<p>Like the title says, Can you drive over Deception Pass Bridge?</p>
<p>We’ll probably stay in Burlington the night before and night after our whale watch trip, and will head back down south toward the airport for our flight.</p>
<p>Since we can take our time driving down, thought we’d sightsee a little along the way.</p>
<p>I found a Deception Pass Boat Tour but it seems you may actually drive over the bridge to get to the departure site.</p>
<p>Is this correct, you can actually drive over the bridge? And even though it would be a detour from the interstate down to Seatac, would that be a scenic route?</p>
<p>Since I don’t have a month, but I wish I did, would like to see as much as we can without going out of our way.</p>
<p>Looks like we’ll probably stick with the Marriott properties, even though not as charming as some of the inns y’all have so graciously suggested, but it’s something the family is familiar with and the Burlington property does have family friendly restaurants nearby.</p>
<p>No hurry to check into the Seatac hotel, just as long as we get there in time to get all packed up and good night’s sleep before our eight hour plane ride.</p>
<p>We lived in Anacortes. Whales were best in late summer; we never saw any though they can be seen from Washington Park in Anacortes. We are also the only people in the world who never saw a moose in Yellowstone either though.</p>
<p>You can drive over the Deception Pass bridge; you can also walk across it. There are parking areas at both ends where you can park and walk out on the bridge. You can also walk under it at each end. The water is very deep and can be very swift. The south side has several hiking trails and you can usually spot eagles flying overhead. </p>
<p>Burlington is about a 20 minute drive from Anacortes; depending on the time of day, it can be a bit longer.</p>
<p>If you have time, drive east on either highway 20 out of Sedro-Wooley or highway 542 out of Bellingham into the mountains. Highway 542 ends at Artist Point, which is a beautiful view if it isn’t foggy. There was still snow off both roads, even in July. </p>
<p>A whale watch tour would take pretty much a whole day, no matter where it is from. </p>
<p>Olympic Park is impossible to do in one day, but you could easily hit the Hurricane Ridge section, and possibly one or two others.</p>
<p>You can see the flying fish right inside the main Pike Place entrance and not even have to go into the rest of the market. I second Ivars.</p>
<p>You are from Louisiana? You will probably be cold, unless there is an unusual heat wave. I wore jeans and sweatshirts pretty much year round (Texan). They think 75 is unbearable up there. The water is cold year round, even the natives don’t swim much in it. It will be cold and windy out on a boat. </p>
<p>If you don’t want to spend the time and money on a whale tour (esp. that early in the season), you can often see them from the Anacortes-San Juan Islands ferries if they are around. </p>
<p>The Seattle-Anacortes drive is very boring. I’d second the Whidbey route either coming or going, though it will be slower going. We could get from Anacortes to the airport in less than 2 hours (usually 1 1/2 hours) via 20/I5, but it was a good hour to the Keystone ferry down 20, which is only halfway down the island. Mulkiteo is at the far end of the island.</p>
<p>Yes, returning to Seattle by way of Whidbey Island is what I recommended to you earlier. If you are going to stay in Burlington both nights then you will have to just go back to the west on 20 and then go south over the bridge and onto Whidbey. Drive down Whidbey and then catch the Clinton ferry to Mukilteo.</p>
<p>Or you could go up to the Anacortes area by way of Whidbey and return on I-5 if that suits your schedule better. Going on I-5 both ways will be not so interesting and you’ll miss Whidbey and your ferry ride.</p>
<p>There is an excellent place to stop for lunch on Whidbey halfway down the island–Greenbank Farm. They have good soup and sandwiches and are famous for their wonderful homemade pie.</p>
<p>Mt Rainier is beautiful, but it is a long drive, and extremely long day. I don’t know if I’d recommend it unless you’re really into hiking or have more time. And there are hikes in the Cascades much closer. Space Needle is only worth it if it is a beautiful day, and you can get a great 360 degree view. Forget their food. Stay away from the Solstice parade, unless you are interested in viewing naked bikers and skaters who paint their genitals and skate in and out of the crowd. I’d bet 90% of those creeps are molesters. You’re going at a good time of year, but yes, take a jacket. Ferry rides are great, Argosy cruises on the Lake are not that interesting. Museum of Flight and Boeing tours are fascinating if you are interested in aviation, you can even see an SR-71 up close. Sci Fi museum and Experience Music Project-we found that kind of boring (and I’m even a trekkie).</p>
<p>This site has the geeky stuff in Seattle:[The</a> Geek’s Guide to Seattle](<a href=“http://www.seattletechtour.com/]The”>http://www.seattletechtour.com/)
but I don’t think Nintendo offers anything as far as an official tour. It’s just a tiny museum, to my understanding. Take the kids to Gameworks in downtown Seattle, if they get restless sightseeing. Then the adults can walk around downtown Seattle, Pike Place market while the kids are video gaming away, everyone’s happy!</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the great tips. Rather than take the boat ride on Deception Pass, maybe we’ll just do the drive y’all suggest. I do worry about doing a boat ride the day before getting on a plane.</p>
<p>I’m looking forward to our whale tour out of Anacortes, even if we don’t see whales. It will be great just to see birds and be on the water. Being on a boat is not a bad way to spend a day, imo.</p>
