Trip America Begins…And I Turn 30!

This weekend marked the unofficial beginning of Trip America! Unofficial, because we’re popping back to Seattle for a few days, but for all intents and purposes Trip America has begun. And I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the big 3-0!
Our weekend trip to Orcas Island gave us a taste of what packing for Trip America would involve. It was a little frightening to see how quickly we were able to fill the Subaru for a 3 day trip, let alone think about how we are going to pack for a 2-month trip. But several checklists and repacked bags later, we were heading north to catch the ferry out of Anacortes. The San Juan Islands have been one of my favorite places since moving to Seattle 6-years ago. I’ve taken yearly trips with friends to camp, bike and drink. But now that I’m an official adult, I figured I’d rent a proper house and believe me, it has been worth it. The house (named Winterpond) was so amazing that we had a hard time balancing getting out and exploring the island with just relaxing at the house. But we managed…

Day 1 – Arrived at Winterpond, ran around the house like 2 excited kids on Christmas morning, made our famous homemade pizza and called it a night.

Winterpond

Day 2 – Started with a delicious breakfast at Café Olga and then hiked Mt. Constitution, a fairly grueling hike but the views from the top were well worth it. Plus you get to judge the people who didn’t hike and just drove to the top instead. Then we soaked our tired legs in the hot tubs at Doe Bay (clothing optional, hey I’m almost 30 now and am starting to learn what this not giving a shit what other people think thing is all about.)

Mt. Constitution, Orcas Island

Day 3 - My birthday! I was treated to breakfast in bed before heading back to the mountain for a much easier hike, Mountain Lake. Then it was into town for a surprise couple massage (again, clothing optional)! Much appreciated after the sore legs from yesterday’s hike. A relaxing evening back at Winterpond ended one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had.

Enjoying some wine post-massages

Tomorrow is back to Seattle for a few days of frantic packing before heading south to Oregon. The first leg of Trip America has proven successful and if it’s any indication of what the rest of the trip has in store for us, we can look forward to lots of quality time with nature, delicious food and being naked!

-Lauren