Labor Day 2012- a trip to Baby Island

Since the weather was supposed to be good on Labor Day, we planned to spend the day in the boat with the children.  Our plan was to head up to Baker Lake.  It's about 1 1/2 hours to get to the lake, but we figured it would be large enough (almost 10 miles long) to accommodate the Labor Day crowds and not end up with really rough water.  We wanted to spend the whole day playing in the boat and on the water and Baker Lake has lots of beaches where Dode could dump the little people and me off for a break.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth woke up sick Monday morning.  She didn't feel  up to going out in the boat so she ended up staying home.  The weather was cool and overcast so we decided to switch plans at the last minute and head for the salt water.  The children were really invested in going out in the boat and we figured you don't need hot sunny skies to enjoy the Puget Sound.

The children have been wanting to see Baby Island since Dode surveyed it in the spring.  (details here) You can get information about the background of Baby Island and see some historical photos on that post.

We launched from the Tulalip Marina and headed off under dark skies towards the island.  The Puget Sound was smooth and calm.  Miriam was demanding one thing, "Blow up the tube and let us play!"  I wouldn't let her because I had visions of her getting soaked and cold and then being miserable for the rest of the day.  As we approached the island, about an hour's ride, the sun broke through the clouds.  We saw some strange lumps on the beach that Dode didn't remember from last time.  A large herd of seals was sunning themselves on the beach.  There were at least 40 seals on the beach as well as 10-20 swimming around in the shallow waters all around the island.  It was amazing to see!  Dode's first comment was, "Elizabeth would have loved seeing this!"  Elizabeth is our nature/wildlife lover, it's too bad she wasn't feeling up to coming along.

What are those brownish lumps near the water's edge?

Seals!

They love to hang out in pike position, it doesn't look very relaxing to me! 

This one looks just like a golden retriever playing in the water to me.

The seal is resting on a rock that is just beneath the water.

Miriam kept her life jacket on to help her stay warm.

rocky beaches=crab hunting

We landed on the island and quickly noticed that that many seals are pretty stinky.  We made sure to remain upwind of them!  The children set to work exploring the island.  You can walk all the way around it in about three minutes!  (Dode says it can be done in one minute but it took me longer.)  

Miriam enjoyed getting to see the sea shell beach that is unique to this island with her own eyes.  We spent a lot of time watching the seals.   They liked to hang out right on the water's edge.  The tide was going out so every few minutes, the whole herd would schooch forward.

Looking North.  There is one "tree" on the island.

I was sure there had to be a geocache on the island since it seems like geocaches are everywhere.   We had nothing better to do with our day, I figured we could easily find the cache.  Dode used his phone to check, we learned there wasn't.  If I would have known that ahead of time, I would have brought one with me.

As the tide went out,  more of the sandy penninsula that connects the island to the mainland at very low tide was exposed.  Miriam hadn't brought any shoes along and was regretting it as she tried to get around on the island, hurting her feet on barnacles, broken shells, and thorns.  Once she got to the sandy penninsula, she took off running and enjoyed splashing in the water.

We lazed around on the island for a few hours before headed back toward home.  My two teenagers laying prone on the sand reminded me of some of the other island visitors!

The children wanted to tube behind the boat so Dode filled it up and they had the longest tube ride of their lives.  The water was really smooth near the island but as we went farther south, it got rougher.  They caught air more than once!  Anastaya thought the salt water getting splashed into her face tasted terrible.  As we approached the marina, Dode kept me entertained with a running commentary about what he knew about the various waterfront properties.  William was yelling up from the tube, "Dad!  You missed the turn!" as we did some touring around the edge of the reservation.

Isaac loved his wind blown look!

We met up with Elizabeth at Dode's grandparents (Sharon had stopped in earlier and picked her up) where we enjoyed a BBQ with his extended family.  She was feeling mostly better by then.  She was a bit upset with me that we hadn't gotten home from boating and gone directly to her.  We'd spent about an hour unpacking the boat, putting things away, and relaxing.

Our trip to Baby Island was a success.  We experienced no mechanical failures or rough water.  We launched and retrieved relatively painlessly (and then got to watch another group struggle and swear as they tried to retrieve their boat.  Boat launches make great entertainment!).  The children got to play behind the boat and we got to get out and enjoy the sunshine.