<p>As for outerwear, I will be ordering from Lands End soon. Have some gear for son already, as he had hoped to attend Marquette, but is instead attending Bama, so glad to hear that won’t go to waste.</p>
<p>Oh, and I am definitely looking forward to that homemade pie place. </p>
<p>If we can drive onto the ferry, drive through Whidbey and stop for some pie on our way down to Seatac, that should make a nice final day for our trip.</p>
<p>Busdriver - agree with you about the nekkid bikers and EMP, but do not neccessarily agree about the Mt. Rainier drive. We have done it many times, and every time our guests were extremely impressed! In June, there will still be some snow in Paradise. The alpine meadow blooming season is in August.</p>
<p>Speaking of mountains… If Mt. Rainier drive looks too intimidating for you, you can take Hwy 2 to Stevens Pass and Leavenworth, the bavarian-style village. There is some hiking around Leavenworth, and the scenery is beautiful. We took our Bavarian-born German exchange student there, and she was impressed that the village looked pretty authentic to her (ditto about the food - she enjoyed her lunch at the Andreas Keller, which made the “Top 1000 places to visit in the US”).</p>
<p>Oh, totally forgot to mention another local landmark - Snoqualmie Falls! The Lodge by the Falls has a very good restaurant, and thank goodness, it has not been turned into a casino!!</p>
<p>You will love the pie! The restaurant is called Whidbey Pies Cafe. You can also buy whole pies there, and everyone for miles around gets them for holidays. They sell dozens and dozens of pies on Fourth of July. They always have several different kinds, mostly fruit. It’s just a little way off the main highway through the island.</p>
<p>Husband and I are laughing at all the hiking tips. We are all very overweight and are not into hiking. A driving tour is going to be our speed. </p>
<p>Montegut: you can drive around Mt. Rainier without doing any hiking at all and still enjoy the scenery! There are pullouts for people to get out of their vehicles to take stunning pictures and there are picnic tables to sit around and relax. Our senior visitors appreciated this very much.</p>
<p>I haven’t read closely enough to know what pie place others are suggesting, but
[Greenbank</a> Farm • Whidbey Island, Washington](<a href=“Loading...”>Loading...)
is wonderful.
Plus, if you are interested, they make berry wines. The loganberry wine poured over berries takes dessert to another plane.</p>
<p>Even if you don’t want to walk far, try Fort Ebey state park. Dramatic views and interesting stuff within a few hundred yards of parking. My kids got a huge kick out of the graphic warning signs about the dangers of undercut beaches. If you can walk a bit, drive around north of the main enterance and you can pull off nearly underneath the beautiful bridge and walk down to the (rocky) beach. Some chances along the way to get a family “tree-hugger” photo around the base of a tree that would take 6 or 8 people to surround.<br>
[Washington</a> State Parks and Recreation Commission - Park Information](<a href=“http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=Fort%20Ebey]Washington”>http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=Fort%20Ebey)</p>
<p>If you get to the water, the pebble-hunting is amazing and you can introduce your family to “wish-rocks” If a pebble has a circle of white or dark all the way around, it’s a “wish rock”. Stand with your back to the water, make a wish and throw it over your shoulder. If it lands in the water, you will get your wish. (Unless your wish is to not have to tour any more colleges with your parents!)</p>
<p>We would love to see Mount Rainier while in the Seattle area and are not hikers.</p>
<p>We will be staying in the Lake Union area.</p>
<p>I went to the Mount Rainier state park website and there are many entrances to the park.</p>
<p>Looking for a scenic drive that would take us to points in the park where we could park our car and get out to get a nice view of Mount Rainier, maybe take some pictures.</p>
<p>We are from New Orleans and not used to driving in mountains at all, so a less “treacherous” route".</p>
<p>Bunsen Burner, you mentioned that Mount Rainier was senior friendly and had pullouts. Can you suggest a route to enter the park from the Lake Union area?</p>
<p>You can <em>see</em> Mount Rainier from many places in Seattle–if it’s not raining. I have a friend who worked occasionally for Microsoft from 1984 to 2008. He came to Seattle five times a year for a week at a time; the first time he saw The Mountain was in 2001.</p>
<p>It’s a huge mountain and can be seen for more than 70 miles.</p>
<p>I’m not clear on what you mean by pullouts. If you want to see views of any of our fine NW volcanoes, you can see them for great distances on a clear day. However… it’s not often that clear. (I see Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens on my way to work some days. That’s called a “two-mountain day” here in Portland.)</p>
<p>If instead you mean you want to drive up the side of the mountain and then get out and look at it up close… not so easy. The mountains are NOT that close to the cities. It’s a two hour drive from Seattle to the park entrance for Mt. Rainier. Also, if you’re gone by the Solstice… the roads that go near the top may not even be open yet. That snow up there? Those are glaciers.</p>
<p>(One of my first memories is of riding a horse up Mt. Rainier in 1959 (with my family). It was August and it was so cold I was crying and the tears were freezing on my face.)</p>
<p>There is no need to stop at every point mentioned in this ^^ link. You don’t even have to get out of the car to enjoy the scenery, but I highly recommend stopping in Paradise to stroll around (you can do it in flip flops if you wish). Narada Falls is another great picture taking opportunity. The mountain is much, much more spectacular up close thsan from a distance!</p>
Our senior visitors appreciated this very much.</p>