We made the decision a bit last minute, but it was okay that we did as the official camping season has not yet begun in Washington. The National Parks aren't open until May 13 and the State Parks are on a first come first served basis, reservations are only accepted starting May 13. So my job over the past week, was to find a location that was nearby, had some good hiking and had potentially enough camping sites that we wouldn't be left scrambling once we arrived.
I decided on South Whidbey and it we had a great time despite rain, cold and a dead whale. On Saturday I headed to the Aquarium for my volunteer shift while Eric and Nick went out shopping for food. We finished packing once I was home and Nick came to pick us up at our apartment. We'd be taking his car since it had a bit more room for gear. We decided to semi practice packing our hiking backpacks for when we do some hike-ins and overnights.
The campsite was in a state park on Whidbey Island. We took the ferry from Mukilteo and drove up into the park. Upon reaching it, we realized we had no checkbook or cash to pay for the campsite and as the campsite isn't staffed quite yet, we couldn't use credit card. Boo. So we headed back to town to find an ATM. Cash ready we headed back, filled out the form to reserve the site and nabbed our camping spot. There really wasn't an ideal location, and everything was wet. This campsite would be really nice in the summer because everything is shaded, but it made drying the tents out the next day a bit of a pain.
Eric checks on the alcohol... and Nick unloads the car.
Unbeknownst to either myself or Nick, we had managed to buy the same brand and version of tent. His is a 2person and ours is a 4 person. We found our color coordination amusing. As soon as the rain flies went on the tents... the rain picked up. Just in time!
We decided to take a jaunt on one of the shorter hiking trails that evening despite the rain. I also checked out the restrooms and found that I would be sharing it with this creature.
We chose the Hobbit Trail first.
I was so not wearing the right clothes for this jaunt. I had my Merrel mules, corduroy... I was basically wet and miserable and had no sure footing. Eric was even in his Vibram toe shoes, which was also bad as it was so wet and cold that his toes felt frozen. We also found a picnic table that was uprooted by a fallen tree.
As soon as we were done with the hobbit trail (it was only 0.4 mi round trip), we decided to go down to the beach.
There were slugs everywhere!
We also saw a few ships heading out to sea in the shipping channels, including a cruise ship.
The final jaunt to get onto the beach. Steep, slippery wooden stairs!
It was a nice beach as far as what I've seen of PNW beaches...
We generally acted like kids and it was great.
(We didn't make this)We did find several outcrops of clay and Eric made a ball that he later abandoned to the waves.
We also found a washed up old buoy. We played with that too.
And we played on a bouncy log.
When we finally made our way back to the staircase, we discovered that the tide was coming in and the way I had gotten over a log jam previously, was no longer dry. So I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants and walked through the waves. :D
Back at camp we struggled with the wet campsite to get a fire going. Thankfully we only wanted the fire for warmth and s'mores. We had a gas grill for dinner, which was a delicious fare of chicken and corn.
I went to bed earlier than the boys and learned an important lesson. Down sleeping bags do nothing if you're directly on the ground with no pad. Get a pad. It was a chilly night, but the tents held up well to the constant rain and I was at the very least dry in the morning.
Breakfast was eggs and bacon on the grill and we may have accidentally fed the wildlife...
However, Sunday dawned (relatively) clear and bright with the sun coming out fairly consistently! We eagerly packed up camp and explored the rest of the park.
We headed back down to the beach and learned from a group coming up that there was a dead whale about a 1/2 mile in the opposite direction we'd gone yesterday. Cue me nearly running back down the trail to get a good look. I can't help it, I'm such a scientist. Eric remarked that the next time he wanted me to speed it up on the trail he'd tell me there was a dead whale at the end. :D
It was a gray whale that had been stranded for a few weeks and was starting to decay. The smell wasn't too terrible, and it was pretty neat to see the baleen. We explored for a bit then headed back up to the car. Other people had recommended that we check out a small town a bit more north, so we headed there for lunch.
In Coupeville, they had another whale that had been stranded and they had its bones on display.
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