Whidbey Island

On the Saturday night the house had gone to bed with the knowledge that I was taking them on an adventure the next day. It was to be a magical mystery tour that they would only find out about as the day unfolded. With this in mind, I was slightly disappointed that at 8:45am the following morning I was the only one awake! So much for the early start, the excitement had clearly overwhelmed them in their sleep!

With the car packed up, zip codes scribbled on pieces of paper and the excitement at fever pitch (or maybe I just imagined that) we were off. The boys were surprisingly good about asking where we were going or if we were there yet (I think the arrival time on the sat nav screen takes care of one those questions for them). It may also have been that the first couple of times they asked where we were going they were told that we were going to the mall at Bellevue or going wine tasting at Woodinville and with that they lost interest and simply feared the worst.

As we headed north on the I-405 we were interested to see the signs that informed us that we had left the “apple maggot quarantine area”. I’m not quite sure of the full boundary of the apple maggot area but it sounds quite interesting and I need to research it further (it’s probably not interesting at all!). It was a day of interesting sign posts as later on we also entered a tsunami danger zone as well as following a tsunami escape route.

Anyway, we drove north for about 40 minutes before arriving at Mukilteo and the ferry. The ferries cross over to Whidbey Island every half hour so we bought our ticket, lined up in the car park and then made our way onto the ferry. It was only a 15 minute crossing but it was just enough time for the boys to explore and take a couple of pictures. The water was beautifully calm and with cloudless skies the Cascade mountain range looked pretty impressive.

After disembarking we headed over to Langley which was a 10 minute drive over to the east coast of the island and is a very pretty little village (although they call it a city). At Langley they ring the bell whenever whales are spotted feeding offshore. I was keeping my fingers crossed but there were no bells today. Meanwhile Harry and Toby had charged their cameras and started taking (what I’ve no doubt are) wonderful photos of us, landscapes, boats, pebbles and my bum which was a source of great amusement for Toby.

We then took a stroll round the town – the Inn at Langley looks super nice, I’d like a weekend there – before heading to Prima Bistro for lunch. We sat out on the roof terrace with a beautiful view (apart from an electricity pole) across Saratoga Passage and on across to Camino Island. The Bistro was inspired by French classics so Harry ordered cheeseburger and chips and Toby had fish and chips (with a side of fruit)! Nothing is wasted on them – two sophisticated little boys!

Tracy and I had crispy pork belly and some warm olives for a starter followed by prawns and sauteed greens and a croque monsieur. It was all very yummy and it felt like we were on holiday, which I suppose we sort of are.

After lunch we got back in the car and headed to Double Bluff Bay which was on the west coast. We relaxed here for just over an hour in the gorgeous sunshine while the boys played in the lake. Mount Rainier looked absolutely incredible. Even though we’d driven even further away from it, it looked even bigger. On some of the pictures you can just make out the skyline of Seattle in the bottom right – Columbia Tower is a black dot on the horizon compared to her (Mount Rainier is referred to as “her” in Seattle – maybe because it is a big obstinate bugger!?).

There is also a picture in the collection of an eagle. You wouldn’t know it was an eagle from the picture but I assure you it is. Moments earlier though, while I was frantically trying to change the lense on the camera, it had dived down into the lake, not too far ahead of us, and tried to catch a fish. It could have been a brilliant eagle action shot however my reflexes clearly weren’t up to much and ended up as a small black thing in a picture flying off somewhere! Never mind – I’ll get the right picture eventually.

After leaving Double Bluff Bay we tried to get to Useless Bay – just because it has a great name – but we couldn’t quite find the right way – it seemed to be tucked behind some sort of members only access roads. We then drove down to the southern tip of the Island to a beach area called Possession Bay. We didn’t stop here though – we thought we’d better start making our way back to the ferry and home as some of us had to go to work the next day!

We timed it to perfection though as the clouds were starting to come in and we’d had by far the best of the day (and weather)  on the island. We only saw the bottom half of the island and we will definitely be back to see some of the other sights such as the Lavender Farms, the Rhododendron Park, and the skeleton of Rosie the whale.

We may also indulge in a spot of local wine tasting if there’s anyone in the family who would find that of interest?

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