We have arrived!

May 15, 2012: Gwen and I safely arrived ahead of schedule in Seattle, WA and easily grabbed our luggage and made haste to get our rental car. We used the light rail, which was very easy to navigate and, more importantly, very cheap, to get to our rental car pick-up location. After a smooth check-in and Gwen eyeing the rental locations coffee maker with dreams of caffeination after our 4 hours of sleep the previous night and 3:30 AM wake-up, we hopped in our bright red Chevy Aveo (affectionately named "Ava") and put the pedal to the metal toward Bay View State Park, situated on the edge of Padilla Bay just across from La Conner. With no worries we found our way to the campground, driving past snow-capped peaks and through Mt. Vernon, and fields of beautiful flowering bushes. Bay View State park is a cute little campground with great ammenities and an excellent beach area on the bay. Stepping out of our car, we smelled the wonderful aroma of the evergreens that shaded our campsite and found ourselves surrounded by ferns unfurling new fronds and wild salmon berry bushes - similar in nature to rasberry bushes but with lovely pink flowers. After setting up camp, we explored the waterfront, which was beautiful, though the view was sadly marred by the sight of the oil refinery on the opposite side of the bay. In need of sustenance and curious to explore, we stopped into La Conner, just a few miles down the road from camp. The town is situated on the water and surrounded by fields that about a month ago were filled with flowers, mostly tulips - we were just about a month late for the annual tulip festival, but yards everywhere were full of amazing colorful blooms. La Conner is a quaint little destination with streets lined in cute dollhouse-like homes with lots of quirky character. The cool sunny evening provided the perfect opportunity to meander the streets and boardwalks, pondering on the experience of living in such a place. The local grocery store was well-stocked with necessities, and we procured foods for dinner and breakfast, including some fruit, firewood and kindling, bread, snacks, hotdogs to roast, and Gwen's first jiffy pop! We realized while cooking dinner over the fire that nightfall comes much later in the pacific northwest than back home in Virginia. We didn't need a headlamp to see until well after 9:30. The jiffy pop experience fell short of its true expectations. Anderson got carried away with the fire, resulting in some minor premature charring of pop corn. Nevertheless, it was delicious, and Gwen has made it her personal mission to locate more jiffy pop for future inevitable fires. We fell easily to sleep, anticipating with excitement the adventures to come the next day in Orcas Island. To see pictures of our first day and ensuing trip to Orcas Island, click on the link below that will take you to our Picasa page!

The Gwanderson Adventure