Choate Tuesday

With our last full day of Choate-filled goodness ahead of us,

Wyatt and Kerry took a day off work, and Tate and Gunnar skipped school

so we could make "Adventure Tuesday" possible.

Apparently it was red/pink day and almost everyone got the memo ;D

We could have filled weeks with special activities and outings

and not seen half of what our corner of the state has to offer!

(So much to do!  So much to see!)

Aaaaand we could easily have overwhelmed our friends

with a barrage of EVERYTHING,

when they were already dealing with jet-lag and culture shock.
(Or so I'm told, they sure didn't show it :D)

We tried to strike a balance between low-key days

and "adventure" days.

Looking across Puget Sound at Port Townsend and the Olympic Mountains

I'm so glad Wyatt suggested Fort Casey,

a historical state park in a gorgeous setting.

Disappearing gun in the "up" position

Fort Casey, Fort Ebey, and For Worden formed a protective triangle,

guarding the salt-water route to Seattle and Tacoma.

All three are now state parks with campgrounds.

Disappearing gun in the "down" position

Though we're all interested in history,

... the main attraction for me was my friends :D

I'm so thankful for how seamlessly the kids - from big to small -
blended together and enjoyed the activities and the new friendships.

And the underground bunkers!

Admiralty Head Lighthouse

Love those happy faces!

What a gorgeous day, too!

Fort Casey sits right next to the Coupeville ferry landing, so we saw the ferry shuttling back and forth to Port Townsend through the morning.

We could've stayed there all day, but after a picnic lunch we headed back north to the Deception Pass bridge, and stopped on Pass Island for a look around.

The kids were quick to take off to explore.

The tide was coming in while we were there and I'm amazed
at the volume of water that moves through that narrow channel.

Blue Camas

180 feet above the water.

So much personality!

From there it was just a few minutes to Rosario Beach,

a lesser-known part of Deception Pass State Park.

More exploration requires sustenance,

in the form of "the cookie mountain".

I love this little corner of the park.
It's often much quieter,
and it holds a lot of happy memories for me.
I lived with a host family here during one of my summers
with Reachout Expeditions.

Hard to believe this is the same ocean they live by in the Solomon Islands!

Imagine the next two photos side by side...

There's a wonderful (small) bluff with beautiful little bays on both sides.

It doesn't take long to walk around it,

and the views are totally worth it!

You'd want to hang on to small children though, because there's a 30? 40? foot drop into some very cold and rocky water.

I wasn't really worried about our crew ;D

Aaaand the bay on the other side... lovely :D

And I love the CCC picnic shelters :D

All too soon we were headed back to Chateau Grasshopper, for an early dinner,

leaving time for the master packers to get all their gear ready for a 2:30 am call time.

For some crazy reason I don't have any pictures

of our early morning farewell at the airport!

It was all worth it!

Let's do it again :D