June 27, 2015 - Ferry Line

Summer in Puget Sound means that the ferry lines get longer.  The Washington State Department of Transportation changed to a summer schedule on June 14th to help accommodate the additional travelers for the season.  For the Mukilteo-Clinton run to and from Whidbey Island, the regular ferry runs every half an hour.  In the summer a couple of runs after at midnight are added.  On a weekend ferry lines can easily be a two to three hour wait with a line a mile and a half beyond the ferry holding dock.  For the upcoming Independence Day holiday the lines will likely begin Thursday mid-afternoon from the Mukilteo side.

The Mukilteo-Clinton run has consistently been one of the few ferry runs that runs in the black.  The run is currently served by the M/V Kittitas and the M/V Tokitae that can carry 124 and 141 vehicles respectively.  If you're in the line every half an hour you are 124 to 141 vehicles closer to boarding.

"Island Time" begins once you get in that line.  Good advice is to just chill and wait along with everyone else knowing that your rest and recreation will begin when you get on that ferry.

June 27, 2015 - To Here We Chased The Sunset

Sunset on the beach of the southern Whidbey Island neighborhood of Maxwelton.

One can take in the sunset from the beach, or from this bench dedicated to a Jody Hendrickson Charger.  A marker on the bench states in part, "To Here We Chased The Sunset".

June 23, 2015 - Port Gamble

On a bluff, of a small bay, on the Olympic Peninsula, near the start of the arm of Puget Sound known as Hood Canal, is the small historical community of Port Gamble.  A logging town founded in the mid 1800s, the nearby forests of the Olympic Peninsula provided an abundance of lumber that was milled and shipped from Port Gamble.  By 1862 over 19 million board feet of lumber were being exported from the Puget Mill Company to countries around the world.

The restored examples of mid-19th century colonial architecture that comprise the Port Gamble Historic District have been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Port Gamble is on the way to places with names like Quilcene...

...or Lilliwaup or Robbinswold....

...and the best way to get there is by ferry.

...and if you miss a boat, well you just take in the view until the next one.

June 19, 2015 - Lavender Light

Lavender and the Mukilteo Light on a friday night.

The ferry Kittitas and Mount Baker.

June 13, 2015 - The Mountain is Out

In the Puget Sound, the words "the mountain is out" means gorgeous weather.  Mount Rainier is the tallest peak in the Cascade range at over 14,000 feet.  Even from a beach on Whidbey Island 70 miles away, the mountain dominates the horizon.  The mountain was definitely out today!  

June 7, 2015 - Pioneer Square

A walk through the Pioneer Square area of Seattle following an all too familiar Mariner loss.  The local landmarks include the rebuilt iron pergola and the 1909 sculpture of Chief Seattle fountain by Joseph Wehn.