Deception Pass

On Thursday we drove down to Deception Pass which is located approximately 8 miles from Anacortes at the south end of Fidalgo Island.  The tall bridge takes you across Deception Pass to Whidbey Island.

Deception Pass State Park is located on either side of the pass.  It is a 4,134 acre marine and camping park with 77,000 feet of saltwater shoreline and 33,900 feet of freshwater shoreline on 3 lakes.  The rugged cliffs drop to meet the turbulent water of Deception Pass.  The park is outstanding for breathtaking views, old forest growths, abundant wildlife, mountain, islands, shorelines and sunsets.

As we headed into the state park, we stopped for Alan to see if he could reach around this tree.  Just kidding.  Just wanted to show you how big a lot of the trees are up here.  Alan said this tree would make a lot of 2 by 4's.  We were told they are Douglas Firs.

Driftwood was scattered all along this section of the beach.

This tree was on the trail leading down to the beach. We were standing in one of the crevices of the trunk.

Wild raspberry bushes are everywhere .....  even around town along the sides of the road.

There are several trails you can take that lead down to the beach.  One of the trails comes out close to the bridge.  We walked down to the beach where several people were fishing.  One guy told us they were fishing for herring.

This rock was beautiful!  The color looked like marble but the texture looked like lava.

This was a look at the bridge from one of the trails.  You can see one of the arches along the side of bridge.

It's a long way down!

The beach is made up of mostly small smooth rocks. Hard to walk on, but really pretty.

This is the view from the bridge.  Awesome!

Coupeville, WA

After we left the state park, we rode down toward the ferry landings in Coupeville.  It is a small town located mid-way down Whidbey Island where you catch the ferry to Port Townsend.  We drove around the small town and spotted the Lavender Wind which is a retail outlet for a local lavender farm a few miles away.  We had seen an advertisement for he business in a brochure.  The shop offers classes on how to cook with lavender as well as many items to purchase.  They had baked items such as cookies and scones.  Also jams, mixes, soaps, bath oils, etc.  You couldn't miss the shop.  It was surrounded by lavender plants.

We spotted this elephant statue at a roadside produce stand.  Not sure why.....unless it was there to catch your eye.  Must have worked.  We stopped.  They were selling fresh strawberries, raspberries, cherries, apricots and hand dipped ice cream in fresh made waffle cones.  YUM!  The fresh hot waffle cone smell was in the air for miles around!