Day 5, Thursday, July 22: We slept in to get some much needed rest, then we packed lunches of peanut butter and jelly, with a side of apples, and headed off to Fort Ebey State Park. Whidbey Island has tons of small state parks, most of which I have never seen, and Fort Ebey was one of them. We took a short trail down to the beach, where we ate our lunch and just relaxed and watched the water. This day started out in typical Washington fashion - cloudy and cool. So sitting on the beach, was actually pretty relaxing and comfortable. I'm not sure how long we stayed there, but the tide was out, so we walked around on the large rocks that are usually covered by water, and I collected more rocks to line our garden. As we were getting ready to leave, some random people on the beach asked us if we had ever been to this beach before when the tide comes in. We said no. She then informed us that if we came back at 5:00 that afternoon we would be pleasantly surprised by the ocean sized waves and the surfers that came out to surf those waves. I had no idea that we got ocean sized waves on Whidbey Island, and to be honest, it still doesn't really make sense to me as to why we get waves like that, but regardless of whether or not it makes sense to me, it turns out that we do, in fact, get ocean sized waves here.
(Fort Ebey State Park)So we left the beach, and headed off to hike a short trail that led to an old gun battery from the World War II era, when Fort Ebey was an actual functioning fort. We explored the battery for a while, and then we headed down to Coupeville so Alice and Carol could see the cute, historic downtown.
(gun battery at Fort Ebey State Park)Once in Coupeville, we saw the historic downtown (which takes all of 2 seconds, although it is a very cute historic downtown), got some yummy ice cream, and checked out some gift shops, and then just before 5:00, we decided to head back to Fort Ebey to check out these amazing waves that we were told about.
I have to admit, we were very impressed by the waves. We got there just a little after 5:00. The tide was in, and most of the beach that we had played around on before, was gone. There was a large group of surfers (or what I perceive to be a large group of surfers, since this is Whidbey Island - 20 people), and there were HUGE waves! Granted, I grew up on the Jersey shore, so waves don't truly excite me. I've seen some pretty big waves in my lifetime, and these waves weren't quite up to par with my normal definition of big waves, but it was still pretty amazing. We sat and watched for a while, because I think all 3 of us were in shock that waves this large actually happened on an island in the middle of the Puget Sound. We took some pictures, of course, but the pictures really didn't do it justice. If you're in this area, its definitely something worth checking out, although, if you're looking to see some hot, good looking, good surfing, surfers, this is not the place to do that. The surfers were actually pretty bad, and half of them were balding :-).
I have to admit, we were very impressed by the waves. We got there just a little after 5:00. The tide was in, and most of the beach that we had played around on before, was gone. There was a large group of surfers (or what I perceive to be a large group of surfers, since this is Whidbey Island - 20 people), and there were HUGE waves! Granted, I grew up on the Jersey shore, so waves don't truly excite me. I've seen some pretty big waves in my lifetime, and these waves weren't quite up to par with my normal definition of big waves, but it was still pretty amazing. We sat and watched for a while, because I think all 3 of us were in shock that waves this large actually happened on an island in the middle of the Puget Sound. We took some pictures, of course, but the pictures really didn't do it justice. If you're in this area, its definitely something worth checking out, although, if you're looking to see some hot, good looking, good surfing, surfers, this is not the place to do that. The surfers were actually pretty bad, and half of them were balding :-).
Day 6, Friday, July 23: We had planned on going back to the San Juan Islands on this day to see Orcas Island and Lopez Island, but when we woke up it was really foggy, in typical Washington fashion. Part of what we loved about the San Juan Islands was the beauty of them, but the beauty is hard to see when its covered by fog. Since we didn't have any major plans though, we decided to drive to the ferry terminal and ask if they knew what the weather was going to be like on the islands later on in the day. The ticket lady told us that she was pretty sure the fog was going to clear up, but she couldn't guarantee it. So we debated a little, but in the end, we decided to just stay on Whidbey again for the day.
Our first stop was Mt. Erie, which I believe is the highest point in this area. It offers you an amazing view of Whidbey Island and the surrounding areas and islands. We drove up to the top and took in the view for a little while, then headed down towards Coupeville to go to Fort Casey State Park. Fort Casey is an old army fort, and on the property is the Admirilty Head Lighthouse. We took a short tour through the lighthouse and then explored the fort for a while, before heading back home to get some rest. Overall, it wasn't a very eventful day, but it was a fun relaxing one.
(View from Mt. Erie)
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