After the past 12 months, I decided my vacations would now be of places I have never been. I wanted to go to Yosemite to see the giant trees, but they were too booked. My friend/travel agent asked if I wanted to go to Orcas Island. Never heard of it, but why not? She said she could even add a whale watching tour. I’m totally sold!

I took my niece on vacation as a special gift. She did so much to help me before, during, and after my dad’s death. We both have lost so much. I just wanted to treat her to time away, and I’ll get the escape myself.

Orcas Island far exceeded expectations. After an intense traffic drive from Seattle to Anacortes, we boarded the ferry the next day. I was a little nervous about driving onto a ferry, but I made it. Missy and I walked around the boat to see it from all angles. However, when it was time to get back in our car, we were so turned around, it took forever to find our car again. We had a good laugh running around like banshees.

The resort reminded us so much of Dirty Dancing. I loved the history of the Rosario Resort and how Robert Moran built this mansion and donated land which was later named Moran State Park.

We hiked three different trails. Cascade Lake had the steepest hills that we were nearly bear crawling up some of them. Mount Constitution gave us the highest view of all the San Juan Islands. We were above the clouds and could even see Canada just across the bay. Turtleback Mountain was the longest trek, but we persevered and made it to the top. Missy saw a snake. I never saw it as the first mention of a snake and my feet were gone, leaving her way behind. (We ended up hiking 8 miles that day!)

We became resident experts on taking ferries to and from the different islands. We went to Friday Harbor and loved that atmosphere. We went on a whale watching tour, even reaching Canadian waters. That day was cloudy and rainy, and the only cloudy/rainy day we had. The boat temp was 40, and the wind chill was much cooler. This tour did not disappoint. We saw three bald eagles, many stellar sea lions, and seven killer whales. I’m still in awe everything we saw. Truly a dream come true.

While I didn’t blog about every individual day, I tried to hit all of the high points. In actuality, there were no low points, except for when we had to leave. I slept amazing every night. I cannot recall sleeping in so long. I felt so much peace on the island. I felt close to Heaven on the island. I felt my dad and my brother were so close. Each night we would walk to the other side of the resort to watch the sunset. I took many pictures and each one captured a green and blue orb. Green orb represented my dad and blue orb for my brother. Many times I didn’t see the orbs until I would go back and review the pictures. I didn’t see them at the time of taking them.

I hated when the vacation came to an end, but I will forever cherish the memories I made with my niece. We spent many nights talking so late. We are closer now than we have ever been.

Until next time…Peace out, Trout