Whidbey Island Road Trip

This past weekend, a group of us went to Whidbey Island for the annual May long weekend camping trip. We stay in South Whidbey State Park in Washington. The campground is surrounded by old growth forest off a bay on the ocean. The weather was cool, cloudy and rain (chilly at night). We broke in a new five-person tent from Fred Meyer. Our new favourite Fred Meyer is the one in Bellingham (it is only three years old). Cheap quality goods with decent value. With the low American dollar, the exchange rate for Canuck bucks is the highest it has been in decades.

The campground was mostly filled with Canadians. I love the fact we were able to reserve our campsites in advance online and even choose the individual sites we wanted. Campgrounds in Washington and Oregon usually have Park Hosts. Park Hosts are available for additional brochures, pamphlets, and fire wood. The Park Host usually cleans and cares for the restrooms. The only drawback from this campground was there was only one shower stall for our loop. Luckily, the campground was not that busy and there were usually no shower lineups early morning.

Overall, it was a good trip. We explored the island a bit. On Saturday, we went to the Bayview Farmers Market. It was small because it was early in the season. But the public restroom was fully sustainable. Then we drove around the west coast back towards our campground. We stopped at Double Bluff and the Port Townsend Ferry Terminal, where we encountered some local wild life. We drove past Fort Casey.

On Sunday, the boys went to play golf at Island Greens. The girls went to Langley to window shop and have lunch. We were definitely bringing the age rang down. We went to Cafe Langley for grub. We dined on tasty pita, hummus and baba ganoush, and mini spanakopitas. We met Bob the cat. We had linner at the Beachfire Grill on Harbor Hills Drive. Lynn was a fantastic server and the food was good. It was a nice change to dine out and have someone else cook and clean for us. Back at our campground, we hiked the Wilbert Trail (a mere .8 of a mile) and played badminton on the beach.

Every night included grilled meat (yes, even hotdogs), wine and s'mores. On the way back we shopped at the Premium Outlets and snacked on barbecued hotdogs and salad in the parking lot. Finished it all off with another trip to the Fred Meyer in Burlington (under renovations though) where I bought a nice purse for a mere $20. The border lineup was minimal and we had no delay crossing back to Canadaland. It is always a good feeling to be back in your own country. Dirty, tired, and looking forward to a warm shower and a comfy bed.