Postcards from the Road – Whidbey Island (Day 2)

Thursday was day two on Whidbey Island, and I planned to do some more exploring on two wheels. I had mapped out a nice little route to take me towards the south part of the island and back, seeing both the west and east sides. I can’t imagine packing in a whole lot more on one ride than I did this day.

I took off out of Coupeville…
…and headed towards State Park #1 – Fort Casey. The big attraction at Fort Case is the Admiralty Head lighthouse. This was the perfect spot to sit down, look out at the water, and enjoy a peanut butter sandwich.
I wasn’t sure they would appreciate me stomping around the lighthouse in my cycling shoes, so I enjoyed looking at the outside, then took off. The cycling was beautiful, with such varied scenery. Beaches at one spot on the island, then forests on another. For the most part even though I was riding close to the water there were so many trees between the road and it that I could barely see it. I rode through State Park #2 – Whidbey Island State Park. I didn’t stop here at all, I just marvelled at the trees while riding through. It is a pretty small park and I’m not sure what is here besides a few walking trails.

As I was making my way towards Freeland, what would be the southern-most part of my ride, the traffic was starting to back up. A truck was out painting lines on the side of the road. Not wanting to get mixed up in the traffic I darted down a street with no outlet, and found a nice spot to sit and finish off my sandwich and wait for the traffic and truck to move on.
At this point I realized my legs were getting tired and I was ready to head back. Rather than taking the scenic roads by the water I decided to head up the main two lane highway down the middle of the island. Less scenic, maybe slightly less hilly, but unfortunately more traffic. The shoulder was nice and wide though for the most part.

I passed through Greenbank and decided it was time for a snack break at Whidbey Pies. They make an excellent Loganberry pie!
I continued up the main highway and shortly after could hear some very noisy aircrafts up ahead. As I approached the Navy outlying field I could see what was going on. There were four planes all practicing their “touch and go” manoeuvres. They would land, touch down for a second, then take off again. Fascinating to watch! People would be driving down the highway, then stop and pull over to see what was going on.

After that it was back on the road back to Coupeville. Almost there!
It wound up being a nearly 45 mile ride. Absolutely beautiful!!! I had to head in to the biggest town on the island, Oak Harbour, in the afternoon to take care of laundry, then it was back in the evening to relax and enjoy my last night on Whidbey Island.

The only thing missing on the ride was that I didn’t see any wildlife! As I was wandering around Coupeville in the evening I did catch this guy – he was having a snack in someone’s back yard!