I left Friday to the sun shining high in the sky. It was a beautiful day and promised to be sunny all the way to Bellingham. Instead of going directly there via I5 I wanted to travel the lesser traveled roads. I had printed out maps and directions and I was off.
Turns out that it gets very windy in a convertible when the top is down. Somewhere between Kirkland and Marysville are my "maps". I knew vaguely how to go and had my phone should I get overly lost so I figured it was the Mustang Gods telling me to go forth and have an adventure.
I got off the freeway in Marysville and promptly turned right. About 2 miles heading east I realized the road that ran along the coast would most definitely be to the WEST where the water was. So I flipped a bitch and headed west. Stopped to get a diet coke and we were once again off.
Puck was riding shot guy in the speedometer well. Its a blurry photo because it's hard to focus a camera and drive at the same time.
Puck and I found Marine Drive and we headed north. It was beautiful. Anyone who knows the Pacific Northwest knows that when the suns out the area is truly breath taking. Tall pine trees all around casting beautiful shade along the road. I couldn't see the water from the road, but it was cool enough that I knew I was pretty close to sea level.
One of my main purposes of going the long route was to go to La Conner and go to this little store called Good Kitty Bad Kitty and pick up Pookie his crack drenched catnip canary. So I knew that Marine drive would, hopefully, end up just outside LaConner. I stopped to snap the above photo and check the phone for a route to make sure I was on the right path. Turns out I was. So I kept driving. The "directions" on the phone said in about 11 miles I would be turning onto another road. At 15 miles I still hadn't seen that road but came upon some road crew guys. The flag guy stopped me for a truck crossing the road and I asked him if I was on the right road and how to get to LaConner from there. He gave me typical country directions like, "turn right at the second fir tree on the road". We started to head out and he said, "BTW, nice car!"
Sparky and I wound our way through the woods and ended up in La Conner. Found a parking place quite quickly and set off to find the cat store. Turns out the store closed just a couple of months ago. Bummer. No crack drenched canary for Pookie. Instead I had lunch at what used to be the Fat Cat Cafe but is now the Waterfront Cafe. Good food, good service and a helluva view.
I could have headed back the way I came and hopped on the freeway to my next destination, Deception Pass, but why would I do that. Instead I crossed this HUGE bridge in LaConner that's very high and not at all easy to find how to get on it. There was a Native American festival going on that had traffic across the water slowed to a crawl. And turns out the way I wanted to go was closed for said festival. I swung a left following the signs that said "detour" and we were off. Again, beautiful country. Eventually we dropped out of the woods into the pasture land that's up north and we were soon on the highway to Deceptions Pass.
Very windy road that would have been perfect for Sparky if I wasn't behind a truck and trailer. I was in no hurry so no need to risk life and limb to pass. We turned the corner and we were there.
Puck needed to stretch his legs.
Height from water to roadway is about 180 feet, depending on the tide.
The water that runs below the bridge is turbulent and looks very cold to me. I don't do heights very well so I was proud of myself when I leaned slightly over to shoot this photo and then didn't throw up.
After Deception Pass, Sparky, Puck and I headed to Bellingham. We had a couple hours until my friends up north would be home, so we took it slow and easy.
When I left Saturday from Bellingham I took the infamous Chuckanut Drive - which is another winding, two-laned road. Some parts of the road made me very nervous in that I felt like my car was wider than the lane. We made it and unfortunately I couldn't shoot any photos while driving cuz well that would be too dangerous.
Speaking of shooting, I may not be shooting for a bit. I spilled an entire glass of sweet tea into my camera. I had the lens off and cleaning the lens and the camera sitting up right when I reached across it and my sleeve caught the straw of my tea...it was a perfect spill. Turns out camera only can hold about 2 ounces of sweet tea. It'll cost too much to get it fixed so I'll be on the look out for a new canon body. Craig's List here I come.
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