An Adventure...please

We've now been back on the boat for almost a month. In the past month we've only covered 130 miles while zig-zagging back and forth between the San Juan Islands. Last summer we had single days where we covered more ground than we have covered in a whole month this summer. Not much water has passed under our keel. It's almost embarrassing.

My guess is that we are doing what most people do on a vacation. We've been relaxing. It's not something that we are used to. I can't remember the last time we just hung out. We've actually sat on our boat in a beautiful anchorage for an entire day. Yep... we sat on our butts for an entire day while relaxing and admiring the scenery and working on our tans...it's ridiculous.

Since we have been to the San Juan's multiple times in our sailing career, we have been making a point of seeing places that we have never been during our past trips. We have set foot on 3 islands that we have never been to before, we have visited a few towns that we haven't seen before, and we've hiked in circles (they are islands, hiking in circles is what you do). We've also been back to a few of our favorite destinations, we've jumped off of bridges and cliffs into cold water, we've paddle-boarded, we've eaten at great restaurants, and we've listened to a few of the local bands. Yep, normal vacation stuff is what we've been up to.

The San Juan's are about as easy as you can get in terms of a sailing destination. Protected anchorages are within an hour or two of each other, there are cute little towns and grocery stores just about everywhere, and resorts with swimming pools dot most of the major islands. We don't really have to check the tides or currents unless we want to, we don't have to bother with a weather report because the weather is mostly benign, and the waterways are almost like sailing on a lake. It's easy here. Almost too easy. It's so easy that a monkey could be captain of this ship (who are you calling a monkey?!?!).

The most exciting thing that we have experienced in the last month is the chance encounter with 3 of our former neighbors and a planned rendezvous with another. It turns out that our former neighborhood of Shilshole Bay Marina sails north during the summer and ends up in the San Juan Islands. It's always fun to see familiar faces and catch up with people we haven't seen in a while, especially when we didn't think we would ever see these people again. It is a reminder for me that we need to be better about keeping in touch with old friends. It was truly a treat to run into these people and to be able to spend a little time with all of them.

Even though we've been having fun doing vacation stuff and catching up with old friends, what I'm really getting at with all of this rambling is that we have had a serious lack of a real adventure for almost one whole month. I can't remember the last time I feared for my life. I can't remember the last time I said to myself, “I'm not going to do that again...that was scary!” I can't remember the last time that I felt like I deserved an entire bag of cookies because we hiked our brains out, scaled a mountain, had a close encounter with a bear, sailed through a nasty squall, or stared in the face of some large seas.

For the last year, we have been seeing and experiencing new things on a daily basis. It's been a constant stream of excitement and amazement. We've had adventures that would blow your mind just about every day. We would wake up early and burst out the door because of the things we were going to see and do. I actually slept in till 10 the other morning...yes, 10 in the morning. Holy crap, that's late! My good friend Mike (one of our former neighbors who we just ran into) told me I should feel lucky that I could sleep till 10 because it meant I was totally unwound. There is definitely nothing left to unwind. I am as unwound as one can get. I'm ready for some excitement to bring me back to a schedule that has me bursting out the door with the rise of the sun. This easy stuff is for the birds.

A big part of the excitement we have had in the past year is that every thing we had been seeing had been new to us. We have had countless encounters with the unknown. It's always been exciting for me to see what is beyond the next bend in the road or what is just passed the horizon. As beautiful and fun as the San Juan Islands are, we have been here before. We've seen what's around the bend. And what is driving me nuts is the fact that there is a horizon that I can see that has something new for me but it is currently just out of reach.

I may sound like I am complaining. That's not what I am trying to do. We are having fun and enjoying ourselves, it's just that we aren't doing much that would constitute an adventure. And an adventure is what this boy likes...actually, an adventure is what this boy needs. Anyone can have a vacation. A vacation has to end though, and the end usually means that going back to work is just around the corner. No thanks. I have learned in the past year that the unknown's and what's beyond the horizon is what brings out the ooh's and ah's and the would-you-just-look-at-that's that reminds me why we are doing this. Adventuring is much more fun and rewarding than vacationing.

You may be wondering why we don't just head off toward the horizon. Well, the short answer is that we still have a family member that is having some medical difficulties and we don't want to be too far away just in case we are needed. So, we are staying close to home until the docs say things are stable. And really, the San Juan's aren't a bad place to be hanging out.

Since we are going to be here for a little while and I'm feeling like an adventure would do me just right, maybe you could send up a little storm to get our hearts pumping a bit. Nothing too big, maybe just a little squall. Or better yet, since we are just a short drive and a mere ferry boat ride away from Seattle, you could come up for a little visit.