Day 1 (June 23): A Solid Start

First, a quick recap:

• We pulled away from the curb in front of our house at 10:18am, having set 10 as an ideal and 11 as a realistic target. Pretty good!
• We got stuck in our first traffic jam of the day because the Interstate Bridge (which carries I-5 over the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington) was lifted for boat traffic.
• Elise found us lunch at Tugboat Annie's on the waterfront in Olympia. After we ate, we explored the marina and saw schools of fish and a few jellyfish. Apparently we had missed a seal having its lunch just an hour earlier.
• We had about 3 hours of driving after lunch, including our second major traffic jam (construction-related), which took us through Seattle and Everett and finally over Deception Pass and onto Whidbey Island.
• We arrived at our beautiful rental home near Sunset Beach, outside Oak Harbor (Washington). Henry and Lily immediately began hunting from crabs under rocks on the beach while Ali and Cate discovered the hot tub.
• Dinner was takeout from Alfy's Pizza, which gave me an opportunity to buy enough groceries for breakfast.
• There's a "gale forecast" warning and the winds whipping the water are pretty spectacular. We had arrived just after low tide, high tide was just after 10 and we're going to enjoy a prolonged pair of low tides tomorrow. 

Second, here are some pictures from the day:

Third, here are a few observations:

1. I can't believe the van got loaded (to the gills) without a single curse uttered.
2. Smart phones and data plans make road trip navigation completely different. I feel a little nostalgic for knowing less but I am really grateful that we easily found a family-friendly restaurant with almost no effort (and quickly navigated there)
3. The license plate game is still really fun. Today's tally: OH, IN, OR, WA, NE, BC, CA, CO, OK, AK, MN, AZ, VA, MA, NV, PA, IA, and TX
4. Crab hunting on the beach is awesome.