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!

Day 8 - Sunday - On to the Pacific

We decided we need a little slower pace today - didn't get on the road until 8:30.

Our GPS - "Missy" told us to turn right out of the hotel parking lot - Lester thought we should go right, but he listened to Missy. We turn right, then another right, right into a mess of road construction. Missy was trying to make a block so we would have ended up exactly where we would have been if we had turned right. I think Lester changed her name to something I won't

mention! We shut her up for a while.

As we were putting our luggage in the car, we me a man from New Bern, NC. Small world.

We stopped in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho. Beautiful little western town. Browsed around in a couple of interesting shops.

Next stop - Sandpoint, Idaho - home of the infamous Mark

Furman - of O.J. Simpson case fame. Sandpoint seems to be a very exclusive, upscale community on Lake Pend Orielle. Beautiful

town. Did some shopping. They have a wonderful yarn shop in a converted train car. I could have stayed all day.Lester finally found his Elk anters. YES, we loaded them in the SUV. Discussed tying them on the hood or the roof, but decided someone might steal them. I vetoed the hood or roof idea, anyway. Getting a little crowded in the Tiguan!

Coeur d'alene, Idaho - The marina

is one of the most beautiful in the world. Seaplanes taking off and landing on the lake. The most beautiful geraniums I've ever seen. We met a nice couple from Spokane while we were walking on the floating dock. We had a nice lunch there.

Our day was going so well. Until...Seattle! Unbelievable traffic. We

thought Sunday afternoon/evening would be the perfect time to be in Seattle - Wrong! Interstate 5 must be the only road in the city

because everyone seemed to be on it at the same time. What a headache. And of course, it was raining - does it rain all the time in Seattle? We didn't even want to stop to see anything. Just seemed to be another big city. We saw the Space needle - had no desire to fight the traffic to get any closer to it.

We are spending the night in Marysville, Washington. After looking at the map and realizing what a hassle it is to get from Victoria, BC to anywhere in the US, we have mutually agreed that Canada is not worth the effort. We have both been to Canada, so I think we'll mark that off the list. We are going to Whidbey Island tomorrow.