Outdoor Enthusiasts: Whidbey Island or Anacortes (Seattle, Everett: real estate, how much, buying a home)

[elkotronics]

How do you like Washington Park, mistyriver? That is a beautiful spot and the view is breathtaking of Fidalgo Bay. It's not hard to find or a long walk from the car, either. That whole Deception Pass bridge area is one of my favorite areas of Washington state.

[mistyriver]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

How do you like Washington Park, mistyriver? That is a beautiful spot and the view is breathtaking of Fidalgo Bay. It's not hard to find or a long walk from the car, either. That whole Deception Pass bridge area is one of my favorite areas of Washington state.

Loved it! Lots of great walk there. So beautiful.
I wasn’t so fond of Deception Passbia boat though. Lots of waiting for slack tide.

[elkotronics]

Never been in that area by boat - wow, even though waiting for slack tide, it would surely be beautiful. I'll bet Anacortes was a nice little town ta live in, eh? Always liked that town. Nearest town we lived in to Anacortes was Burlington, which is becoming kind of a rat race because of I-5 and shopping outlets and the Cascade Mall and such. Burlington living was good, though, too.

[mistyriver]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

Never been in that area by boat - wow, even though waiting for slack tide, it would surely be beautiful. I'll bet Anacortes was a nice little town ta live in, eh? Always liked that town. Nearest town we lived in to Anacortes was Burlington, which is becoming kind of a rat race because of I-5 and shopping outlets and the Cascade Mall and such. Burlington living was good, though, too.

It was so beautiful. Wouldn’t wanted to have gone thru Deception Pass without a slack tide in our Nordic Tug. Takes a much bigger more powerful boat to motor thru. But I loved watching them do it. I very much dislike rough water...total fair weather sailor here.
If we wanted to head to Whidbey we generally motored down the Swinomish Channel. Boring but nice to stop for lunch in LaConner.
Nothing like cruising out in the San Juan’s though these days we make do with CDA lake. It’s pretty rough but we out on a brave face and make do.
Our Nordic had a little wood burning stove on it and I can’t tell you how wonderful it was wandering thru the islands on crisp days with the smell of burning cedar intermingles with the scent of the evergreens from the islands around us. Pure heaven.

[wolfdog]

Wondering what the OP decided. We're looking hard at Oak Harbor, for retirement.
I'd like to know everyone's thoughts.

[freepelican]

Originally Posted by mayfair

The Growlers can be heard in Anacortes and on Camano Island during training exercises- it depends on the flight path they take. They shake the ground when they go over.

How frequent/bad is it in Anacortes and Camano Island?

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by freepelican

How frequent/bad is it in Anacortes and Camano Island?

It depends on the flight path they take while training and it varies how often they train. They publish a training schedule but they have many other flights that aren't published. It's not like a commercial airport with a predictable daily schedule.

Camano Island is pristinely quiet when they aren't training. It's quiet most of the time, but you can get a stretch of intense jet noise when they train. And the locals don't take kindly to any complaining about jets, so be warned.

Anacortes is fairly quiet as well but gets insanely loud if the growlers take a low flight path overhead.

[wolfdog]

I rarely hear the jets in Oak Harbor. Kinda miss 'em.

[freepelican]

Originally Posted by mayfair

And the locals don't take kindly to any complaining about jets, so be warned.

Why? Is this just for Camano?

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by freepelican

Why? Is this just for Camano?

Because it's the sound of freedom. These are military areas.

We have the same defensiveness of the artillery ranges and helicopter routes out of JBLM.

The noise is part of life near military bases.