Thursday, July 28, 2016

Camping at Deception Pass State Park

Less than two hours south of Surrey, BC is a beautiful state park that has both a lake and the Pacific Ocean to explore: Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island.   As a child my parents took us to this campground and it was even the location of the very first date that Gary planned for us! 


We only had one night at the campground but we made the most of it! We were able to check in by 12 PM which was great.  Gary and Kai set up the tent (yay for 10-year-olds) while I took Nya and Koen on a five minute walk to the lake.  Site 110 rocks location-wise in case you were wondering.





Once Gary and Kai met us at the lake we went for a little walk around the sand dunes on the nicely paved path.


We came across this tree–apparently it is a Douglas Fir!  Now this is a climbing tree I'd love in our backyard. Well, if we had a yard big enough for this guy.








Right before we left for our camping trip, Gary bought a new pot set (MSR Flex 4 System) that included dishes that fit inside.  We each have our own colour plate and cups–I love that they have tops to them too!


After a quick snack we went on a walk/hike to the bridge.  It's about 1 mile in each direction and I used to do this walk when I was little too! Nya was able to do the whole thing; I was worried about her because she had a fever for the two days before we left but she seemed totally fine while we were there.








The kids don't love hiking but they are so good at it and it helps to expend their energy.  Besides, I love spending time together like that.



After dinner, Gary taught the kids how to build a fire and we had some marshmallows.



Finally, it was off to the beach (just a five minute walk from our site!) to play and watch the sun go down.  The kids had a blast and this was probably the highlight of the day for them...especially the boys.







I hope we can make this a family tradition and return each year.  It's affordable, close by, and enjoyable–what else could we ask for?  Otherwise, I'd love to come with Gary and try out some more hikes and enjoy some adult beverages while cuddled amongst blankets watching the sun set!


The kids loved having all five of us in a tent together.  Koen especially loves all the cuddles and wanted to sleep holding my hand.  The one downside is that there is a military base a few miles away and some extremely loud jets were flying until 10:30 PM which I had not experienced before.  Not ideal but once they stopped, we had a great night sleep!


Deception Pass is a great place to go to if you're wanting nice private spots with the option of lake swimming and beach exploring.  There are many trails and we saw deer numerous times.  So thankful for a great time camping–I'll take short but sweet!

Do you have a favourite place to camp?

Love, 
Louise

PS Here's the first "real" date when we were at Deception Pass.  Gary said "Look off into the distance" so we did. 



7 comments:

  1. Great photos of your short but sweet camping trip and I like the retro photo of you and Gary too.

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    1. Thank you, Carol :) Glad we have some photos from back in the day. So different from these days when everyone has a camera everywhere they go!

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  2. This looks AMAZING!!! Wow! that tree is so incredible - it would be so great to have that in our backyard!
    Ok...you guys took a picture of yourselves on your first 'real' date? that's hilarious and awesome!

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    1. Hilarious, awesome and AWKWARD!!!

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  3. STUNNING photos! I'd love to see the coast there as I've never driver down the coast south of Vancouver before. Looks like you had a blast, with lots of memory making moments.

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    1. So kind, Nancy! Such a beautiful area relatively close to home--you'll have to check it out next time you're here!

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  4. The planes were crazy!! But also cool, and lucky for us slowed down after the first night.

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