behind the fortifications | Donna and Jack walking back to the car | |
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| Spencer | Looking down under the bridge that crosses Deception Pass | |
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| The bridge itself | ||
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| Here you can see (barely) the other bridge that crosses Canoe Pass. That's the small pass on the northern side of the island in the foreground | Looking toward the San Juan Islands from Deception Pass... That is Lopez Island in the distance | |