Deception Pass State Park, day 2 morning

October, 2017

On this first morning after arrival at the Deception Pass State Park campground, the very first thing this very first morning, I made a beeline in the big white truck down to the south end of Whidbey Island to see if the house where I was raised was still there.

It was!  And it was in excellent condition!

After living in the Philippines for more than 5 years, our family came back to the States in 1959 and came directly to Whidbey Island.  A couple of years before we returned to the States, my folks had purchased a forested, waterfront, double lot on Holmes Harbor near Freeland, Washington, and so, when we came home to the States, we had our home built there.  My mother spent three years designing this very house in great detail on paper while she was in the Philippines.  When the house was built, there were a few changes to her design that had to be incorporated because of building codes and other such requirements, but the house was built almost exactly as she designed it.  One thing she did that was so smart was to place the home right smack on the boundary between the two lots, with half the house on one lot, and the other half of the house on the other lot.  Those two lots cannot now be subdivided.  That house will always be surrounded by plenty of land and greenery.

It was wonderful to see my childhood home still standing and in such excellent condition.

On this visit, I parked a block or so away on the country road that ran past our house and then I walked up the road to see the house.  Almost immediately, a fellow drove into the driveway and got out of his truck and waved and shouted hello.  It turned out he was the caretaker of the property … and was more than happy to chat with me, and show me through the inside of the house.  The house was a vacation rental and was in excellent condition.  [Update two years later … it no longer is a vacation rental, so my dreams of renting it and staying in my childhood bedroom have been dashed.  No problem, I have great memories.]

I couldn’t believe my good fortune to find my childhood home being taken care of so well, and that I could get a tour of it!  I was thrilled.  A few things have been changed inside the house but not much.  I think my Mom would have liked every one of the changes.

These Rhododendrons (above), growing along the road in front of the house, were planted by my Mom in 1960.  She grew them from seed that she gathered from wild Rhododendrons that were on the property.  These Rhodies were now more than ten feet tall.

And Mom planted these Douglas Fir trees (above) as well.  They were as small as little twigs when mom and my brother and I planted them in 1960, just before we moved into our brand new home.

The fellow who was showing me around loved this house and the property and was fascinated with the information that I shared, especially information about the Rhodies and the trees and details of the original house.  He told me they had been telling renters that the Douglas Fir trees were over a hundred years old … not so!  He laughed and said he’d have to revise his story.  And yet he was thrilled that he could now report that one of the people who had helped plant those trees in 1960 had been here this very year, 2017.

The photo above is the north side of the house.  The large window on the right is the master bedroom … then the small window to the left of that is the bathroom … then the next window was my bedroom.  The next room after mine (behind a bunch of shrubbery) was my brother’s bedroom.  Ha!  I’m sure all of you are mesmerized by these details!  🙂  I was just so thrilled to see the house in such good shape and to be able to go inside.

This outdoor space above was where we had a vegetable and strawberry garden.  In the sunshine, right next to that far bunch of evergreen trees and shrubbery on the left side of the photo is where my dad and I built a small fenced pen that would hold my horse when I rode him to the house from the pasture.  Turned out we weren’t very good at building a pen for a horse.  My horse, Charlie (did you ever have a charlie horse? I did) … well, one day Charlie was in that pen and got an itch on his rear end, so he backed up to the fence to scratch his butt on the fence rails, back and forth and back and forth.  I happened to be in my room watching him.  He had his eyes closed in ecstasy getting that itch scratched, back and forth, when all of sudden, he sat down!  Thump!  He sat down hard!

The fence had given way and collapsed under him.  That sure startled him; his eyes were big as saucers.  He sat there for several moments with his rear end on the ground and his front legs straight out in front of him.  Then he got up and turned his head to look behind him and noticed that the fence had fallen down.  He stood there with the funniest puzzled look on his face.  And he just stood there.  I gathered up my things and went outside.  Charlie was still just standing there next to that collapsed fence and was happy to see me.  He even nickered as I came up to him, like he usually did.  What a wonderful memory.

Anyway, if anyone might be interested in renting the place, I can recommend it highly.  🙂  It has a ramp down to the water with a bulkhead and a nice beach.  It’s a gorgeous home.

Finally tearing myself away from “home”, I drove around the end of Holmes Harbor to see some of my old stomping grounds, Charlie’s pasture, etc.  The photo above was taken from the east side of Holmes Harbor looking back west towards our house.  I suspect none of you readers will pick out the house, so I took a telephoto shot of the house for you. 😉

And then I left the area, and I drove further south to the Clinton ferry terminal near the south end of the island.  I was planning on leaving Whidbey Island via the Clinton ferry, with trailer in tow, five days from now at the end of this trip, and I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing.  Having lived on Whidbey for 10 years or so, I knew the ferry system by heart, but not by trailer!

I arrived at the Clinton ferry terminal area and parked the truck and then chatted with one of the ticket sellers to find that there is one particular lane that they want all large trucks and RV’s to use.  Other than that, it was business as usual at the ferry dock.  I hung around just to enjoy the beautiful morning.

Vehicles arrived and lined up, ready for the next ferry that would arrive from Mukilteo to take vehicles and pedestrians off the island and over to the mainland.  That ferry arrived.

 

 

Everyone got off the ferry and onto the island.

Once the ferry was empty, then everyone leaving the island got on the ferry.

And then the ferry left and headed back over to Mukilteo on the mainland.

 

 

These ferry lanes would fill up again before the next ferry would arrive in about 25 minutes with the next load of vehicles from Mukilteo.  There were usually two ferries on this route, passing each other as they crossed back and forth between Clinton (on Whidbey) and Mukilteo (on the mainland).

This BIG white truck drove out onto the dock and parked in the proper lane.  I figured if that truck could get on the ferry, then my little rig could manage it with ease.  Was it a coincidence that the sign on the truck had Charlie’s name on it?  I think not.

Looking through the ferry dock pilings, the City of Everett was evident, as were the Cascade Mountains further to the east.

Many Washingtonians look to Mt. Rainier as their landmark, but in the northern part of the state, we look to Mt. Baker.  It’s such a handsome mountain.

 

Next to the ferry dock was a small public park with public beach access.  [Most beaches in the State of Washington are private, fair warning.]

This bumbly old driftwood stump of a tree sat on the sand and looked terribly uninviting.  But I walked around to the other side of it and found a different world.

 

 

 

 

And then it was time to get some lunch and seek out an afternoon adventure.  As I drove away from the ferry dock back up into the island, this sign greeted me.  Yep, eagles, orcas, mallards, seals and salmon, dolphins and crab and starfish, otters and all manner of wonderful beings live here.  Welcome to Whidbey Island!