Time flies! It has been 2 years since we got married. Originally, Ri was suppose to go to sunny SoCal for some work training right around the day of our anniversary and we planned to visit LA and perhaps San Diego for a few days. But that trip got canceled, thus we had to improvise and come up with a way to celebrate on short notice. Out of all the major islands on the Puget Sound, I had been to Bainbridge Island and Lopez Island both on 4th of July on 2 separate years for our biking/camping trips with the gang (Lopez was super biker friendly and flat, Bainbridge island, on the other hand, was a mistake. They don’t call it the Chilly Hilly for no reason). Once, both of us went to Orcas Island for a church retreat. Which leaves San Juan Island, Camano Island, Vashon Island, and Whidbey Island.We decided to go to Whidbey Island primarily because of a deal running on Living Social for this inn for 2 consecutive nights.
Canon eos 60d 18mm f/3.5 1/15sec iso 4000 lr adjusted
canon eos 60d 18mm f/3.5 1/60sec iso 1250 LR adjusted
The weather was looking pretty good. Continuing with my RAW shooting, I packed all my gears and a bag full of sweet delicious oranges (courtesy of Ri’s mom) and headed out directly from work on a Friday afternoon. Went up North on I-5 to Mt. Vernon and took 20 West to go back down through Oak Harbor into the Penn Cove where this gem of a B&B resides.
Penn cove
CANON EOS 60D 18MM F/22 1/50SEC ISO 640 LR ADJUSTED
CANON EOS 60D 18MM F/3.5 1/60SEC ISO 160 LR ADJUSTED
As for the previously promised Lightroom development, here goes: after our trip to Forks, I sat down in front of our computer and tried to toy with the Adobe Photoshop Element that Ri has. I attempted to open up my CR2 files with no avail because his edition of Photoshop Element does not accept CR2s. Now what? I can’t just start shooting RAW and have no way to edit my RAW files! So after a few quick scans on the internet (he is really good at this), Ribbit the sweetheart purchased Lightroom for me. Tehehe. Also a worthy mention to Anthony Morganti and his really in depth Youtube videos, I can now very proudly present my photos here. Obviously, there are still so many things to learn with this powerful editing tool, but I think I have gotten to a place where I can look at my own photos and say “I think this looks professional”. Yay! So Thank you, Mr. Morganti.
Now, back to the trip itself. We got one of those lagoon rooms (aptly named because our window faces 2 lagoons) primarily because it comes with a private bathroom. They also had some less expensive rooms in the main lodge, but those rooms have creaky floors and a shared bathroom. Just the thought of shared bathroom brings me back to my dormitory days and unpleasant feelings consequently bubble up to the surface. No, we will pay more to have our bathroom, thank you very much. As soon as we entered the door, to our surprise, we realized there was no tv. I know, such a trivial thing, it shouldn’t make that much of a difference, right? right? I thought to myself “well, this is gonna be interesting, but we are on vacation, so we are suppose to just vacate ourselves, get away from the daily distractions of the world and focus on the simple pleasure of the picturesque scenery”. It’s just one of those things you take for granted, and in its absence, you come to see how much time it has occupied in your everyday life. I’m still trying to convince myself that this is a good thing and adjust my expectations when Ri found super fast wifi in our room, and that thought of “vacating oneself” just quickly vanished into thin air.
The weather was beautifully cooperating the next morning, we drove out to Fort Ebey State Park and saw stunning views of mountains so crisp in the morning air just beyond the waters. Almost all the roads in this area have Spanish names, the houses aren’t super fancy, the town itself is far away from the closest Metropolitan city, but this view! This view is why people stay here. This view is why we felt so reluctant when we drove away. This view will most likely be the reason we visit again in the future.
