In the visitor parking lot, there was a kiosk for a boat tour through the pass. In tourist mode, I signed right up. I love being on the water, so $20 was a fair trade going through the pass. The dock was a short 2.5 mile drive from the bridge with the directions concisely and cleverly printed on the back of the ticket.
This day trip highlighted a need for more essentials to be kept in my car. A raincoat, umbrella, blanket, polar fleece & water are always available. Must add the following:
- Set of binoculars in the glove compartment (2 pairs were in my office at home)
- A hair brush and ponytail holder
- Extra sunscreen (brought with me but too easy to forget)
- Sun hat & winter tuke
- Handy wipes
In our travels we ran into several geese, a harbor seal, a california sea lion, 3 eagles in a territory dispute, 2 facons and a small shy pod of harbor porpoises. Without the zoom my photos didn't fair too well. It was thrilling to interact with nature. I loved watching the seal & sea lion frolic. The guides gave a good mix of history, local tales and marine life trivial. One of my fellow passengers was trying hard to impress with her knowledge of wildlife. Luckily, the views made it easy to tune her out. The ride through the pass and out to get a broader view of the neighboring islands was well worth the admission.
Despite 3 applications of sunscreen, I still got sunburn from the water reflection. Missed my sunhat dearly!
Side note: what is it in us land-locked humans that needs to enthusiastically wave at boats and vice versa to see if they wave back. Everyone with big, overly dramatic, deliberate waves. Kinda sweet and comforting actually.
POSTCARDS - from the Water @ Deception Pass
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