Orcas Island, WA

The marine layer was so dense this morning, as I, again, drove on the Deception Pass Bridge. It was completely fogged out, with only about 50 ft. visibility. What a difference a day makes, and I am indeed lucky to have had the view the day before. I continued through Fidelgo Island. There was going to be nothing I could see through the fog, on this island, so I made it decision to carry on to catch the ferry to Orcas Island. But only after encountering several deer. Oh my goodness, I thought new York State was bad for deer encounters, but like I've mentioned before, I've never seen so many deer concentrated in this area. And not just at dawn or dusk. These little guys have black tails versus NY white tails. I am always in the defensive driving mode.

I managed to squeeze on the 10:20 ferry ride, which took an hour and a half to get to Orcas Island.  It was still quite foggy, but it quickly lifted and turned into bright sunny skies. I was referred to the small town of Eastsound Village, and had lunch at the Brown Bear Bakery. Yes, more baked goods. I had a slice of poppy seed coffee cake. It tasted a lot like how my mother would have made it. There were several galleries and shops in town that I visited, but I wanted to get further up the road to seek accommodations.

I went on to Moran State Park, with the hopes of yet again getting camping space inside the park. There were 5 available spaces, and I selected one with a pretty view of Cascade Lake.

I stopped in the town of Olga, visited a pottery shop, as well as a 40 artist's co-op gallery. These shops were literally in the middle of nowhere, in very rural space. The co-op had some really fine works, was very diverse, and represented all media. There was one piece, white porcelain flowers, glued to a white stem,  then mounted to a square wooden white base. I haven't created my porcelain flowers in many years, but this certainly gave me some new inspiration!

I wanted to take advantage of the gorgeous warm and clear weather, so I decided to take the drive up towards Constitution Mountain. The elevation is  as high as my home town of Cave Creek, about 2400 feet. But I could still feel my ears popping as I made the nearly 5 mile steep climb straight up a tight, switchback road. The view is exactly what I had hoped it would be on this clear day with bright white clouds. I could see several white caped mountains, including Mt. Baker, looking towards the mainland. I did get a flashback deja vu of Cadillac Mountain in Maine.


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