Thursday, August 20, 2009

Postcards from the Road – Whidbey Island (Day 1)

Greetings from Coupeville, WA on Whidbey Island! Yesterday it was time to pack up and leave Everett and bid adieu to my parents. For the rest of my trip in Washington I am exploring the Cascade Loop.

There are two ways to get to Whidbey Island. You can take a ferry from Mukilteo to get to the south side of the island. Or you can go north and cross the Deception Pass bridge. I really wanted to see the bridge, so Deception Pass it was! DSCN0786 DSCN0793
They have sidewalks on either side of the bridge, and here I discovered that I am somewhat afraid of heights, particularly when big trucks are rumbling past so close to you. I grabbed a couple of shots and hightailed it off the bridge.

From there I drove to Coupeville where I am staying in a great bed and breakfast, the Anchorage Inn. Once I unloaded the car I turned my computer on, uploaded a bike route to my Garmin and took off. I wanted to do a bit of exploring on two wheels! I decided to ride a loop from Coupeville to Oak Harbour and back that would let me see both the east and west sides of the island. Just over 20 miles. There are a lot of rolling hills here. I just took the ride easy and the legs were feeling pretty good. Here’s a shot of the east side of the island, looking at Penn Cove: DSCN0809
And the west side of the island:DSCN0813
After the ride it was time to shower up and grab some dinner. I was on the hunt for some Penn Cove mussels! Toby’s Tavern seemed to fit the bill – a big bowl of mussels, some good beer, and a great casual atmosphere with some awesome 80s hair band music. DSCN0824
Time to do some more exploring I think…DSCN0849DSCN0855

10 comments:

Marlene said...

Great photos! Love the scenery. What a great idea to explore on two wheels!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

what a pretty place! i'd be exploring it on two wheels too :)

Meg said...

Oh my! Those muscles look delish!!! What a cool trip!

Meg said...

LMAO MUSSELS!!! Not muscles...although I guess you have good muscles too? LOL...*ugh*

Lindsay said...

more beautiful pics! umm didn't you just do a half iron?!? and now you're out biking again? you're nutso :) (in a good way, of course)

Lauren said...

I'd be more frightened of the 18 wheelers than the heights. How do you upload a bike course to your garmin?

Also forgot you just did an ironman. You are nutso!

Wes said...

What software do you use to upload the bike routes to your Garmin. Does it have the turns already done for you? Have fun!

joyRuN said...

Such beautiful scenery. I wouldn't mind hurting my cooter on the bike with that to distract me!

Marit C-L said...

Beautiful! I'm loving your trip - thank you for sharing!! My big regret after visiting the PacNW over the summer - was not getting enough photos of Washington State. Whidbey Island looks beautiful - love it!

Danielle said...

I really need to catch up but just have to thank you for the bridge picture. See, last year, my first and only trip to Whidby, I ran over that bridge on my second leg of the Ragnar NW Passage Relay, only it was at night so I only saw it by moonlight...cool seeing a day pic of it!