At Anacortes, waiting for the ferry to Orcas Island: 2005

Big Papa and I started dating in January of 2005. Our first date was a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island.

Two months later, we hopped aboard another ferry for our first weekend getaway, this time to Orcas Island in the San Juans. We rented a cabin and enjoyed two romantic days together. On our first night, we drank champagne and listened to the sound of the waves, even though it was raining so hard we couldn’t see the mist enshrouded shoreline.

In the morning, the sun came out and we made our way up the steep, winding road to Mt. Constitution. When we reached the top, we were able to look out over Puget Sound and see as far as Mt. Rainer, over 150 miles away. At the trip’s end, we felt rested, energized and in love.  We promised we’d return.

Waiting for the Orcas Island ferry: 2012

Seven years passed before we finally made good on our promise and decided to head to Orcas again–this time with our daughter– for our first trip together as a family (that is, if you don’t count the 6,335 miles we traveled to bring Baby Bird home from Armenia). When I look at the picture of the two of us, standing side-by-side at Anacortes, waiting for the ferry, I can see the gray in Big Papa’s beard and lines on our faces that weren’t there on our first trip, lines we earned over the course of seven years, from the wrinkles life tossed our way.

This trip, we also encountered rain and fog, fog thick enough that we could barely see the shore, even though we could hear the waves. And, we were fortunate enough–once again–to have one day of sunshine, on my birthday. We made our way up the long, winding road to Mt. Constitution, stood at the top, and looked out toward Mt. Rainier, some 150 miles off in the distance…as Baby Bird squirmed in our arms. We brought along a great bottle of wine, which we drank on the porch of our cabin–utterly exhausted–while our daughter fussed and cried in her crib, resisting sleep at every turn.

Our second trip to Orcas was not like the first. The first trip was smooth sailing. On this trip, there were wrinkles.

But as challenging as it was, and as much as I might miss the romance of the “old days,” I feel deeply committed to going places with Baby Bird, whether it’s a couple days on Orcas Island,  a week-long adventure to the east coast to visit family, or–hopefully 0ne day–a trip half-way around the world, to the place of her birth, Armenia. Because while it’s always good to have a place to come home to, there’s a world outside our door I want our daughter to explore. I want her to have the experience of riding on a ferry, flying in a plane, feeling the wind in her face on the top of Mt. Constitution or the sand under her feet on a beach in Hawaii. I want her to see the world we live in, and learn to love and care about its inhabitants, animal and human alike. And the only way to really do that is get out there.

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The three of us at the ferry: 2012