DC, Seattle, Orcas Island

Chris and I just got back from Orcas Island, WA, where Chris spent 3 years of his childhood and many summers at Camp Orkila. He'd been feening to go there and recently found some affordable fares. We left DC at 6am on Friday and got into Seattle around 2:30pm. After renting a car, we bummed around Pike's Place Market bc I REALLY wanted to see FISH in action. All the salesy trainings I've ever been to talk about how successful that company is bc of their unique approach to business. Cool place, I could have spent a whole afternoon at the market. From there we headed north for an hour and half and caught the 5:30pm ferry to Orcas Island. It's one of those HUGE ferries that you drive on to and then you can venture upstairs to relax. The ferry ride was about an hour and made a couple stops at some of the other small islands out there. Totally beautiful scenery.

We spent the next couple days on the island doing some incredible hikes at Moran State Park and even a challenging hike up Mt. Constitution. My knee LIVED, surprisingly it did just fine. We also did a guided kayaking trip in the Puget Sound and got to see some of the other islands as well as brightly colored orange and purple starfish. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see WILLY. I kept a good look out for any friendly Orcas, but none to be found. Orcas Island is actually where they filmed a great deal of the movie, Free Willy. Apparently we were out there right on the cusp of whale season and with the fishing industry down in the neighboring waters, killer whales were less common due to less fishies for them to eat. I was bummed.

Orcas is a cute little town, kinda a small beach town with tons of pebbly beaches and HUGE cedar and everest trees. Some of the most spectacular scenery, ocean, mountains, tall trees, just gorgeous... a perfect quiet vacation.