Hi RF!
Have been thinking about you lately, and the Skagit River bridge collapse. Hope it hasn't affected you too much. What did Wash DOT decide to do? are they putting in a temp bridge for now or rebuilding?
My dad powered his pleasure trawler from Camano Island to Virginia Beach a couple years ago and said the Skagit Bay/ Port Susan area around Whidbey Is. is just gorgeous. I hope to visit someday. Would love to visit all those state parks too! I would love to live up there in the lush forests, sounds and rain. (Yes, I'm one of those oddballs who loves rain--especially running in it on trails.)
Hope all is faring well up there!
Oh I could go on for days about what they're doing and not doing.
Up here in Bellingham, we're relatively sheltered from most of the fallout because of our lovely Canadian neighbors. But it is having a severe impact on Skagit, Island and San Juan Counties...everyone is staying away from the area and they rely largely on revenue from outsiders coming to shop the outlet malls and tourism. Fear of traffic is doing a lot of economic damage. The good news is they had a number of detours figured out within hours of the collapse. The new routes have been adjusted and congestion is down to a dull roar now. They have a plan...I don't like it, but it's a plan and they're going forward with it.
The temporary replacement section is being built and is scheduled to be installed mid June...hopefully
It will be smaller than the rest of the bridge and maximum speed will be 35mph. Once that is in place, they will start construction of the permanent replacement section right next to the bridge. They estimate it will take 5-6 months to complete (sometime in the fall) and 2 weeks to remove the temporary and move the permanent into its place. Essentially, they're building 2 bridge sections and disrupting traffic for a minimum of 2 months overall. If they just built the permanent one and did it in a month, everyone would be better off in my opinion. See 1989 San Fransisco earthquake, double deck bridge, 10 lanes of freeway, replaced in 31 days by Rigging International. So as I said, the good news is they have a plan and are taking care of business...they just aren't going about it in an efficient manner in my opinion and the surrounding communities may pay a heavy price...just when everyone was digging their way back to prosperity in a region hard hit by the recession. OKAY....stepping off my soap box now. 
And yes...it is a fantastic place to live, work and play. The rain is an integral part of our region and most of us enjoy it for the most part. It's just those 90 day stretches of rain that get old.
The 3rd and 4th photo are not mine...they're google grabs.
Hope all are well 
