Whidbey Island Day Trip

Coupeville, Whidbey Island

After last week, which was full of activity (one boy away at camp and the other helping at a VBS), this week had been dragging a bit. We didn't have much going on. I decided it was time for a day trip with my boys.

In the morning I dragged my youngest son out of bed earlier than he preferred. We took a very short ferry ride of 15 minutes to Whidbey Island.  We stayed in the car since it was chilly. We played a card game in the car.

Our first stop was the little town of Langley. There are so many flowers around Whidbey Island's small towns. Here is the front of a business.

Next stop was Greenbank Farm.

We had lunch on site at Whidbey Pies. Good sandwiches and pie. We stopped inside Greenbank Cheese store which also had some gag items.

Our next destination was Fort Casey State Park. We had been here before but the boys were little then.

I was pleased with the reaction from A - "this place is awesome." We probably spent 45 minutes here, exploring.

You can see the ferry to Port Townsend here. I also saw the Victoria Clipper go by.
One of the cool places that we discovered was a tunnel (we thought it was a tunnel) to the Switchboard. It was super dark and cool in the there.

Next we drove to the town of Coupeville. The main attraction there is the historic wharf.

We spotted a heron and a few harbour seals. There were a lot of sailboats in Penn Cove. I think there was a race going on.

We got huge ice cream cones (4 dollars for a single scoop but they actually give you 3 scoops) from Kapaws Iksreme and walked around Coupeville.

As we drove back to the ferry we saw (and heard) fighter jets practicing landing close to the highway. There is a Naval Air Station on the island.

The only place we didn't visit (that I planned to) was Ebey's Landing which is a beach. It wasn't sunny and warm enough for time at the beach.




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Bainbridge Island day trip

We spent the day experiencing a quintessential Pacific Northwest summer day. My father in law has been visiting from Ottawa this week. We left home on Thursday morning and took the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island. The views from that ferry are spectacular.

We had lunch at Hitchcock Deli in Winslow (the little town close to the ferry dock on the island). Yummy sandwiches.

Our primary destination on Bainbridge Island was the Bloedel Nature preserve. I had heard of it a few times and wanted to check it out. It’s probably best to make sure you know what to expect before spending the money (17 dollars for one adult) to get into the Bloedel Nature Reserve. If you’re looking for 150 acres of colourful flowers, or a place for your kids to run around and play, this isn’t the place for you.

If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a serene and non-strenuous stroll through a variety of natural settings, then Bloedel may be exactly what you’re looking for. The first section is a winding walk through a grassy meadow,

then into the woods with some impressively tall fir trees,

and then by some picturesque marshland without having to worry about mosquitoes.

The section across the road with the manor is more manicured with lawns including weeping willows next to glassy ponds.

I enjoyed the manor house and the surrounding area best.

This is the view from the back of the manor house.

The final segment is the most man-made of all, with the “Japanese garden”

and rectangular reflecting pool – the only straight lines in the place not including the buildings.

The terrain is quite flat and made for spending 1-2 hours at a slow walk. My main complaint is the lack of benches at the gatehouse. When we finished walking the grounds, we wanted to rest a little. There were two benches provided and both were occupied with guests. It wasn't particularly busy, either.

After we left Bloedel we drove to Kingston. After parking our car to wait for the ferry, we got ice cream from Drifters. I loved my espresso explosion ice cream.

They have giant Adirondack chairs in a park near the ferry dock.

We took the Kingston - Edmonds ferry back home rather than the Bainbridge to Seattle ferry to avoid Seattle rush hour traffic. We had supper at Anthony's Beach Club in Edmonds. We ate outside. I was surprised (on a hot day) to be cold in the shade and with the wind blowing. They provided me a blanket.

After a busy day with lots of walking and driving, we collapsed at home.


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Fourth of July wreath

I haven't made anything in a while, so it was time!

I made this fabric scrap wreath for the 4th of July. I finished it just in time to display it.

I got my inspirtation from this blog post.

Two years ago, I made a similiar wreath with a Seahawks theme.

It is quite simple to make. Just lots of cutting fabric - with a rotary cutter, and then lots of tying.





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