Orcas Island
Just got back from an incredibly beautiful and wonderfully relaxing weekend on Orcas Island. We rented a cabin on the beach. Lisa's Mom and Andy came with us. The trip started with a stroke of luck when the mini-van I rented wasn't available so Hertz upgraded me to a Lincoln Navigator - the largest gas guzzling SUV on the market. I felt kind of sick driving it at first but I must say - it grew on me. Average gas mileage on that thing, 11 miles per gallon!

The cabin was situated on a stretch of beach between two bluffs facing west. The weather was perfect and the sunsets were to die for. With a thin a crescent moon that was out for an hour or two after sunset, the nights produced more starts than any of us had ever seen.

Muirenn and Aislinn paddled in the water all day, collecting baby crabs in rock pools outside our cabin. After sufficiently relaxing for a while rented a kayak and paddled up a bit. It was more tiring than I remembered but amazing fun.

The girls made pottery in a house next door run by an elderly lady. $5 each to make, paint and ship the pottery. I'm sure she hadn't raised her prices in 20 years.

We've found one place we'll be going back to year after year. Absolutely amazing.