anniversary trip

August 3rd marked our 11th anniversary. Sometimes I wonder how it could be that long and other days I'm sure I've miscalculated--it seems double that, easily! :D

We took a trip out to the beautiful state of Washington. We spent the first 3 days in Bellingham (north of Seattle). What a delightful area! The first day was lots of driving around--in the red convertible Mustang (my dream car!!!) we rented for the week. We checked out downtown Bellingham, ate at a great micro-brewery and checked in to our gorgeous hotel (the Chrysalis Inn and Spa). There was a beautiful boardwalk that actually went out into Bellingham Bay and meandered through a nice picnic-type park. We ate dinner that night at the restaurant in our hotel--sitting out on the patio / balcony overlooking Bellingham Bay, watching the sun glimmer on the water. Just perfect!!

Day two was our big mountain day. We drove out to Mount Baker for sight-seeing and hiking. The view from the summit was absolutely breathtaking. And, standing in the snow in our shorts was pretty fun, too. After exploring a bit at the top of the mountain, we drove back down the mountain to our selected trail for a good hike. The Excelsior Pass Trail--a 4.5 mile (one way) "more difficult" trail that started out at 1800 feet and would climb another 3500 feet. It was described on the Internet and by locals as the trail with a challenging and steep climb for the first mile ... then it was supposed to level out a bit and end with a fantastic viewpoint. We had taken our lunch to eat at the top--while we soaked in the glorious vista. The weather was perfect ... in the lower 70s, getting just slightly warmer as the day went on. We kept a good pace the entire climb. But, one thing was obvious ... there was NO point when the trail leveled out. It was a constant climb. Constant. We passed a few of the "landmarks" mentioned in the on-line trail guide--the evidence of a previous forest fire around the 2 mile mark, the more dense brush area around mile 3 or so and the thinning of the trees around mile 4. We hiked uphill for 2 hours and 45 minutes wondering why we hadn't run into anyone who was on their way down ... we were growing more and more tired, and less and less enthusiastic about making it all the way to the top / end. Finally, we encountered another hiker on his way down. When we asked if we were near the end (and we honestly were both expecting him to say "the beautiful view is just another 100 yards ahead"), our fellow sweat-drenched hiker who was incredibly upbeat promptly, and certainly without intending to, removed every last bit of wind from our tired and weary sails. He said we had about another 2 miles to go--"the most difficult 2 miles, probably"--and asked if we had plenty of water, because it was getting quite hot up there. "Yes, we've got water. Thanks." He continued on his way down and Tim and I looked for a place to plop and have our lunch right there. We were done with our part of the upward climb ... we were not going to make it to the end of the Excelsior trail, that was obvious. (I think the description as 4.5 miles one way must have been incorrect ... we certainly had made it more than 2.5 miles on the trail ... something just didn't add up right.) We ended up eating while we walked down the trail because the bugs decided to come out to share lunch with us when we were sitting still. It took us about an hour and 30 minutes to walk down--with knees aching and legs a-shakin'. It was a rough descent ... it actually seemed harder to go down than up! Tim and I were both thrilled to see the road and parking lot at the end of it, but entirely too spent to express any real excitement. A big sigh and "thank God!" were all we could muster.

The next day, with ridiculously sore legs ("Damn you, Excelsior!!" as Tim would randomly yell out during the rest of our trip), we went to San Juan Island and shopped a bit. During a brief visit at South Beach, I sat on a log listening to and watching the waves lap the shore. It was a completely different experience than I have ever had at a sunny / Caribbean beach. I felt so much peace, and felt truly connected with nature and the universe ... it was very spiritual. I want to go back. Soon. For a much longer time.

Day 4 sent us driving in that fun and fabulous Mustang down the highway to Olympia (south of Seattle) to visit my very good friend April (a.k.a. Chicky ... we both call each other Chicky and have since pretty shortly into our friendship that began 15 years ago in college). It was a wonderful 2-3 days spending time with her. We also were able to meet the love of her life, Kristi. She is really fabulous ... I like her a lot. It makes me happy to see my Chicky in such a good place! We spent most of our time together just sitting around, talking and laughing ... and eating ice cream!! :)

After our days with Chicky and Kristi, we headed back to Bellingham and then flew to Columbus to return to our kids (who had spent the week with Nana and Papa). It was wonderful to see them again--a week away really makes you happy to see and hug and kiss those adorable little people!!

Next time we go, we'll have to give Excelsior another go!! Maybe we should start training for it now!!