Anacortes & Chuckanut (morning)

After Chuck's talking with a fellow camper about Mount Baker and after a little bit of research, we decided to go somewhere close enough to Mount Baker to be able to get in a day trip.  Because the upcoming weekend was a Canadian holiday, the campgrounds closest to Mount Baker were full.  I was able to get reservations at a KOA in Burlington which was not too far away from Mount Baker plus we could go drive around Anacortes on the coast.

We stayed at Newhalem Campground until the last minute before the 12:00 pm checkout time wanting to completely enjoy our "favorite" campsite.  Because the KOA in Burlington was only about 60 miles away, we did not tow the car and drove separately.  I plugged in the directions to the KOA in our GPS and on Google maps and they both directed us in a way that looked like it was out of the way and as we found out, it was.  We should have (as Chuck had suggested) just drove back out the way we came in from I-5. 

The first site the KOA gave us had a limb that was too low at the back of the site so we had to move to the site next to it.  We were backed up to the recreation hall and the sewer hookup was way back next to the building.  It took every extension we had and then we barely reached it.

 

Since it was cloudy and rainy on Friday, we just went to Kohls and Chuck patiently waited while I did a little shopping.  The rest of the day we just read or watched TV some.

Finally, the sun came back out Saturday morning.  I packed us a picnic lunch and we took off.  Since the clouds were still in the mountains, we headed toward the coast to do some exploring first.

We drove across Hwy 20 to Anacortes crossing Swinomish Channel over to Anacortes on Fildago Island.

 

From this overlook, we could see Padilla Bay.

On display at the overlook, was this tree cutting from a 970 year old Douglas Fir.

We drove into Anacortes...

...and then through Washington Park...

...where we could see Decatur and Lopez Islands.

At a pull-off, I walked down to the rocky beach below.

I wanted to go feel the "Pacific" waters, but there was a lot of green slimy-looking stuff along the water's edge and on the rocks so I didn't go near it. 

 

We saw several kayakers in the water.

It was a nice "1st stop" of the day.

We continued through the one-way loop road with views of the ocean bay...

and thick forests with big trees.

Lastly, we were able to see Burrows Island (to the right).

After leaving Washington Park, we headed south along the coast...

...to Deception Pass.

Deception Pass is actually 2 bridges connected by an island in the middle.  The bridge was built in 1935 and cost $490,000.  According to the information sign at the overlook, it cost more to repaint the bridge in the 1990's than it did to build it in the 1930's!

While looking at the bridge and the water below, a girl who lived in the area was telling us that the current coming out from Deception Pass was dangerously swift.

She said kayakers do not go near it because they could easily get carried out to sea with the riptide.

We turned around at the overlook and headed back north to Chuckanut Drive, another Washington scenic byway. 

 

You know we had to drive Chuckanut.  :)

 

 



There were a lot of farms and even a dairy at the beginning of Chuckanut...

...and then we headed into the tall hills along the coastline of Chuckanut.

Chuckanut Drive was a windy narrow road...

...with occasional views of more of the islands off of Washington's coast.

We had just commented that Chuckanut Drive would NOT be a road on which Chuck would drive the motorhome.  After all, Chuck is not a nut! (most of the time)  :)

But then we came around this curve and found a Chuckanut trying to back up or turn around or do something to his motorhome.  What a Chuckanut!

After finishing our Chuckanut drive, we filled up with gas in Bellingham,

...ate our picnic lunch in the car and headed for Mount Baker (see afternoon post).