Orcas Island, Washington - Magic and Music, 9/20-26/10

Our time has been full of blessings; we are finally getting to post our Orcas photos, and Portland and Eugene are next, along with our current journey at the intentional community of Lost River Valley, Oregon.

Sunset from Turtleback Mountain, Orcas Island

Orcas Island is magical. Surrounded by water, it has mountain and lake energy as well as expansive skies and beautiful sunsets. The island charm is enhanced by the alternative sustainability-minded locals. This place isout of the Bambi video, visited by so many deer and rabbits, along with local herd of sheep and adorable alpaca.

We met the mystical water creatures that are the namesake of this island - we were Orca-abundant that day, with 3 pods and probably 90 orca around our boat

This is a place that inspires creativity and music. Hanging with Ben, Samara, Noah and their friends would of course inspire this. It was a joy to be playing music with Ben again at the open-mike in hippy-spa Doe Bay after a soothing hot tub and refreshing (friggin freezin) dip in the ocean. We introduced the audience to the water phone and met the daughter of the guy who invented it to call whales! We of course had an awesome powerful sound healing circle. When our homebound ferry was filled up, the 3 hour wait for the next one became a great opportunity to do more music on the dock, with an audience that included a professional photographer we had met the day before at Mt. Constitution.

View of Mt Baker from Mt Constitution, Orcas Island

We had a blast staying at Ben's and Noah's home in the woods and then Samara's in town, eating great home cooking, getting silly, reminiscing old times with Jason (a bit of sadness but joyful  energy), hanging with wild fun island artists and musicians, and being in community with loving friends. We enjoyed a magical sunset kayak with the colorful starfish and wise cliff rocks. The Saturday market was an awesome community gathering with great food, conversation, and cultural sharings.

Our friends want us to move to Orcas, and that is enticing. It was hard to leave the peaceful island to get back to the busier mainland, and are enjoying further exploration of the northwest and sustainable community.

We had a short visit in Port Townsend and enjoyed the tour of the Port Townsend Ecovillage; a sweet small farm that has a few plots of land left. Lawrence Cole, a songweaver who we finally got to meet in Corvallis near Eugene a week later, is associated with Port Townsend.



Port Townsend Ecovillage


We are continuing our exploration of ecovillages in the Eugene, Oregon area and Lost Valley permaculture educational center. Loving the energy here!