Today's agenda was to checkout Whidbey Island and a part of Puget Sound that surrounds it. Jared and Kristina have grown quite fond of Whidbey Island, and since kids have never even seen part of the ocean, we figured this would be a good way to do it. Next time they visit however, we will have to take them out to the open ocean to experience that!!
We started the day by driving to Deception Pass State Park. This is a very busy state park (actually all of the state parks in Washington are busy, but this one especially). However, since we were hitting it on a Tuesday, and early in the morning, we had it mostly to ourselves. Plus the weather was a bit on the chilly side, so we're sure that convinced even more people to not be there. Which was GREAT for us!
Once we arrived, we headed down to the beach to do some beach combing and some tide pool exploration. Jared was the lead on this because he has done it several times and finds it completely fascinating. He thought the kids would enjoy it too since it would be a new experience.
Jared immediately found some hermit crabs, and began to show the kids. Maisie was really interested and Rhett was understandably a little tentative. However, after he saw his sister holding the crabs, it was caution to the wind and everyone was looking for them.
After finding enough crabs, we decided to head towards Rosario Beach. Rosario Beach is part of Deception Pass State Park, but you have to do a short hike from where we were to get there. So we were off.
There were many cool views along the way. It was a misty and foggy morning, and very serene, peaceful. It was like the fog was just lifting on the quiet morning.
Here is a Madrona Tree. The Madrona Tree is native to the Pacific Northwest and quite interesting the first time you come across one. Click here for an interesting information about them.
A shot of part of the group (thanks Jared for taking the picture). You can't tell from the picture, but we are all standing very close to a cliff. That is why Rhett is in FRONT. We have to make sure we know where he is so he doesn't inadvertently tumble down the cliff.
Rosario Beach
Here is part of the group getting started. Once again, Jared is leading the charge.
Rhett getting up close and personal.
Various sea creatures that we spotted on our excursion.
After we looked through the tide pools, we decided to go around to some of the more open beach at Rosario. Rhett had been waiting to take a dip in the sound, and we kept telling him that it would be cold, but he had to try it out. Admittedly, he was the bravest and toughest person amongst our group. But his face shows that we were right...it was COLD.
Soon after, Rhett adjusted (none of the rest of us wanted to "adjust") and he could be routinely found up to the bottom of his shorts. However, he had the most fun skipping rocks, and his fun soon spread to all of us!
Kristina realized that the logs were the warmest spot on the beach. The filtered sunshine was coming right down on them and it was very cozy. Plus, they were situated such that it gave her a perfect chair.
Da-Da realizes the warmth too and takes it a step further and completely stretches out.
And of course there was some sand doodling...
After the park and beaches, we were getting a little hungry and we hadn't made it to Whidbey Island yet. You actually have to cross Deception Pass Bridge to actually be on the island. Otherwise, you are still on the mainland. So we hopped into the van and headed to Deception Pass Bridge.
Whenever we cross over Deception Pass Bridge, it just looks gnarly -- there is no other word for it. The water is swirling in all sorts of directions and the bridge is crazy high. However, as long as you know what you are doing, it must not be too bad since boats pass through the waterway all of the time.
Our next destination was Coupeville for lunch. We tried to hit our tried and true regular, the Knead and Feed. However, it is a very small place and with 6 people, it was too full for us. So we headed down Front Street to see what our other options were. This time is was Maisie's turn to choose and she chose The Front Street Grill. We were a little hesitant at first; it looked like a nice place, but there was no one there. Apparently though, everyone was waiting for us to go there because within 15 minutes of us sitting down, the place was packed. It was good food, and Kristina had the "angry mussels" (which according to her were very good). This isn't an odd thing for Kristina to order, but what was really odd was that Rhett was brave enough to try one. Of course he spit it out, but we give him credit for trying one. The texture of it is what got him in the end.
After lunch, our next destination was Fort Casey State Park. We have blogged about this before (since we have been several times). It is a nice area and has wonderful views and lots of room to explore.
After exploring some of the old artillery at the park, we headed down to the beach. We can never get sick of this view. The waves are just so relaxing and the beach has never been super crowded. There are also tons cool beach combing to be done.
Da-Da and Rhett became quite the stick walkers...
We found a starfish on the beach. It didn't look so good, so we tried to put it back into the ocean to see if it would recover. Hopefully it did.
The sun was out by the time we were finishing up at the park. Maisie posing in the sun near the lighthouse.
Next up, we were off to the ferry -- another new experience for the McPherson Edmonsons. We get on at Coupeville, take a short ride (only about 15 minutes) and then we arrive at Mulkiteo and headed back to Woodinville.
It was a full day, but it was a lot of fun! Lots of first experiences and just overall a great time!
