Deception Pass And The Crazy Wind

A friend of mine told me today that it was really cool of me to take the kids so many places. I thanked him, but I was thinking: "Wait I get to go to these awesome places too. Win/win!"

The awesome place today was Deception Pass State Park, situated on the north Puget Sound between a few islands. It is a mind-blowingly gorgeous place, and today the weather even cleared for us long enough to enjoy a sunny picnic on the beach. A 60 degree beach, but, a beach nonetheless. The kids really enjoyed it, even if Viri insisted on asking why this place was different from Carkeek Park. ("It's a different place. I don't know. Do you want me to explain the fourth dimension to you? Nevermind this is Carkeek. Enjoy Carkeek!")

We walked along the bridge above water, but it was really incredibly windy. Viri was not happy with the wind. Then Arkaedi lost a shoe into the street. The narrow street on the bridge over the really scenic water. I honestly would have left it, if I hadn't had Arkaedi screaming "My shoe! My shoe!" in one ear and Viri shouting, "Arkaedi's shoe! Get it!" in the other. I had no choice but to wait for a gap in traffic then dive into the road, Arkaedi in one arm, to retrieve the wayward shoe. It's hard work being a Papa some days.

Deception Pass is definitely on my list of favorite Washington locations. I need to get back here in the winter, when the sea is really wild. The Pacific is a winter ocean. It is intense and amazing in winter. Especially up here, where it never gets warm in the summer anyways.

My only slight problem with the park as a whole was the huge crowd of people fishing, which made the beach a little inaccessible for the kids' favorite hobby, throwing rocks in the water. They listened really well when I told them we couldn't throw rocks, but they were a little disappointed. Honestly, I was a little bummed as well; I like throwing things. I think there is a swimming beach that may have worked, since it was way too cold for swimming, but we didn't find it.

I have some more time off, so I will be hitting some more great parks this week. I am hoping for Rainier before the weekend, if the weather holds. I'll try and keep everyone's shoes out of roads. No promises, though.