Almost forgot to tell you all about the best day we had up on Orcas Island. In case you think that all we did was laze around in our stretchy pants, watch FRIENDS, drink wine, eat a lot & play games—although, that would not be a false assessment—we also climbed a mountain.
Kind of.
Our last full day there, we drove to the far southeast edge of the island and started off with a scrumptious breakfast at Doe Bay cafe, which uses organic ingredients from local farms and area waters.
(awww, our only group photo–sans baby & dog)
I had the yummiest scrambled eggs with salmon & goat cheese. I’ll eat anything with goat cheese in it (seriously), but throw some salmon from a neighboring island in the mix and….taste explosion! Oh man, that was so good.
Elise enjoyed her breakfast while I enjoyed a lovely view.
After a hearty meal & plenty of coffee, we drove up to the top of Mount Constitution, which is the highest point in the San Juan Islands—about 2500 ft. up. There was an old observation tower, and thanks to the sunny day, we could see all the way to Canada. Can you believe that’s still the closest I’ve been to Canada?! Ridiculous, I know.
Elise was snuggled up all warm in the Ergo carrier, and Molly the Dog enjoyed sniffing around on the snow.
Christmas card family photo….oh wait, Elise isn’t actually visible. Scratch that idea.
Shauna pointing out the island named after her family (or so we tell ourselves).
I told you we climbed a mountain, and I did not lie—we just climbed it in our cars, ha! But we did actually do some exercise to burn off the thousands of calories consumed the previous day. All six of us adults, the dog, and the baby sleeping in the carrier took off on a hike to Summit Lake—which ended up being about 2 miles roundtrip. Or was it 2 miles each way? I don’t know. I was distracted by the scenery and concentrating on not falling off the cliffs.
It wasn’t too strenuous of a hike, but it was plenty cold & kinda slippery. And despite none of us really being dressed for a hike like that, it was a success. Nobody fell off the mountain or lost their limbs due to frostbite. After all, I was wearing knee high boots, a thin sweater & a puffer vest that didn’t fully keep me warm from the chilly temps—but I was also wearing a mini space heater who was completely bundled up, so that helped.
But who really cares what you’re wearing when the views are phenomenal…
my hottie toddy.
And other than the fact that the guys’ car got held back by the ferry crew to wait 5 hours for the next one, it was a fantastic trip.
