Green collage

It was a rare scene indeed.  Kyle and Preston, our tech geniuses, had just flown in the night before from the Midwest and were now gathering around the office sofa with the rest of the Greenvelope team to play a round of “so what do you do at Greenvelope?”  The Greenvelope Retreat officially started with a Friday Mariners game where Cliff  disappeared to woo a girl and Lauren sipped from an elegant glass of chilled white wine as the crowd cheered when the Mariners beat the Oakland A’s.

Saturday morning the team divided into two cars and drove through Deception Pass on the way to a cabin on Whidbey Island. It was one of the hottest days in Seattle, but the team barely felt the heat thanks to the breeze from Penn Cove. As Michelle, Sam, and Lauren prepared some fresh fruit, smoked salmon, and cheese, Olivia and the tech guys took in the magnificent view, while Cliff led Noni in a meditation session. At some point Sam brought out the bait cages and fish heads for crabbing.  Lauren and Preston volunteered to be his first crew for setting the bait. They soon discovered that Sam was the only one strong enough to row the boat against the current. As Lauren said to Sam, “We would have been lost at sea without you!”

After several hours, the next crew was sent out to check on the cages.  Michelle pulled up the first cage and was surprised to find a fish!  Don’t worry, we let the fish go.  At some point while Noni was pulling up the second cage and the rope seemed to go on forever, Michelle turned to Sam and asked, “Is this a trick rope?” Inside the second cage was our first red rock crab. Score! The third cage was for Preston.  As Preston started pulling, Sam asked him if it was heavy. Preston’s response was “Either there are a lot of crabs in the basket, or I’m just a wimp.”  Another minute goes by and Preston says, “Well, I guess I’m a wimp.”   In the last cage was one big red rock crab who refused to go down without pinching Preston a couple times before Sam broke up the fight.

Dinner was truly remarkable.  The boys grilled steak and teriyaki glazed salmon (freshly caught in Alaska by Sam and his father), and Michelle and Olivia prepared all the salads and potatoes (also freshly grown by Sam…we know!). Kyle, who calls himself a meat and potato guy, even went for seconds on the salmon dish.

Of course the night ended with a bonfire, s’mores, a couple spooky tales, and a round of Heads Up where Lauren impressed everyone with her rendition of Royals.

The feast wasn’t over just quite yet.  Next morning everyone, (especially Preston), enjoyed the crab scrambled eggs made by Lauren and freshly baked scones by Sam. Then while Lauren, Olivia, and Noni left to the Whidbey Island ferry, Preston, Kyle, Michelle, and Sam opted to enjoy Whidbey a little longer by capping off the weekend with a short hike up Ebey’s Landing before heading to the ferry!