Highlights from 2 years of exploring Snohomish County towns

  • By Gale Fiege Herald Writer
  • Friday, January 15, 2016 2:07pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Last month we wrapped up our two-year series called Tourist in Your Own Town. Our aim each month was to encourage readers to take a closer look at the fun to be had in our part of the state.

We wrote about Arlington, Bothell, Coupeville and Ebey’s Landing, Darrington, Edmonds, Everett, Granite Falls, Index, La Conner, Lake Stevens, Langley, Lynnwood, Maltby and Clearview, Marysville and Tulalip, Mill Creek, Monroe, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, Oak Harbor and Deception Pass, Paine Field, Silvana and Seven Lakes, Snohomish, Stanwood and Camano Island, Sultan and the Skykomish Valley. (Read those stories at www.heraldnet.com/tourist.)

In February, we embark on another third Saturday series we’re tentatively calling Day Tripping. The idea is to travel a bit outside our readership area, with probable stops in Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, King, Pierce, Kitsap and Chelan counties.

We hope to hear from readers who have suggestions for us about where to go and what to see. Write to us at gfiege@heraldnet.com or PO Box 930, Everett, 98206-0930.

Herald photographer Ian Terry and I enjoyed our Tourist in Your Own Town trips, mostly around Snohomish and Island counties.

For me, the series offered the chance to further explore places I’ve visited all my life. Each community has something special to offer. We are fortunate to live here.

Terry, who sees the world primarily through an artist’s eyes, recalled the following days:

“I loved our hike at Ebey’s Landing, followed by a short walk through downtown Coupeville where we witnessed a seagull eat a huge starfish in one single bite.”

Watching Georgia natives Hugh and Bennett Crawford dive into their meals in Skykomish after weeks on the Pacific Crest Trail was enjoyable, Terry said. “It was insightful to hear a visitor’s perspective about our region.”

At Deception Pass, Terry held his camera mounted on a monopod 6 feet in the air in howling winds in order to get a shot of the bridge. “Anytime I can be in the outdoors for work is a highlight and Deception Pass tops the list for me of intriguing places to visit in the entire Pacific Northwest.”

Terry also enjoyed hiking into Wallace Falls State Park alone with just a headlamp and a camera before dawn one day in late September. “It started out as a stressful morning because I had a deadline, but by the end of my hike I was 100 percent relaxed.”

Terry said that the interesting people we met throughout the series were the ultimate highlights of the project.

“Going out around the area was a great reminder that good things happen when you get out of the house and have nothing on the agenda other than exploring.”

See you on the road.

Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.

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