Click on an image for a larger version (opens in a new window). Cheryl and I drove up Chuckanut Drive (AKA state route 11), starting a bit north of Mt. Vernon, running along the coast, and ending in Bellingham. The southern part of the route is rural farmland - wide, flat fields of the Skagit Valley. Then the road hits the coast and runs along a rocky, steep drop from the Chuckanut mountains down to Puget Sound. We stopped at Larrabee State Park ($5 parking fee) where we ate our sandwiches while sitting on a interesting wooded, rock outcropping overlooking the Samish Bay. The park was busy but not really crowded. There were a number of people out on the water in kayaks and other boats, and kids playing in the water along the beach.

We then continued north to Bellingham (unable to locate a couple of viewpoints indicated on our map), where we stopped briefly at a waterfront park before heading back south on I-5 to Samish Island. It's unclear why this is called an island as it appeared to be fully connected to the mainland. It's a nice area, but with few places where you can access the coast to get a good view of the gorgeous scenes both north and south. We headed down to La Conner, where we got dinner before returning to Seattle.