We hung out in Mount Vernon, a small town just north of Camano Island, on Tuesday and then cruised down the road towards Deception Pass State Park. There aren’t many dispersed campsites in this area so to the developed campgrounds we go.
To be fair, this was an area that I had marked down for a visit. It’s just your prototypical Pacific Northwest coastal scenery here. Pine trees, rocky shores, and the smell of salt water.
We spent two days here and it was mostly pretty chill. No major hikes or anything. I think the idea was to conserve some energy. The plan was to move toward North Cascades National Park after this. And that was the place we wanted to spend our energy hiking and taking everything in.
The great thing about the campsite was the easy access to the beachfront. That first afternoon we went to the north side beach and just walked around and looked for some more rocks. The rocks here were more colorful and varied than on the beaches on Camano Island. We tried skipping some rocks too. There is definitely room for improvement there.
On the way back to the campsite we met this couple. Probably similar in age to Amanda and I. They approached us and asked me to take a few photos of them. They just got engaged moments before. It reminded me a lot of my experience while on the Kepler Trek a few years back.
The next day we went to Oak Harbor, a town south of the state park, and we hung out at the waterfront park there. I met this older lady and we chatted for a while. We talked politics for a bit. There was definitely a wide gap between us but the conversation was respectful and thought-provoking.
She got emotional toward the end of it. It’d been a long time since she had a conversation like that with someone that didn’t necessarily agree with her. She seemed upset about the state of things in the country. The divide between the sides, the lack of conversation and compromise. All that stuff. I don’t blame her.
That evening we made an early dinner and made it towards the west beach and watched the sunset. It was beautiful.