Was This Really a Sharp Idea?: Our Last Good-bye to Oak Harbor

We would love to return to Whidbey Island again and explore some more. There was still so much we didn't get to. Turns out 3 months just wasn't long enough.

The day or so before we moved, we went on one last hike. Just a short, near by one was all we could spare the time for.

Well, first of we had to get the kids past the playground.

Then, on to the hike.

Enjoying the view.

And this is the view we were all enjoying.

My kids being goofy while hiking is becoming a trend. (Okay, it's not just while hiking).

When the hike was over, we headed back to this... a house half packed. With each box we loaded our sadness over leaving grew.

We couldn't help but think about all the fun we've had here, like climbing on driftwood (Logan's absolute favorite thing to do),

and discovering driftwood forts.

Check out how long this piece of diftwood is. I'm standing near the top, taking the picture and Logan, at the other end, still isn't to the end yet.

We also enjoyed observing the change in tides in the harbor. Here's an example of low tide.

And here's the same view at high tide. That's a pretty dramatic difference.

The rocks in the foreground of this low tide picture...

are practically covered during high tide.

The kids also loved to wade at high tide.

And they are really going to miss Windjammer Park.

Logan asked to go there every. single. time. we left the house.

And Taylor made friends with this cement seal.

The park was only about half a mile down a gravel path. We went there often. Very often.

So we were not in the best of moods when it came time to go pick up the moving truck. Okay, okay, it was me. I wasn't in the best of moods.

We were kept entertained though by this Navy plane that flew over several times, doing take-off and landing practice.

Speaking of airplanes, that is another unique aspect of Oak Harbor.

There was the sound of airplanes all the time. At first, we would always stop whatever we were doing and crane our necks to try to see the plane, but they went by so frequently we stopped doing that, at least when we were indoors.

The P-3 was kind of slow and quiet. I happened upon a place where they were flying overhead, getting ready to land. They were slow enough that I was able to get several close-up shots.

The Growler jets, on the other hand were very difficult to photograph. They are so fast.

They are very loud too. We would hear their sound and look in front of it to spot the planes or see the planes quietly pass by and then wait for the roar.

This is the closest shot I could manage of the Navy Growler. It was flying low to the ground, getting ready to land or just taking off, while we were at Cub Scout Day Camp. The sound was deafening. We had to stop kids in the middle of their skits because the noise was too overwhelming.

And speaking now of noises from above, the seagulls were nearly as loud as the planes. Well... maybe not, but they were more numerous, that's for sure. Those specks in the sky are seagulls!

It's a miracle that I lived in Oak Harbor for 3 months and never got pooped on! You kind of learn to stay away from their hangouts, and you can always tell where a seagull hangs out.

Once, when I was just walking toward the park, minding my own business, I heard a loud splat right next to me and a seagull was flying by! Whew! That was a close one.