Deception Pass

We left the rain behind in Surrey this morning along with the beautiful blueberry fields showing their autumn colors. PJ ran into town to get in a final workout at the gym and to spend up our remaining Canadian dollars at the grocers. I got the rig prepped up to travel and we were making the treacherous left turn into heavy traffic by eleven. The border was just a hop, skip and a jump from the RV park and soon we were lined up for a brief wait before being ushered through into Blaine, Washington.

Not long afterward, we exited the interstate and got onto back roads heading towards the San Juan Islands. We crossed the bridge onto Anacortes and stopped to let Cali frolick on a large grassy area in front of the casino. There’s a bridge below for the train that swivels to let boat traffic through rather than lift up. It just turns like a propeller mid stream.

There is a cool suspension bridge that brings us onto Whidbey Island so we stopped in the pullout to get the view of the Rosario Straight and walk out over the water. Deception Pass State Park was just around the corner and we entered the park then drove around trying to pick a cool spot. The rangers have bailed for the season and it’s a self pay in the envelope type gig. It took us a while to figure the system out but we were soon parked up in the trees overlooking the sound.

After getting settled, we hiked around the forest then down to the beach where we got a view of the bridge from the beach. We walked about halfway to the bridge but we’ll save the rest of that hike for tomorrow. A few people were playing around at the beach but the campground and park areas are pretty empty. The clear weather held, even showing us a bit of sun at times. We returned to camp and kicked back for the afternoon.

In the evening, we got Cali out and hiked the nature loop that circles around behind the closed up beach concessions area. We skirted Cranberry Lake and walked through the cedars coated with Spanish Moss. Where the loop turned around, we took a side trail to the beach and meandered around the driftwood and rocks taking in the scenery. Cali got in some running and I had fun climbing around the stacks of driftwood.

The sun was going down, peeking out sporadically from the layers of cloud that hovered along the horizon. We loitered around the parking area until it dipped behind the water on its rotation around the world then headed home for dinner and relaxation.