This has turned out to be the rainiest vacation we have had in many years. However, the only computer contact I have even remotely thought of has been writing this blog. A vacation should be a break from work, and that has been accomplished in spades. Has it been a break from stress? Hmmm…not so much a break, but certainly a completely different type. Dealing with some of the traffic situations has been more than a little frustrating. The rain makes having firm plans really not an option. And yet, despite the imperfections, it’s still all good.
Take today for instance. Given the forecast for the day (scattered rain throughout) we thought it best to go exploring. Off to Snoqualmie Falls. The trip to the falls is uneventful but the rain has increased its volume with our arrival. Naturally. We set off down the trail and, for a change, the distance to a good viewpoint is maybe 100 meters. Not only that, the viewpoint itself is very close to the falls. Somehow that seems unusual. Isn’t it usually necessary to walk for a half hour just to get to some area that’s a minimum 6 football fields from what you’re trying to see?
The falling rain mixed with the mist from the falls themselves did make for some fascinating pictures, but some editing may be necessary to remove the water drops that found a final resting spot on the lens. You can see for yourself. Fifteen minutes later the sun broke through and changed the view entirely. The day improves.
Anacortes calls and it’s only reasonable that we attend. Off we go to visit a beautiful little city (about 16,000 people). Stopping at the local tourist info outlet gives us excellent tips for taking in some of the local sites. A drive through town and out to Washington Park. Taking the Loop Road (a one way journey through the park) offers more pictures that may turn, magically, into paintings. Out of the park, along Marine Drive and on to the bridge at Deception Pass (see pic) which joins Fidalgo Island (where Anacortes resides) to Whidbey Island.
Our jaunt through Whidbey Island starts to bring out a few hunger pangs. It’s now about 3:30 and we haven’t eaten since 8 this morning. Maybe it’s about time. We have no idea what’s around, but seafood has been clammering (yep…poor pun intended) for our attention. Garmin do your thing. It finds a restaurant called Beachfire Grill (under ‘seafood’) so off we go. It turns into a bit of a longer haul than we anticipated, but hopefully the end result will be good.
Nope. Closed when we got there. Later investigation shows that it actually closed its doors for good in 2010. Great. Ok…on to the ferry back to the mainland and we’ll think about other options as we go.
TV advertising has its way of worming itself into areas of your mind that seem to have no other purpose other than to lay dorment…waiting for just the right time to either present you with a solution to a problem or wake you up from a sound sleep. This time it worked out properly. We ended up here (thanks to the ads) and we very much enjoyed ourselves. http://www.thecrabpotseattle.com/ Gordon Ramsey would NOT be happy with some of their plating ideas (see the SEAFEAST), but the food was really good. And plentiful. 🙂
All in all a day that started out a little shaky ended up as a day well spent visiting much of the local area. And isn’t that much of what it’s all about?
Tomorrow we board the ship. Mother doesn’t know what is really in store for her. We booked a mini-suite as we needed extra room given there were three of us sharing the space. That she knew all about, as we had explained it all to her. Things are about to change…in quite a significant way