When I was 23, I forced  asked my parents to take me Orcas Island for my birthday. They lived there the summer I was born and we hadn't been back since. It was probably the best little trip we'd taken together in my 20s. It was an opportunity for them to show me where we came from, the little house they lived in next to a perfect rocky beach with views up to Canada, and all their favorite places on the island. It was one of the last getaways we took all together.

A few years later, Raz took me back for an anniversary trip. We went to Rosario, where my dad had worked the summer I was born. I gave him a similar tour to the self-guided one my parents gave me. That trip was a little harder. I cried for an hour in the ferry line while he tried to watch Breaking Bad on the iPad. I was embarrassed that I had "ruined" our trip because he had been so thoughtful, but turns out it was too soon after my dad had gotten sick for me to be back. Some things you have to learn the hard way.

Then, recently, my mom invited us to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. I'd never been to that one and given my current phase of early retirement, I agreed to come a few days before everyone else to have some alone time with my mom and George.

I took a little seaplane adventure on Kenmore Air and spent most of the forty minute ride snapping pics and vids. It was otherworldly.