Orcas Island has been a part of my life as long I can
remember. Every summer in August since I was a wee baby, we have spent at least
a week on the shores of this magical isle, and every summer it’s always
extremely hard to say goodbye at the end of our stay. In fact, this tradition didn’t
just start when my brother and I were young - my family has been staying in the
same cabins at North Beach Inn every single year since my grandfather was a
baby. And let me tell you, not a lot has changed at this “resort” since way
back then. There’s still no television, no radio, no Internet, only Canadian
cell phone coverage (Yay, Canada! Woo-Hoo!), couches that smell like wet dogs,
beds that are probably older than me (I’m 32 for the age reference there), no
fans in the bathrooms (Costco-sized Matchbox, anyone?), paper-thin walls
(“Sounds like Little Timmy had too many beans for dinner again!”), chuck-holes
the size of small Volkswagens on the mile–long drive down to the beach resort, sheets
that were probably bought used at the local thrift store for 99 cents a pop 15
years ago… need I go on?

Okay, right now you are probably asking yourself, “Why the
heck do ya’ll keep going back?!” It’s simple, really. Those crappy beds are where
I slept summer after summer next to my brother after hours of adventuring on
the beach; those paper thin walls were the reason that I still remember the
sound that my grandpa made walking down the hall when he got up early every
morning to have a cup of coffee and watch the sun come up (his nickname was “He
Who Walks on Feathers” – I’m pretty sure that’s what they call me now), and the
quiet, calm, relaxed atmosphere that comes with being unplugged and begs for
you to have an ice cold beer at noon while reading your new novel, well that is
paradise for someone like me who normally works 7 days a week and tries to
always be available for my clients.

Last summer, Ryder was just over a month old when we took
him on his first family trip to Orcas, but this past August when we headed back,
he was a year older and he was ready - to adventure, to explore and to enjoy
all of the magic that Orcas has to offer to all those willing to take the time
to look. For the very first time in his life, he saw starfish, jellyfish, warmed
himself by the beach campfire and tried s’mores with his cousins. He quickly
fell in love with airplanes as they flew overhead, landing and taking off every
few minutes at the nearby airport. He sat in his first fire truck after the
Pancake Breakfast at the Orcas Island Fire Station…  and then never wanted to get out of said fire
truck (I’m pretty sure he would still be there if it were his choice). He
played in the sand and rocks on the beach for hours, watched us wrangle
Dungeness Crab, and got attached to boats in a major way – whether he was
pretending to drive the dingy from shore or whether we were gliding across the
water in the big boat motoring around the island, this little nugget was one
happy camper.

Sure, we could have gone to Disneyland or to some other
destination resort during the summers when I was growing up, but as a family, we
chose to come here instead. The salt air, the beautiful agate-filled beach, the
breathtaking sunrises and sunsets over the water, the smell of PNW meat on the BBQ
and the taste of Bale Breaker Brewing Company beer after a long day on the boat
trying to snag a salmon… these moments for us are it. They are what OUR family summer
vacation is all was all about.

Now that I’m all grown-up (well, in theory) and have a
little family of my own, it’s my son’s turn to make his own childhood memories
here, summer after summer, just as the rest of my family has since the early
1900s. For the last two years, we have hiked around Mountain Lake at Moran
State Park, Ryder and a packed lunch in tow – and have inadvertently started
new tradition that I know we will continue to do together as a family, year
after year. The adults also embarked on a new tradition this year after Ryder
went to bed for the night: Us youngins’ taught our parents, our aunt and uncle
and our grandma how to play “flip-cup” and “beer pong” – and let me tell you, I
personally haven’t laughed that hard in a very, very long time. The competition
was fierce!

And as we get settled back in Yakima after our time on the
west side of the mountains, I look back at the photos from our last two summers
on Orcas Island that we shared with Ryder and the rest of my family. I feel so
blessed for each memory, each adventure that we will now never forget. But for now,
as summer slowly turns into fall, we look towards what adventures the next
season will bring… and when summer comes around to warm our bones after the
long, cold, winter, my mind will start to wander to that dusty, jarring road
down to North Beach Inn, and I will immediately get a smile on my face
– because in just a few short months, I will be at my childhood home once
again… beer in hand, my family by my side, and perfectly toasted s’mores in my
belly. :)