CANON EOS 60D 47MM F/13 1/640SEC ISO 640 LR ADJUSTED
To get on with the agenda for the day, we headed north towards Oak Harbor in search for Deception Pass. We entered the Deception Pass State Park and went to North Beach to hike by the ocean along the Pacific NW Trail to West Point. It is around this area we found ourselves staring at the Deception Pass Bridge. If you look closely, you can see there are 2 sections of the bridge spanning the length of Pass Island in the middle. It is said that Caption Vancouver was ‘deceived’ into thinking that Whidbey Island was a peninsula, and later named this island after his first mate Joseph Whidbey for mapping this area. In the State of Washington, Whidbey Island is the largest isand, followed by Orcas Island.
canon eos 60d 36mm f/13 1/160sec iso 100 lr adjusted
After a brief stop, at Ri’s insistence, at Seabolt’s Smokehouse Delicatessen for a rather scrumptious lunch, we returned to the Deception Pass Bridge and hiked down to the bottom where the bridge meets the water. The bridge spans 976 feet, and prior to the completion of Deception Pass Bridge in 1935, travelers would take the inter-islands ferry from Fidalgo to Whidbey Island. We spent the rest of the day racing the slowly disappearing sunlight in search of a trail I had gone on with my Biology class at UW. Ri is afraid of heights, so big props to him for making it across the bridge to the other side and back!
canon eos 60d 18mm f/5.6 1/160sec iso 100 LR adjusted taken on Pass island
Canon eos 60d 18mm f/5.6 1/320sec ISo 160 lr adjusted
CANON EOS 60D 18MM F/11 1/125SEC ISO 125 LR ADJUSTED
CANON EOS 60D 18MM F/18 1/50SEC ISO 100 LR ADJUSTED
CANON EOS 60D 18MM F/5.6 1/40SEC ISO 250 LR ADJUSTED
CANON EOS 60D 18MM F/3.5 1/40SEC ISO 1250 LR ADJUSTED
We ended this night with dining in the main lodge of the Captain Whidbey Inn since our package included a $25 dining credit from the restaurant. We shared Hunter’s Chicken and it was evilly delicious.
We got up bright and early the next morning to cloudy weather. Might as well, we were planning on leaving Whidbey Island that day. Before taking the ferry home from Mukilteo, we stopped by the Admiralty Head Lighthouse inside of Fort Casey State Park. This marine camping park has a sweeping views of Admiralty Inlet and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The admiralty Inlet was considered strategic to the defense of Puget Sound in the 1800s. Along with Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island and Fort Worden at Port Townsend, this “Triangle of Fire” was built on the theory that the 3 fortresses would thwart any invasion attempt by sea. We saw these massive historic canons called “the disappearing guns” lining the coast nestling in a row of military bunkers. The Admiralty Head Lighthouse guided sailors coming in to Puget Sound since 1861 with its fourth-order lens, lighted with a whale oil lamp, visible 16 miles out to sea over a 270 degree area.
CANON EOS 60D 24MM F/6.3 1/400SEC ISO 100 LR ADJUSTED
CANON EOS 60D 18MM F/6.3 1/200SEC ISO 100 LR ADJUSTED
CANON EOS 60D 18MM F/6.3 1/160SEC ISO 100 LR ADJUSTED
CANON EOS 60D 32MM F/6.3 1/800SEC ISO 100 LR ADJUSTED
Last but but least, Ri and I had a photo war, where we rapidly trying to take pictures of one another. LOL. I kept complaining about every time we go on a trip, I’m always the one taking the pictures, so in every single trip it looks like Ri went everywhere by himself. Here is my favorite picture of him, sometimes he is just SO CUTE! Ohh and that last one is my yoga pose of the day.
CANON EOS 60D 18MM F/3.5 1/1000SEC ISO 1000 LR ADJUSTED
CANON EOS 60D 18MM F/6.3 1/640SEC ISO 160 LR ADJUSTED
Quick but MAJOR shoutout to LL: thank you for showing me the astonishing tool that is the presets in Lightroom! I really like editing my own landscape photos, but am never much of a portrait person. While I was struggling with editing portraits or just pictures with people in it, LL made my life so much easier by teaching me about presets! So, almost all the portraits photos on this trip (and most likely in the future) will be edited with presets!
Thanks for reading! Til next time!