Mukilteo Musings

Geography Lesson

Puget Sound is a confusing place. Generally, when people from far away think of Seattle, they assume we are stuck up in the corner of the country on the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean is actually three hours away. We are surrounded by salt water but.....it is not the "ocean". It is the Sound and it is full of nooks and crannies and inlets and islands.

Last night was a pretty evening so I took some pictures from our deck of the land masses we see from our house. The first photo is looking north toward Canada. The island in view behind the Mukilteo Ferry is Camano Island. Camano is easily accessible by driving because it is only separated by a teeny bit of water from the mainland and there is a bridge. Camano is home to people who like island living without having to depend on ferries. They also have a significant population of old hippies, commune drop outs, and glass artists.





This is a photo of last night's sunset over Whidbey Island which is directly west. The Mukilteo Ferry leaves from Old Town Mukilteo and travels in about 25 minutes to Clinton on Whidbey. One is able to reach Whidbey by car way up north and again over a bridge but most people travel to and from the mainland by ferry. Whidbey is home to old hippies, wine makers, commune drop outs, pottery artists and old hippie farmers except for Oak Harbor which is full of really conservative military people.





The old hippies, farmers, pottery artists and glass artists from Camano and Whidbey sell their wares at our street fairs. Recently we have had the Pike Place Market Street Fair and the University District Street Fair where I bought the pottery shown above from some old hippie pottery artists who live on Whidbey Island. Both Edmonds and Mukilteo also have Farmer's Markets once a week where the Camano and Whidbey folks sell their delicious honeys, cheeses, and herbs.

The final photo is looking south toward Edmonds. The land mass you see here is the Olympic Peninsula which is a huge land mass between the Seattle metropolitan area with Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean. The Edmonds Ferry (seen here) and the Seattle/Bremerton Ferry take travelers to the Olympic Peninsula which is home to the wild and rugged Olympic Mountains (not seen here because they are hiding) where mountain goats and elk live as well as literary artists. The Edmonds Ferry leaves from downtown Edmonds and takes about 30 minutes to get to Kingston on the other side. The Peninsula is not an island and one is able to drive around Puget Sound and get to the Peninsula by heading south towards Tacoma and Olympia. This takes a very long time so most people take the ferries to reach Bremerton, Silverdale, Poulsbo and Port Ludlow and the many little communities scattered all over.



And you know, I have lived here for 26 years and I still have to ask what it is I am looking at--particularly on clear clear days and never before seen hills and islands appear out of nowhere. Yep, Seattle geography is confusing.