June, 2022
This morning, I headed out in the big white truck to simply drive along the saltwater as close as I could, and see what I could see. The title of this blog post is “drive around the bay”, but in fact, I drove around two bays, not just one. I drove along Birch Bay and I drove along both inner and outer Semiahmoo Bay (out onto the spit). The Semiahmoo are the indigenous people of lower British Columbia and upper Washington State. The word “semiahmoo” (sem-ee-AH-moo) means “half-moon” from the shape of the larger, outer bay.
In the image below, the RED star is where I’m camped with Towhee the Trailer. The RED arrow is the most northern point I drove to, on my S-shaped drive along the water. On the “head” of that peninsula is the Semiahmoo Resort and Marina. I didn’t spend much time there, just snapped a few photos and left.
My photos (below) start just as I’m driving along the narrow neck of land immediately south of that resort, while I’m driving north to the resort. The photos below are looking north (maybe northwest a bit) directly towards White Rock in British Columbia, Canada.
The beach in the photo above is in the USA. The city (White Rock) is in Canada.
Soon enough on my drive in the big white truck, I reached the end of that peninsula and drove into the Semiahmoo Resort in the USA, and had a nice view of the marina there.
That resort on the peninsula was very nice, but it was also commercial, not something that appealed to me. So I then headed back south. From that northern point of my drive, I then drove slowly back down the road along the waterfront and eventually back to the campground. It was a wonderful and peaceful drive.
On the way, I saw some very attractive homes. The one below might be a small home, but its front porch looked out over the roadway (a very quiet roadway with few vehicles on it) and then it looked out onto the beach and then west across Birch Bay to the sunset every evening. There were no homes or buildings to interfere with the view.
This very nicely cared for apartment complex (below) also looked directly across the road (same quiet roadway). The view from those apartments looks across the road and then at and across the beach and then out over Birch Bay and out over the water to the west. The name of this apartment complex is Mariners Cove (in Birch Bay, Washington) if any of you are interested.
A bit south of that, I found a short public driveway and public access to the beach. I parked the truck and walked out onto the beach. The view below is looking back to the north.
The view below is looking to the south.
And frankly, before I took off in the truck again, I found a nice log to sit on and enjoy the view, the sounds of the seagulls, the fresh air and smells of the beach.
Ah, but then, I did drive on south along the road.
The photo below was taken when I approached the very north end of the State Park property. The building across the waterway is owned by the State Park. You can see a few vehicles parked to the right of that building — vehicles owned by people who drove to this beach for an afternoon of enjoyment.
BUT … you can also see a whole lot of birds in the photo above … herons, cormorants, seagulls, and one solitary bald eagle. The RED arrow in the photo above points to the eagle waiting for a fish to arrive for its dinner.
Around the next bend in the road, I found this fresh-water (not saltwater) waterway (below) between the road (to the right) and the saltwater (to the left). This waterway was fresh water, a stream that came from further south, and then eventually emptied into the saltwater of Birch Bay right here.
The RED arrow points to where the fresh water stream empties into Birch Bay.
Notice the Great Blue Heron!
You might think this heron had a bit of trouble catching a bite to eat. Here’s a little video proving otherwise.
If you ever want to watch herons fish for food in tidal waters, hang out there as the tide is coming in, since these heron know that the incoming tide brings lunch!
As I drove south, back to the campground, I paid attention to this waterway. It had obviously started somewhere up hill in the mountains, but down here it had been contained and directed by humans. And yet, it still flowed on a path from the mountains down to the salt water.
After a mile or so along this road, and getting closer to the turn-off into the campground, this fresh-water waterway flowed through more trees, with fewer homes alongside.
And then, when I turned off that Birch Bay waterfront road, and turned onto the road that led back into the campground, I crossed a bridge that crossed above the waterway. With no homes and no buildings anywhere near, it was a sweet little fresh water stream that had a life of its own.
I stopped on the bridge, rolled down my window, and took the photo above. The volume of bird chatter was amazing. What an astonishingly wonderful world.