The midwest meets Cape Cod

I am behind a post here and I wanted to put this one up because it was a great time. A few weeks ago Rich had a day off and spontaneously decided that we should go for a mini road-trip with the dogs. We threw them in the car and took off for Whidbey Island. This is an island up north, near Canada, that has a naval air base on it. The band frequently travels up there to play for ceremonies but I had never seen it. The ferry ride was beautiful. I didn't get any pictures of us coming into port because I had left my camera in the car underneath the ship when we went up on deck. I actually wasn't able to take pictures of the land either. It was lots of farmland split up into squares like you see in the midwest but with the ocean peaking out from behind the hills or around the corners. It seemed like a perfect place to retire if you want a quiet place on the land with water all around you.

We had researched for a dog park, of course, since the dogs were with us, and found the nicest one we have been to so far. It was forty acres, fully fenced, and had fields and woods with trails to explore. There was even a broken down agility area that Otis and I played with a little bit. He's pretty fast to pick up the moves as long as I have a trusty treat in my hand.

After we wore the dogs out, we continued north toward the bridge that would bring us back to the mainland, over deception pass. Rich has been talking about it for along time, so I was pretty excited to see it. We arrived as the sun got low in the sky, which turned out to be the perfect time for some pictures. The bridge is WAY up above the water and has sidewalks on either side. However, the traffic is coming very fast and neither of us is thrilled with heights. We tried very hard to walk across the bridge but only made it about a third of the way before we had to turn back. Then we hiked down a path to the beach to see the view from below. We couldn't stay long because we had left the dogs in the car but it was a beautiful view from down there as well. I would like to go back there again and have more time to play.

This is the view from the bridge.

This is the view OF the bridge from the beach

The driftwood on the beach, looking away from the bridge.

Sparkly water and colorful wet stones.

Throwing rocks...sorry, Mom!

Us, at the end of the day...

...them, at the end of the day!