Ebey's Landing 11-23-2019

Although it might have been nice to get a little more sleep, when the dogs got me up at 5:30am I decided to get a head start on the day.  We drove through the dark toward the Mukilteo Ferry to catch a ride to Whidbey Island.  When I parked in the Cemetery Overlook parking lot, it was only about 7:30 and the sky was tinged with orange where the sunrise could peek through the clouds.

We could see and hear Canada geese flying over the farmland.

The wind was blowing, harder as we neared the bluff, and quite cold so I put on a hat and got a coat on Luna.  The sky was gorgeous, the salty wind was exhilarating and the sea was singing its percussion song on the shore below us.  A ferry was even crossing through the cloudy sunrise.

I didn't think anything could be better.  Then I noticed a redtail hawk soaring BELOW me!  What a unique view!  It floated on the strong wind as if it wasn't blowing at all and then would catch the air currents and swoop low over the water.  I couldn't wipe the grin off my face - this was amazing!

Then - I was looking down on a great bald eagle!!!  Despite its huge size it road the air currents below me nimbly and gracefully!  WOW!!!  I had a lot of trouble with getting my camera to focus on it, but a couple turned out, and then it flew off into the sunrise sky.  I can't even say how happy and overwhelmed with natural beauty I was.  It's not often I get such a bird's eye view of the birds - especially the great hunters of the sky.

We walked along the bluff, listening to that strong wind howling through the tough gnarled firs, and noticing with surprise that there were even some flowers still blooming along the bluff.  No matter which way I looked, everything was beautiful.

I checked on the dogs now and then to make sure they were warm enough - Luna seemed fine with her fleece shirt, and Cedar runs pretty warm anyway and hates clothes, so his fleece stayed in my pack.

I could see there was no one behind me on the bluff trail, and no one below me on the beach, so when I got down to a safe elevation, I let the mutts off their strings.  They raced up and down the trail.  The cold wind seemed to turn Cedar into a puppy again and he frisked and ran off and on for the rest of our beach walk.

But first they got leftover steak bits.  : )  I even got Cedar to pose nicely for one. No treat, no nice pose.

We were having so much fun that I couldn't help but play also - picking up rocks, running after the dogs, and trying to whip with a bull kelp.  Not super surprisingly I managed to whack myself in the head and the kelp promptly broke in half.  I didn't try that again, haha.  I'll just say the kelp was rotten, not my kelp whipping skills.

I could see merganser and bufflehead in the waves, but couldn't get a good photo.  I found a couple old floats that had washed up, covered with sea creatures - anemones all over the rope.

What a great adventure!  Get out there and have one!

Double Bluff Beach 5-21-2018

I had asked for the day off not even knowing how glorious a spring day it would be!  Sunny and a light breeze - the perfect day to take the pups to the off leash dog beach on Whidbey Island.  For those of you who want to see more adventure settings and less pooches, sorry - my dogs had so much fun that most of these photos are of them.  I'll start out with the beachy ones and you can skip the rest if you like.
I saw at least 3 eagles - possibly 5, but a couple could have circled around.  I have never come here and not seen eagles.

There were some interesting things washed up as well - a jelly fish, a halibut head, and this fish.  I'm glad the dogs didn't see it - they would have rolled in it for sure.

I saw quite a few areas where there had been recent erosion.  It is kind of creepy - not sure if it tends to come down when it's raining or just randomly.  I saw some trickles of sand here and there down the bluffs - mini avalanches.

There were quite a few pigeon guillemots around.  I hadn't realized that they nest here!  A kayaker was paddling along the shoreline photographing them.

When we rounded the corner about two miles down the beach where we can see the next bay, we stopped for lunch.  Two sea lions were sunbathing on this buoy.

While the dogs were sniffing around some logs, I noticed a lot of crab shells - probably from moulting.  I set them up on some driftwood.

OK, here is my canine crew.  They waded, walked, climbed, leaped and had a wonderful time being free.  Luna probably did 3 times the distance that Cedar and I did.  Crazy puppy!

Happy Adventuring!

Camano Island State Park 03/31-04/-01/2018

This adventure was the maiden voyage of my new camper trailer.  This way I can get out even in the rain, be more comfortable at night, and stay longer hopefully!  The destination was Camano Island State Park, and neither Dave nor I had been there before.  It was Easter weekend, and wasn't supposed to be particularly warm or sunny, so we had a great campsite over looking the waterway between Camano Island and Whidbey Island.  

The view from campsite #9

Cedar and Luna hanging out by the trailer

Luna peeking out the window - Cedar in the background on the bed

I wondered about this tiny island - it is called Baby Island.  Perfect.

The park is on a hillside forested with fir, maple, hemlock and madrona.  It's also a network of trails, which was a lot of fun to explore.  Even the evening we got there, we had Cedar and Luna all over the place, and saw the full moon light the silver sea with a path of gold.

Madrona clinging to the bluff heights

The full moon was not this fuzzy really - it was so beautiful.

There were birds - bushtits, spotted towhees, white crowed sparrows, robins and eagles.  Even if you couldn't see eagles all the time, you could hear them throughout the day.  

Saturday morning, I took my adventure dogs down to the beach.  We saw a loon, and goldeneyes paired up and hunting in the shallows, as well as some immature bald eagles.  The waves were hardly a ripple against the shore of smoothed riverstone-like rocks.  

A pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes

A pair of Common Goldeneyes

This goldeneye is chowing down on a little crab

Immature bald eagle

Seagulls on a calm gray morning

Luna wading with enthusiasm

My canine adventure crew

Cedar prefers sunbathing over wading

A crow photobombed this picture of Luna

We took another hike back down later with Dave and it was sunny enough for us to get overheated as we walked.  Amazing!  I was not expecting such wonderful warm weather.  We went down a third time when my mother-in-law and brother-in-law came by for a picnic, although we hitched a ride with them back up the hill that time.  We ate overlooking the sea and saw a gray whale!  

A whale tail

Boat for scale

Sunday was drizzly and breezy, but we saw two more gray whales, and I took another hike down to the beach and back with Cedar and Luna.  It felt great to be hiking around so much, but in typical camping fashion I feel we had enough snacks to negate the efforts haha. 

I thought this driftwood looked like a pale lady looking out to sea

I highly recommend Camano Island State Park.  Not every campsite has a water view, but most have some separation from the campsites next to them, it is very clean and organized, and has showers as well... there is the beach, a boat launch, trails all over and for trailers - a dump station.  It was a perfect place for my first RVing experience, and so very peaceful.  I hope to come back again!