Deception Pass

I drove up to Bethany's Friday night. We spent the night talking, but were snug in bed by midnight. Poor Bethany, she keeps much later hours than me and is not a nature nut. I woke up around 7am ready for our adventure. Bethany was sound asleep still and by the time she finally woke up I was bursting with enthusiasm (I believe I kept chanting "Beach beach beach"). We finally hit the road (much too earlier for a Saturday in her opinion) and drove to Deception Pass. We walked along the beach at the boat launch. I did roll over a few rocks but the tide was too high for finding critters. Next we stopped at Rosario Beach. It was beautiful. We agreed that we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. We walked a short path the kept us above the sound. We had tremendous views of the water. We were about 30 Ft above the water line. We found a nice place to sit and watch the water. There were some amazing kelp beds below us. It was fun talking about the kelp and the jellyfish we saw. It really is amazing stuff. The kelp acts like the trees of forest providing home for animals. And it can get so big, up to 200 Ft. Even more amazing is the fact that it can grow 2 Ft in a day. Watching it sway below us was very peaceful.

I always think of the documentaries I've seen with seal
swimming through the 'kelp forests'

The area is inspiring. The water was so clear and there are all these great rock features, including little islands. There were a lot of people on boats in the water, including kayaks. I really need to start kayaking again. There weren't a lot of birds for me to site, except at one point there was a small flock of birds alluding my sight. I only got a glimpse but their call reminded me of kinglets. I also learned Bethany isn't into birds. How bizarre! I don't recall a time when they haven't enthralled me.

Deception Pass Bridge, the larger of the 2 bridges

After walking around Rosario Beach we headed for the bridges.We parked on Pass Island, the tiny island the connects the two bridges. They are amazing structures and there were a lot of people visiting them! There were some ducks flying below, but I've never looked at ducks from 200 ft above. I haven't any idea what type they were. It was so cool to see them from that perspective. We walked across Deception Pass Bridge and then headed down a trail that would take us to a beach. The trail was wonderful taking us through cool forest. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I took Bethany down a short cut, which was steep. And she only had flip-flops on. I have frequently harassed her about her impractical foot wear. Any way, she ended up going down that part of the trail sliding on her butt. But perhaps it worked out for the best, because we got to the beach and Bethany decided to clean her pants off by 'falling' in the water. It didn't take much encouragement from me, for her to actually do it. It was a warm day! Of course I couldn't be out done so I 'fell' in the water too. And there had been this lovely lab that had already visited us once. All the activity of humans splashing and laughing in the water was too much too resist, so she joined me in the water.

The Puget Sound is COLD!

After that we drove around some more. We had plans to go to another stop, but we never quite made it there. We saw more beautiful scenerey though, the Puge Sound, the North Cascades and an immature bald eagle. Another great day in the Pacific Northwest shared with a good friend.