The first stop on our trip was Whidbey Island. It took about an hour and a half to drive there from Seattle. We decided not to take the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry because we wanted to see Deception Pass State Park which is on the northern end of the island connecting Fialgo Island with Whidbey Island. Unfortunately the bridge at Deception Pass was under construction which made it hard to walk across the bridge. We didn't walk across the bridge because it was one narrow lane for people trying to walk both directions. Instead, we followed a train down to the water which was absolutely beautiful!

The trail down to the water was our first glimpse at the beautiful Pacific Northwest nature - innumerable Douglas Firs, Madronas, and ferns filled the forest around us. The rocky beach was complemented by the torquoise, clear water.

Our next stop was our Airbnb in Greenbank, Washington which is on the southern part of Whidbey Island. The airbnb that we stayed at was a part of a pleasant community along Admiralty inlet. We could see the water right from the bedroom of the airbnb!

After stopping by the airbnb, we headed towards the center of Whidbey Island to walk along the beach at Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve. This required us to buy a $30 Discover Pass for our car, but you can use the Discover Pass at all of the state parks in Washington.

For dinner, we made a reservation at a restaurant in Oak Harbor called Rustica which is an italian restuarant and wine bar. We ordered the freshly made lasagna - it was decent! Definitely check out this restuarant if you are in Oak Harbor because it serves farm fresh local food. Oh, also the dessert was a fresh cannoli which was absolutely delicious and overwhelming.

After dinner, it got dark and cold pretty fast so we headed back to the airbnb. There was very little light polution here - we could see the Milky Way! The perseid meteor shower was also going on that week so we saw several shooting stars while sitting out on the porch at night. We only stayed here one night because we didn't have much planned for Whidbey Island.