Christmas Refreshment

For my money, the perfect antidote to the classic day-after-Christmas extravagance hangover is a walk in the woods. My three younger daughters and our holiday house guest headed up to Deception Pass for some fresh air and soul-satisfying views. 

We started with a bit of hiking in the woods near the bridge; with really no plan in mind, we found ourselves on the neat and friendly Goose Rock Summit Trail

^ Despite her tropical blood, Nhu was a backwoods trooper. Layered up in plenty of warm weather gear, she happily marched along our wooded trails and gasped at the size of our massive PNW rain-fed fir trees.

^ Grace too was two-thumbs up for a day on the trail. As usual, she exuberantly led our group up the trail, periodically circling back to make sure the rest of us were still coming. Bless my patient fourth-born's heart for accommodating this redundant journey.

 ^ Many photographs were taken.

^ I managed to capture this red pom-pom in the corner of a couple of my shots, which turned out to be quite a happy accident. How can you really go wrong with a red pom-pom?

^ Gracie posed for some model shots. 

^ And in due time, we had looped back around to the bridge and ventured out into a blustery wind to check out the ever-mind-blowing views.

 ^ The story goes that British explorers were fooled into thinking that the southern side of this wild passage was a peninsula attached to the mainland. When the captain discovered that he had in fact sailed between two islands, he permanently celebrated his mistake by naming this Deception Pass. She is better know nowadays for her shockingly swift currents and gorgeous turquoise water.

^ The views through the Madrona trees are stunning enough, 

^ but the open vistas of land, sea and sky take my breath away every time. I reckon I've visited here a good twenty times in my life, and I never fail to fall in love with this view all over again, every time I come. 

However, with the thermometer reading 37 degrees F and a blustery wind sweeping in off the Strait of Juan de Fuca, I fell in love quickly and raced back to the car before the hypothermia set in. 

^ See this little tip of land? On the far side lies West Beach, and that is our final destination for the day. 

^ My youngest takes a turn with Gracie on the beach while I quickly snap off a stream of photos, then she hands off the leash to me. I switched to Gracie's long leash so she could wander more freely, and yes, she did manage to wade out into the icy water. 

^ As my dog and I wandered up and dwon the wet sand, a pale winter sun sparkled across the water. With sunset falling at 4:22 p.m. we did not have much time to linger on our Deception Pass adventure but the time spent in this lovely spot did much to revive our overly-stimulated Christmas souls and thus refreshed, we headed back home for more celebration. 

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Our 2019 Christmas adventures:

What Matters About Christmas

Another Happy Christmas Morn

Christmas Refreshment