Two lovely days on Whidbey Island, WA

Mmm. Relaxing.

I spent Saturday and Sunday with my old neighbor Quinn. Quinn moved up here last fall, and is enjoying his first summer on the island. He’s got a nice place, with enough space to hang his many guitars, but not so much as to need to hire a housecleaner 🙂 He’s on the end of a dead-end road, with a few other houses within earshot, but not enough to make one feel crowded.

Both days went great, Quinn and I hung out a bit talking, then we went off with his friend Charlene to see the island (well, south part).

Saturday was (not by plan) “Cultural day.” We went to one of the local towns (Langley) for an art/music festival (Choochochum), where my souvenir from the island was a CD of one of the local bands that played. We then went over to Charlene’s place for dinner, then off to visit a neighbor (environmental consultant, full of great stories and anecdotes).

Sunday we went to South Whidbey State Park and walked through the forest, including a view of the “Ancient Cedar.” Next we walked the beach at Double Bluff, where we saw a Harbor Seal pup on the beach. We later heard from a marine mammal volunteer that the beached pups rarely make it. This one seems very thin, and its rear flippers appeared paralyzed. See my album for lots of photos of the cute pup: http://trampleasure.net/lee/gallery/main.php/v/july2008/album/

Further down the beach we realized it was about time for the cruise ship Charlene’s nine-year old son was on to pass by. We looked carefully at the first one, waving as it went by (we could barely see people on the deck). Oops, wrong company. Two ships later we saw his ship. We waved and waved, because he had told his mom that he’d be watching the island as he passed. I got a couple photos where we could see people at the railing, but too small to identify anyone.

I’ve seen a few eagles, and this morning on my drive I was able to take a picture of one arriving at the nest with some food for the little ones.

Today I’m off to visit the Trampleasures in Canada. Gary and Betty Anne will be there, as well as probably a few of the kids and/or grandkids. It should be fun. I haven’t seen them since ages ago when they came down to California. Time to get back on the road