A couple of weeks ago, as part of getting through my "bucket list" before I leave the Evergreen State for, um, snowier pastures, a couple of friends and I traveled to Orcas Island for the weekend and rented a cabin.  Given that the whales aren't actually around in the winter, we got a cheap rate, and, well, we decided to rename the island "No-Orcas Island".

(I'd like to point out that in the following pictures, we've had to Photoshop my friend Peter in after fact, as he showed up a day later than the rest of us for the trip.)  I used the best Photoshopping skills I could do in the 15 seconds I spent on photo editing for this blog post.  My apologies to Peter.)

The first of these photos is the four, err, five of us on the ferry ride in at Lopez Island.  Although we did not get off the ferry, we can officially check off Lopez as a place that we've all been.  No, it wasn't raining--we all just thought we looked more Washingtonian with hoods on.

The second picture is the four, err, five of us hiking on Mt. Constitution.  We did not make it up to the top, because it was big, and there was a ton of snow on the ground.  Please note in this picture that Diane is quite proud of the fact that she went to UVA, as shown with her bright orange sweatshirt.  What you don't know is that she was also trying to scare away bears.  Thanks Diane!

The final picture in this incredibly short photo album is the four of us looking into an icy lake.  And Peter's head Photoshopped in on top of the rest of that.  I believe that everyone was very amazed at the fact that yes, there are places in the world where it gets cold enough for water to freeze.

Quite a fun trip, and another surprising place in Washington that you really have never heard of before but are amazed with how amazingly beautiful it is.  Good weekend in all.