Dan Hazen: Footloose observations from 90-mile roadside trek
Published 1:30 am Saturday, February 19, 2022
By Dan Hazen / Herald Forum
It’s a long story, but last fall, I walked from Marysville to Mukilteo, then from Clinton to Anacortes, a little less than 90 miles through parts of Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties. I thought I’d share with you some observations and few honest questions.
• As I traveled south from Marysville on Highway 529, the contrast of walking speed to automobile speed became starkly apparent; until the draw bridge went up and I began passing the cars stopped in traffic.
An unexpected and unwarranted sense of superiority came over me as I continued moving past people who only a moment ago were whizzing past me at 60 mph. A “slow and steady wins the race” arrogance started to bloom.
Then the bridge closed.
• North Everett is cool. I love the urbane, residential but still neighborhood feeling. It’s diverse too: clearly lots of money on Grand Avenue north of the hospital, changing to middle class on Hoyt at 16th Street or so, then varied in the alleys between Grand and Marine View Drive around Hewitt. Still cool, though.
• Question: What is with the northbound traffic on Mukilteo Boulevard in the afternoon? Where are all those people coming from?
• I slept in a tent (in what I’m sure was a sub-legal location near the ferry dock) and was surprised at how noisy Mukilteo is. Trains, ferries, and air traffic; all night. Big expensive houses; lots of noise.
• Mukilteo’s new passenger ferry terminal is DE-luxe!
• Question: What is with the traffic on Whidbey? On Highway 525 (and further north on Highway 20) it’s insane! Where is everyone going? The back roads approach idyllic; sometimes walking miles with no vehicles; but the highways!
• There are 10 times more smoke-belching, “lifted” and perfectly pristine trucks in Marysville than on Whidbey Island. There were a few to be sure, but most trucks appeared to work for a living.
• Trucks aside, if you’re looking to make a killing, open a Subaru dealership on Whidbey.
• If you’re looking to make a slightly smaller killing, consider Porsche, Land Rover, Tesla, Mercedes, Audi or BMW. Seriously, when did Coupeville become Bellevue?
• Most seen signs (by far): “Keep Out,” “Private Property,” “No Trespassing,” “Video Surveillance.” This begs 2 questions: 1. Why are there so many HUGE unoccupied homes? I estimate there are tens of thousands of square feet of high-end residence that sit unused most of the time; 2. What have people been doing to private properties on Whidbey to elicit such security measures?
• Old hippies are the only people who offer rides anymore.
• If you wonder why pedestrians in Oak Harbor cross streets in a serpentine pattern and in a partial crouch, it might be because the walk signals sound like machine guns.
• Homeless people live in the places where their needs are best met; just like you and me. Why is this a mystery to leaders?
• I estimate that hunger in central Africa could be eradicated by harvesting less than 20 percent of the deer on the island.
• About 80 percent of people are unaware of pedestrians; 5 percent are visibly perplexed; 5 percent are inexplicably hostile and 5 percent are bafflingly delighted.
• Anacortes is on track to become the next Whidbey-come-Bellevue.
• After 57 years, I still think the Puget Sound region is the most wonderful place in the world.
Dan Hazen is community pastor at Allen Creek Community Church in Marysville.
