Seattle Vacation: Part 3 - July 16 & 17, 2018

My formatting is super messed up on this post because my photos were corrupted somehow and then somehow the paragraph spacing got weird. Also all the photos are unedited because when I try to edit them, they get wonky. I'm not sure if it's the photos or the program. Anyway, I'm too lazy to rewrite this entire thing on a new post, so...bear with me.

The day after the wedding, most of the family and guests were heading back to the mainland. I had had the genius idea, while in the preparation stages of our trip, to extend our stay at the Rosario another night. My thinking was that our flight out wasn't until 10pm on Wednesday, July 18. We had two more full days to enjoy the area, and we hadn't had any time at all to explore Orcas.

Why not really take a day to enjoy the resort and this beautiful little island?

On this map, you can see where the Rosario is located and Moran State Park, where we played in the lake on the Saturday before the wedding. The ferry drops off at the bottom of Orcas near Shaw Island; it takes about 30 minutes to drive from the harbor to the resort. Small.

On Monday we joined everyone for the goodbye breakfast at the mansion (the main building at the resort) and then headed out to Moran State Park. I was dead set on getting a run in, especially because Megan had told me her mom ran on Orcas and it was gorgeous. Moran has something like 28 miles of trails!

We did #10, the Mountain Lake Loop...which said "easy" with 200 feet of elevation gain and was NOT.

We grabbed a map and I chose a running trail based on what looked like it would be "easy" for my Florida legs.

I am not a trail runner. Pretty early on I realized I was going to have to be very laid back about my pace and walking. Matt got distracted by the beauty of our surroundings and twisted his ankle within the first half mile. I was better about my footing but definitely had to slow down on the inclines.

I mean, how could you NOT love running in this?

I especially loved racing down the switchbacks.

Matt running down a switchback.

The trail we took was supposedly 3.9 miles but my watch clocked it at 3.4. Either way, it was a fun, beautiful "run". (Run/walk/hike/climb?)

Afterward, we went down to the dock and put our feet in the water of the lake. It was freezing but felt so good. My left ankle was so swollen from wearing heels the night before and running in the morning...an ice bath was necessary.

A lady and her daughter came up on paddle boards and she offered them to us while they went to lunch. I was like "You don't know who you're asking..." and Matt was like "THANKS I'M ON IT!" So I lounged on the dock while he paddled a bit.

We went to lunch in town, eating at this place called The Kitchen with yummy rice bowls filled with all local produce, proteins, and sauces. (I had tofu, Matt had chicken.) We picked up some dinner for later from a co-op grocery store, then got ice cream (two scoops each of blueberry and strawberry, made from local berries and dairy) at the Clever Cow Creamery, which we took back to our room and stuck in the fridge before heading back to the park.

My legs were totally done, but we were able to drive most of the way to Mount Constitution, the highest point on Orcas. We did, of course, climb the tower for the full view. The summit has an elevation of 2399ft...You can basically see Canada from there. (I mean...you really can.)

We returned to the resort to eat ice cream (which, despite being melty, had amazing flavor) and take a dip in the pool and spa before calling it a night.

The next morning was our last day in Washington. We caught the ferry around noon and drove back in to Seattle. Our flight out wasn't until 10pm, so we had time to kill. We briefly checked out Discovery Park and then went back to Olympic Sculpture Park to read and relax.

We had dinner at Broadway Poke and Sushi, which is kind of a little hole-in-the-wall but was honestly so good it surprised me, and then we were airport bound.

All good things must come to an end; thus ended our epic vacation to the Pacific Northwest. Now maybe this blog will get back to being about running.

ABK