Bellingham, WA

Wednesday, September 7

I spent the next morning with Chris and Tom, who spoiled me with breakfast. Tom and I took Auggie for a walk around the nearby Lake Louise, and then they showed me around the area a bit. I was able to talk through a number of driving and hiking options for my way into Seattle with Tom, too. It was a tough choice between mountains (North Cascades National Park) and water (lots of state parks along the coast and Puget Sound islands).

In the end, I decided that I had just come from a number of gorgeous mountains and that it was time for some water. I followed Tom’s directions and headed off to Padilla Bay and a hike on the dike around the bay. We didn’t see any seals there, but it was a nice hike just the same. I had discussed with Tom possibly staying there at nearby Bay View State Park for the night, but it was still early and the prospect of getting to Whidbey Island was enticing. So off we went.

My friend, Laura, and her husband, Jeff, had gotten married on Whidbey Island in the mid-90s, so I had technically been there before. (This trip has been about new things to explore, not revisiting places we’ve already been.) But I wanted to go, and so I did. 

I didn’t want to drive too terribly much, so we ended up at the State Park at Deception Pass just over the bridge onto Whidbey Island. Wow – what a cool state park! It was gorgeous there! Big, beautiful Pacific Northwest green forest. A nice, quiet campsite. And a pretty sunset over the water. We had a great evening.