Well, I write this one early in the morning again while the rest of the crew is still sound asleep. Only companion I have I my little black-'n-white kitty named Leila (arabic for 'night'). She is parading between keyboard and screen and impeding typing at times. Note to self: check for spelling errors …
Lunch
Don't know what it'll be today. But yesterday during the trip we had wonderful homemade sandwiches of flax bread, pepperjack cheese, tomato, and some basil from the garden. Oh and breakfast most certainly be yoghurt with berries again. We harvested a large bowlful again last evening.
Non-music related question
When visiting a state park (see below), we had to pay $10 single day usage fee. Maybe 'had to' it too strong because there seemed to be nobody around to truly enforce it. Furthermore, we are avid users of state parks and don't mind paying some extra although I think a tax raise would be more appropriate. Anyway, with the economic troubles and budget shortfalls all over the place, what kind of 'fees' do you come across that weren't there before. Don't make this a political issue please! I'm just interested in a tally on how different types of government try to deal with budget problems.
G&L related question
What are your favorite music/guitar magazines if any? Why? And how closely are you watching the ads?
Yesterday we indeed took of for Deception Pass State Park. Deception Pass is a passage between Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island, named by a crew member of George Vancouver who had set out in a dolly and noticed the strong current preventing them to enter the leeside of the islands. The passage is rather narrow which leads to currents between 5 and 8 knots when tides are changing. And let me remind you that 1 knot equals 1 nautical mile per hour! Here are some picks of the bridge over the pass, and a boat trying to work itself upstream. The photo shows its speed in real-time: practically stationary. I was talking with another visitor there and we both came quickly to the conclusion that the skipper might as well have waited an hour for the tide to slack off. Might have made the same time! isn't a skipper supposed to use the almanac and/or tide tables anymore?
My wife likes to take close-ups of all sorts of things. To show off her keen eye, here a pic of a ladybug and milk thistle she ran into on our bridge tour:
After traversing the bridge up and down, it was time to get to the west end of the State Park. Here you are at the coast of the Strait Juan de Fuca which has an open connection to the Pacific. Unfortunately, although dry, the skies were covered so we couldn't show our guests the majestic Olympics. Vancouver Island was barely distinguishable in the distant. We had lunch and saw special birds: EA-18G Growlers, EA-6B Prowlers, P-3C Orions, and a single C-9 Skytrain sprinkled in; all stationed at nearby Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. Very noisy!
After lunch we hiked along Cranberry Lake along the Dunes Interpretive Trail to finally end up at the shore. The ecosystem of the dunes is very vulnerable. Indeed you should stay on the path lest you destroy delicate flora.
We hiked all around the West Beach to the North Beach basically to the base of the bridge. You can see a bit of beach through the bridge beams in the first picture. Of course you find stones, logs, and some delicate flowers along the way, with some cliff climbing to keep your feet dry:
The way back went through the forrest along the beach cliff which provides you some nice views of the pass and plenty of green:
After reaching the car it was time to head home again. Instead of taking the highway, we always elect to drive down the island to the ferry at Clinton. And we always make a stop in a particular 'small town USA': Coupeville. For years, it was hard to find a good place to eat. They have a tavern but with a 16 year old in tow that was a no-go. But this time we found the 'Front Street Grill' and what a find it was! We had wonderful mussels right from the inlet in the pictures: Penn Cove. Delicious crab cakes, oysters, and for the teenager a Kobe Beef burger. Good stuff. If you're ever around Coupeville, I can highly recommend them. We were lucky just a single table wasn't reserved. After dinner we took a short stroll to the park which shows a log slab more than 800 years old and has some wonderful madroña trees. Don't you love the silky 'skin'?
Final hurdle to take: the short ferry ride to Mukilteo shown in the last pic. Jommie pointed out how strange the warning is. Apparently it is OK to 'place or sit' adults on the handrails, just no children. Oh well ... Here are some final pics related to the ferry ride and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did experiencing the trip.
- Jos
Taxes here are kind of high, though our GST (sales tax) is pretty reasonable at 10% and doesn't apply to everything. Taxes made smoking unaffordable so I gave that up. That was getting less and less fun anyway once they banned it everywhere, even on outdoor train platforms. 
Sorry!
