Coming home with mixed emotions

My mood is melancholy because I just waved goodbye to Anna, the kids and my brother as their ferry slipped away. Liberty and Asher clung to me, crying, while I tried my best to console them but they nearly caused me to tear up as well since that's about the warmest feeling a father can experience. Anna and I ourselves need very little space and consequently spend almost no time apart. One would think that the few times we do would at the least feel like a refreshing change, but I find instead that those things that aren't made more difficult by her absence are made so much less enjoyable.

And so begins our return to Portland from a summer of magic, surprises and natural beauty. Anna's brother Bryan was, to everyone's disappointment, unable to come but having my brother here has been nothing short of extraordinary, though how we miss you Cloud! Tonight I will set out - with appropriate gusto and derring-do - on a seven-hour, singlehanded sail across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles where I will await the arrival of Anna and my father tomorrow. On Saturday morning we begin the return transit and should arrive in Portland on Tuesday.

As inviting as the San Juans are, the highlights of the summer were certainly the visits from our people and we dearly miss those that didn't make it up. So it is with some sadness but even more excitement that we close out our first sailing adventure and return to Portland and those we love. We'll see you soon!

XOXO