I describe this place as "1750ft of terror, with a gnarly drop off, and the tendency for some mighty squirrely winds". Pilot husband describes it as "well wooded, with shrubby trees that will break your fall and soften the impact". Two big takeaways when coming to CIA:
1 - DO NOT TAXI ON THE GRASS OCT-MAY! The ground is soft and mushy, and the owner will come out and (rightly) chase you down - and you'll have to beg for help to get unstuck. (We love the owners by the way. If you need ANYTHING at all, they will help you in a heartbeat!)
2 - If you take off to the North - turn right. There is a private grass strip (price field) in the flats below, and it is a great back up plan if you're at least 300 AGL. That is NOT a guarantee of course ... just sound advice. We've never had to use it, but mathematically, it works out. For us anyway, I don't know what you fly!
Anyway, this is home and it is such a lovely place to live! We live about 5 minutes from the airfield and just love the area. There are many activities year round, miles of trails and beaches to explore and on the north end of the island, you get to enjoy the rain shadow. Island Country provides free bus service, and does a decent loop that can get you to most places on the island. The downside is that it only stays on the highway - so from the airport, it's a good 1.5 mile walk to a place called Terry's Corner, which also is a main bus hub, if you want to explore the island. From there - you can pretty much go anywhere. Even to Everett (last I checked, that was a $2 one-way fare).
If you aren't up for leaving Terry's Corner - there are plenty of things to do there as well. Camano Island Coffee Roasters, Camano Market, Del Fox Meats, and various other shops are located here. New this spring (2017) is Naked City Brewery, Brooklyn Bros Pizza and supposedly a "food market" (not sure what that is about). Also, every Monday 3-7pm during the summer is Monday Market - our local farmers market.
7/15/17: NEW EATS!! I've seen this place popping up all over my community Facebook groups and supposedly they have amazing lumpia! I'll admit, I haven't tried it yet, but I have friends that absolutely swear by its deliciousness and authenticity. The downside is that it is PICK UP ONLY (not a sit down restaurant) most items come frozen for you to cook at home, and you need to place your order online with pick up notice. I messaged with the owner though, and for an additional charge, they do have the ability to cook some of the items there - just ASK! Also, you can get hot pancit, cooked fresh & ready for pick up - so that is one of the exceptions to the frozen thing. They are located in the newly built buildings just north of the airfield. It's called Cristy's Lumpia - give it a try!
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