Hey, Every Guys!

Would you like to learn a new word? Probably some of you know this one, but I did not. The word of the week is tombolo, a bar of sand or gravel that connects an island to the mainland or (more relevant to us) another island. The house we rented (what a house!) on Orcas Island came with its very own tombolo, and by association, its very own teeny island, called Shell Island. When the tide went out, we had a nice big path (tombolo!) out to the island, and a shallow tidepool to poke around in. When the tide came in, we had a little island to admire. So neat.









The house itself was also quite something. It was built over who knows how many years by one Captain C, who, if one is to draw conclusions from the many yellowing old school DIY guides in his study, including our favorite, Moving Heavy Things, did a lot of the work himself.



It was a great mix of amazing funky late sixties touches (like the pebble floor mosaic entry way and the giant drift wood decor items), cruddy vacation home touches (like the wood paneling in the bathrooms), and gigantic windows to give you as much of the amazing view as you could stand. On such touches as the big weird metal pot of (deer?) bones in the yard and the clearly haunted basement, I will suspend judgement.

Since pictures are worth a thousand words, this is going to be the longest blog post ever. I thought I would divide the pictures into the categories that make for a great vacation, arbitrarily decided upon by me. I was too lazy to separate out blog photos from the FB pictures, so apologies to anyone vexed by the repeats.

Recreation!

If you are ever on the fence about badminton, get right off. Badminton is the bomb.


Also, beach balls!



We actually had one day warm enough to swim (in the lake). It was the first time in a long time I swam in a lake, and I loved it.





The dads took the bigger girls on a day trip to Friday Harbor. When I asked Naomi what the best part was, of course she said, "The ice cream." Check it out.


Turns out this is also what she says when I ask her what she likes best about the whole trip. Good one, Dad!


Do not agree to play "Littlest Pet Shop Go Fish" with Muriel.


There was also much beachcombing.


There was some drinking. I have no pictures of that, though.

Wildlife!

Our first year on Orcas was all about the deer (and slugs and hummingbirds). This year it was all bunnies all the time. Those fat little rabbits hopped around the house constantly, occasionally spooked by a local cat. But we did have deer.



On the marine side, we saw otters, seals, porpoises, *I think* a whale, and of course, big dead jellyfish, who decorated the beach and tidepool when true low tide showed its true colors.


Oh, and let us not forget crabs! Jim was mildly obsessed with catching some crabs- he bought a trap and found a good dock to lower it off of. Unfortunately, it is not the right time of year to catch space aliens, so he had to throw that other thing back (we think it's actually called a sea sunflower? Maybe?).


I had to scuttle down the closed off abandoned staircase to find the elusive purple starfish. Worth it!



The squirrels on Orcas are cuter than on the main land- smaller, orange-red tummies, super cute squeaky noises. We also saw lots of birds- gulls, of course, oyster catchers, kingfishers, Stellars jays, and a very handsome pileated woodpecker (Jim saw this, I was jealous).

Food!

Experience tells me that there will be a lot of eating on an Orcas Island vacation. The first night we vaguely recreated the "Hawaiian Luau" menu from the June Sunset magazine, (um, Walla Walla onion dip instead of Maui onion dip, though). The highlight for me was the char siu sandwiches with grilled pineapple and cilantro. The magazine gives the recipe for char siu- our recipe involved driving to Seattle's International District the night before our trip. Yum.


Two or three breakfasts a day, Hobbit style. My friend makes some bitchin' oatmeal- my kids couldn't eat enough of it.


OFJ (Our Friend Josh) made amazing food as always, and unfortunately there is no photo of the best creation of his, a green enchilada sauce made of tomatillos he grew in his back yard. So, so, so good.

On Thursday night we fed the kids some mac and cheese and sent them to bed, then reconvened for some hot pot. AND some fresh crab. Ahhh.



View!

I miss the view most of all. No kidding, it was breathtaking.







I could have another category of photos called Muriel being Muriel (this is from a photo of teenaged me I found in my grandmother's things; my mother had written that caption with my name on the back...hmmm), except that I can't really consider that a vacation generalization, since she is our exclusive category.


She was so fantastically kooky the whole time. Her cute new figure of speech was to refer to everyone as "Every Guys." Bye, Every Guys!