Whidbey Island and Deception Pass

Day two of our little mini vacation was a trip to Whidbey island via Deception Pass. The highlight of this day would have to be hands down getting to see Eagles up close. After a fantastic breakfast with everything we could ever want to eat at the hotel we headed to Whidbey island to explore. We had time to spare because we had decided to wait and visit the bridge together with our friends the Flakes. They still had tulips to see so we had a morning to drive around and find an adventure.

Adventure found us. We were looking for a deserted beach to let the kids and even more importantly Zeke out for a run. They all had too much pent up energy and a beach would be perfect. We found a spot we thought would work, and as we pulled off the road we saw what we thought was an eagle sitting on top of some driftwood. Sure enough, an eagle he was. Dave drove up as close as he could with the car. I got a picture and then decided to get out of the car to try and get closer. I took pictures as I went. Finally when I was about 30 feet from him he flew away. I was all the way zoomed in and frantically trying to find him in the sky. The sun hadn't come out yet so the lighting isn't the best. The poor light and my shaking hand (while trying to find him) made the picture a little blurry. Dave thinks I expect too much wanting a National Geographic picture. But I really thought that's what I would get. We were so close to him. Here are our best two shots.

After an hour of playing and running we packed back into the car to meet the Flakes at the bridge. Deception Pass is beautiful. Captain Vancouver thought Whidbey was a peninsula and named the channel Deception Pass after finding out it was an island after all.

The bridge is beautiful. So high up and over clean blue water. The Cascades and Mt. Baker in the background only added to the whole experience. There is always so much for the eye to take in here in Washington. We enjoyed a few hikes (one on either side of the bridge). The beach was a hit, especially with the discovery of three very large sea stars! The kids and their friends all loved the endless supply of rocks to throw in the Sound and Dave and I just enjoyed finally being able to enjoy an adventure in good weather. Check out this sea gull I caught trowing an oyster to the rocks trying to break it open. Too cool huh! The birds were totally performing for us!

After enjoying the trails we walked across the bridge to be treated to one final surprise, another eagle. This time he was soaring around searching for fish. What amazing birds. In total we saw 5 eagles that day. The three from the car though palled in comparison to the other two.