Cabin Fever

WOODSY: For Father's Day, instead of letting Christian take it easy, we decided to rough it - well, at least just a little.

We rented a cabin at Cama Beach State Park.  It's on the southwest shore of Camano Island facing Saratoga Passage. Per its Web site, "Cama Beach offers visitors a chance to step back in time to a 1930s-era Puget Sound fishing resort complete with waterfront cedar cabins and bungalows."

I can't vouch for its authenticity compared to a 1930s-era fishing resort, but it was a nice place to escape for a night. 

The woods were verdant, and the water was pretty. Here was our 'dining room' table on Sunday night. We ate steak, which the kids kinda sorta helped barbecue, and salad. We also played a miserable game of Pandemic. I think we were doomed within the first 10 minutes. 

We had a super fancy cabin, in that it had a bathroom and a microwave and a refrigerator. Pretty sure that's not 1930s fishing resort authentic. However, the compressor on the refrigerator  sounded like a 1930s steam-powered compression engine, and it kept me awake for most of the night. 

There is a Center for Wooden Boats at the park. We're familiar with their Seattle center, right down on Lake Union. They had boat rentals there, but we didn't partake due to a pretty hefty price tag. 

The center did have a cool table with a spotting mechanism that helped us figure out what was where from our vantage point.

This morning, Saratoga Passage was super calm. The beach isn't easy to stroll, as it's covered in fist-sized rocks, which are covered with barnacles and seaweed.  It's definitely a watch-your-step trek.

There wasn't much boat traffic in the area. Every boat we did see motor by looked to be a small crabbing vessel. There were lots of buoys out in the water, marking the crab pots below. Depths in Saratoga Passage range from about 600 feet at the southeastern entrance to about 90 feet near Crescent Harbor.

After we broke 'camp' this morning around 9 a.m., we headed to a park practically next door, Camano Island State Park.  A sprawling gem with lots of green space in its 134-acres ...

plus 6,700 feet of rocky shoreline, there are dozens of pretty campsites and we loved the beach there. The rocks were pebble sized and easy to walk. 

We hung out down by the boat launch for awhile. The weather was PERFECT and we had the place to ourselves.

ON THE WAY THERE: We love using the Internet to seek out interesting eateries on our adventures. On Sunday, Father's Day lunch ended up being at Leatherheads, a converted firehouse in Stanwood.

The staff was friendly, the ambiance was great, and the food was tasty and reasonable. It was a good stop.  

ON THE WAY HOME:  On the way back to town today, we hopped off I-5 at Everett, so we could take the more scenic route along the water for awhile.

As we were heading for the shoreline, I spotted a small sign with an arrow to our right pointing us toward Sen. Henry Jackson Park. Without hesitation, we headed that way. I figured the most famous/arguably greatest senator in state history had to have a frickin' awesome park, right?

Well, maybe notsomuch. ...

Yikes, right? In fairness, there was a ballfield there, but still. THIS is Scoop Jackson's park? Hmm. ... Maybe there's another Scoop Jackson park in another part of the state. ...

We also stopped at the gorgeous American Legion Memorial Park. It's situated in a bluff overlooking Port Gardner Bay. There's a great viewpoint for the largest  saltwater nesting osprey colony on the Pacific west coast. There are 26 nests in the area, including the one in the photo below. We could see one osprey hanging out in it. 

Meanwhile, another osprey put on a show for us overhead.

It was a fun 26 hours.