Whidbey Island Hotels

A life measured in dog years

I married into the basset-hound breed.

One day in Twin Falls, Idaho, after running the Snake River Canyon from rim to rim, I met a slender, young woman at a post-race picnic. Her basset hound grabbed the sandwich in my hand, and the owner, Ann, soon claimed my heart.

That was more than 25 years ago. Since then, Ann and I have shared many memorable moments with the gentle, long-eared, keen-nosed and often stubborn hounds.

There were bassets at our wedding, and one on our honeymoon.

When my newspaper career took us north to Alaska for 11 years, our bassets joined us as we hiked through grizzly country, fished for salmon and picked fall berries in alpine meadows. In one memorable experiment, we briefly hitched our booty-clad basset, Homer, to an Iditarod racer's sled for a pull through the snow.

But bassets as sled dogs never quite caught on.

When we moved to the Pacific Northwest, Ann decided she wanted to check out field trials, which give your hound a chance to match his scent and tracking skills against other bassets.

We joined a small, eclectic band of basset-hound brethren who have kept field trialing alive in our region. Most come from Washington or Oregon, and a handful from as far away as Idaho and California.

These dogs initially were bred in France as low-slung hounds that could help hunters pursue small game. The field trials are a way to honor this hunting heritage. The trials are held along a stretch of land in Southwest Washington piled with Mount St. Helen's ash dredged from a nearby river. This land has been reclaimed by a motley mix of Scotch broom, Himalayan blackberries and grasses, all of which provide prime cover for rabbits.

These competitions typically begin soon after daybreak. Most participants form a line known as "The Gallery" and walk forward slowly, beating the bushes with sticks or poles in hopes of flushing out a bunny. Eventually, someone cries "tallyho!" as a rabbit scurries out of the brush.

Then, two bassets are walked up to the point where the bunny was last seen. They are left on the bunny's trail for several minutes. That's enough time for two judges to decide which of the dogs does a better job of following the scent.

(Hunting is forbidden at field trialing, and bassets are bred to flush out game, rather than track them down and pounce on them. And the dogs are caught and leashed long before they would have the chance to catch and harm the rabbits they pursue.

Washington: Watch whales and save at Whidbey Island hotel | www ...

The Inn at Langley is a 16-room hotel on Whidbey Island in Washington’s Puget Sound. Hop a ferry to get to the island and then take advantage of a sale on midweek stays — to watch gray whales or just unwind — starting at $195 a night.

The deal: You can find details of this deal under the Whales Are Back! special on the inn’s website. Rooms start at $195 plus tax from Mondays through Thursdays until the end of May. Rooms have views of the Saratoga Passage, where gray whales are returning along the Pacific Ocean on their northward migration from Baja, Mexico.

When: The offer is good through May 31, based on availability.

Tested: I checked the inn’s website and found the sale rate available for a room May 9 to 11 with a queen-sized bed, a wood-burning fireplace and a balcony with views of the passage. Breakfast is free with the room. By comparison, room rates without the deal started at $285 plus tax a night.

Frommer's Washington State

Davis' new commercial encyclopedia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the Pacific Northwest

Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest

Fodor's Seattle

Afoot & Afloat North Puget Sound