Day 9 - Whidbey Island

It's hard to explain that we really don't get tired of riding in the car all day. I think it's because we don't have a destination in mind - we're just enjoying the day and all the new places we're seeing. Every day brings new things to experience and new people to meet.

We left Marysville about 8:00 this morning headed for Whidbey Island. There are so few roads in some areas in the northwest that it can be frustrating trying to get from place to place. Ferries are a way of life here.

Whidbey Island is much larger than I thought it was. There is an Air Force Base there. We discovered by accident a very interesting place - Fort Casey. I wanted to take a picture of the Lighthouse and on the way we saw bunkers and huge weapons and military barracks. Neither of us had ever heard of Fort Casey. It was built in the early nineteen hundreds to protect our coast from supposed thread from Spain and France! Isn't that interesting. It took fifteen men to load the bullet and fire it. When it was fired, the gun lowered back down into the bunker. Fort Casey has not been used in many years. Really interesting.

Whidbey Island reminds me of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Little towns, residential areas and some wide open spaces. We had to take a ferry from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend, Washington. It was a huge ferry - a nice 30 minute ride. We made reservations online last night. Evidently the ferry is really busy.

Port Townsend is unusual - at least it is to me. The coastline is really steep. The houses are really high off the coast.

Many places here close after Labor Day. We gave up on going to Victoria, BC because there is only one ferry each day. I think Lester was glad we decided not to cross the border. He was afraid they might confiscate his Elk antlers!

We drove on to Mount St. Helens. The lava beds look like riverbeds running through the valleys. It is hard to imagine what it was like in 1980 when it erupted. We saw what we think was Mount Rainier - the clouds were so heavy we couldn't be sure. I think this area has rain and clouds most of the time. We drove in rain for about three hours.

We are staying in Longview, Washington tonight - got here about 7:00 PM. A really good day. I'm looking forward to driving along the coastline of Oregon tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Josh!