Milk Money and Food4Tots

Washington – Wednesday, August 7

I ended up in Bellingham last night, which is on the water – part of the many inlets, coves and bays of Puget Sound. After I had packed up, I headed toward the water, hoping to find some good walking paths, and I was not disappointed! Tula and I walked almost 4 miles along the water – past a couple marinas, and colorful flowers galore, and around a park on a little peninsula. There was also a memorial to the fishermen who went out to sea and never came back, and I saw the area where the youth sailing program takes place, with about a half dozen little sailboats all lined up for the next class! It was a perfect summer day, and there’s nothing like a good walk by the water on a sunny day!

Then it was time for my donation-of-the-day. I had researched some possibilities on the computer, and read about several programs which are run by the Bellingham Food Bank. I called them and spoke to a lady who told me a bit more about the different programs, and I couldn’t decide which one to support, so I took her suggestion, and made 1/2 my donation to the Milk Money program, and the other half to the Food4Tots program. I drove over to the food bank, and met Nina. She told me that last month over 12,000 people had visited the food bank, and statistics show that roughly 35% of the people in need are children, and they feel strongly about giving milk to as many clients as they can. Sometimes they go through 700 half-gallons a week. They get milk from locally-owned dairies, and get a better price through them than I would be able to get at a store, so my donation was a check, instead of shopping for milk. And the Food4Tots program concentrates on getting baby food, something that is often overlooked in food drives. So I was happy to be able to help a little with those 2 programs.

Then I drove south a bit and headed out to Anacortes, a seaside town on one of the many little islands that dot Puget Sound. Anacortes was a cute little town to walk through, and there was a farmer’s market going on, and I bought some more blueberries and some of the biggest blackberries I’ve ever seen. Yum! I walked another 2 1/2 miles around town – there was a marina here too of course. Anacortes calls itself the salmon canning capital of the world, and even the garbage cans in town are painted like replicas of old-style cans of salmon. I also saw a snagboat, which I’ve never heard of before. In the early 1900s when there were a lot of sternwheel paddleboats in the Puget Sound and its rivers, many of them could navigate through very shallow water. However, there was frequently a lot of debris in the river like sunken logs and rocks and that sort of thing, and those could pierce the hulls of the sternwheelers. So the US began to build snagboats, and their job (with crews up to 14 people) was to keep the rivers and waterways clear of debris, and they had equipment on them that could deal with logjams and any other stuff they night find (including an occasional cow that would wander into a river and not be able to get back out!). I also did a little shopping for some groceries and dog food and ice – I was going to be camping again!

Then I headed for Deception Pass State Park, where I had reserved a campsite a couple hours ago. To get there, I had to cross a couple really high bridges, and I noticed people walking across them, so I figured I would get out and enjoy the view too. The bridges were pretty high up, and the height bothered me a little. I couldn’t enjoy the view and walk at the same time, so I would have to stop every now and then to enjoy the view while clutching the railing! The island was originally said to be a peninsula, mapped out incorrectly by Joseph Whidbey (of Whidbey Island fame) and it was George Vancouver who named the strait Deception Pass because Whidbey’s maps misled him. But, it was a very rocky and dangerous strait, which appeared to be a dead-end, so both men felt the pass had deceived them. After walking across the bridges, and underneath them, and back again, I drove across and the campground was right there on the north end of Whidbey Island. The island is rocky, but is full of tall, beautiful pine trees, and my campsite was nestled in among all the trees. I loved it. Tula and I took a walk around the rest of the campground, and everyone seemed to have nice, spacious sites in the trees. I actually made some pasta with my Jet-Boil for a late dinner, and had a piece of string cheese that melted on top. It seemed to get dark so early, but it was the first night that I’ve camped in total darkness for a long time – I had to pull out my headlamp, lantern and flashlight again!