When to Visit Vashon...planning a vacation

Without a doubt the very best time to visit the Pacific Northwest is between July 15 and September 15.  It is our dry season...the clouds burn off, the days are long, and the rain is rare and temps are usually in the 80's.  These are the days that this area of the world seduces us, convinces us that she is the best lover, provider, and is our everything...

It is also true that this is sometimes a miserable time to be other places in the US.  Which really doesn't hurt either (that is also what makes being here in the winter so stinkin' tolerable too.)

So if you are planning a trip to the PNW or to Vashon Island itself the summer is the time to come.

But let's imagine that you are trying to visit on a budget, or the you don't mind damp and chilly, or that you just want to explore... the reality is that there is no bad time to visit. You might be rewarded with views of Mt. Ranier or not... but you will be rewarded with cheaper VRBO, AirBnB and other rates, and if you visit Vashon at the right time you might get a flair for her character...

So if you are visiting in the off season visit- over Halloween and go Trick-or-Treating downtown, or Visit around the holidays and attend one of the varied version of craft fairs or support a local business downtown. Or if you are a really good planner visit during a very low tide and explore the sea life around Vashon...

If you are visiting in the off season though I reccomend 1 thing...stay in a place with a woodstove or fireplace and prepare to enjoy the peacefulness of it.  Watch the moss grow...lavish in the green, heat up by the fire, go on a walk and notice the smell of all the little bugs turning over the earth...this is Vashon.

Sunrise on Vashon.

I got off the bus the other morning before I got on the Water Taxi (on the north end ferry dock) and the sun was coming up.

It was glorious.

Now, 2 weeks later the sun is already higher in the sky at 8:03 when I usually get off the bus.  Alleluia.