WA Road Trip - Part II

Okay, well I didn't quite manage to get Part II posted the next day after my first post.  I think I'm still suffering from a vacation hangover.  I really need to get myself back into the swing of things and get this house in order, but for now I will get the rest of the trip posted because I know ya'll have been waiting with baited breath. 

So after reluctantly leaving Lake Chelan, we drove what was supposed to be a 3-4 hour drive but turned into 6+ hours (much to the children's chagrine after we promised them we wouldn't have that long of a drive on the rest of the trip) to Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound.  Dale did decide he wanted to take the scenic route through the North Cascades, and it was beautiful with views like the photo to the right, but we ended up having a lot of mountain road construction that took forever to get through.  We finally did arrive at our campsite around 7:00.

We barely had time to set up camp, nonetheless go shop for and figure out something for dinner, so we drove into town and ate at a teriyaki place at Hannah's urging.  We actually had a very nice meal together--probably the most memorable of the trip.  After that, we had enough time to head down to the beach at the park and catch the sunset and then we pretty much got back to our campsite and went to bed.  The next morning we headed back to town for more food and supplies (and Starbucks) and then we headed to the North Beach at the state park and found a jewel of a beach. 

We first did a short hike up to the Deception Pass bridge, which is quite scary to be on with the cars flying by, so we didn't hang out there long.  We then went to the beach and the kids loved collecting all the neat rocks there and skipping them (or attempting to).  

Owen climbing on large driftwood

Deception Pass Bridge from North Beach

It was such a warm, gorgeous day and Dale and I could've spent all day there, but the kids wanted to head to the other beach in the park that had a lake by it with a swimming beach. That didn't last for long, though. Despite, the sun, it really wasn't quite warm enough for swimming, especially with the wind on that side of the park. The kids gave it a good go, but we packed up and headed back to our campsite.

Of course, what is a campout without a fire and s'mores. It was a bit colder that night, but we all managed to get some rest, so that we could get up and take everything down and head off for our next phase of the road trip. I will bring that to you next time.