as promised...

Hello lovelies! Well, with a night to myself I find myself sitting here with a nice glass of wine and a few episodes of The Office and plenty of time to finish up about our weekend in Washington!

So those of you who know Jared know he's not big on getting gifts, regardless of the occasion, be it Christmas, his birthday, whathaveyou. So this year I took a different route. As opposed to telling him I wouldn't get him anything for said holidays, I threw out the option of us going away for a weekend together and having that count for the next three gift-giving occasions. 

He agreed. And happily so!

Our weekend mini-break at Skamania Lodge is Washington served as a catch-all gift and was, in a word, perfect. I don't think either of us really realized just how long it had been since we'd both slowed down and let us catch up with ourselves. 

Since Jared only had a half day of class on Saturday we decided now was the time so off we went! Winding our way out of Portland-proper we got onto 84-E and started our way into the Gorge. For me, the Columbia River Gorge holds a lot of sway - the first time Jared and I spent time together after meeting was hiking up Multnomah Falls (I guess you could call that our first "date" even though we didn't really realize we were in fact "dating" until about a month after we first hung out), and some of my favorite memories have taken place throughout that area of our state. 

After a quick stop at Burgerville, Oregon's (ahem, superior) answer to California's In-N-Out (and with a chocolate-hazelnut milkshake in hand, yum) we pushed eastward until we crossed over the river at The Bridge of the Gods which took us into Washington. It was just a short drive on until we came to the turn-off for the lodge and boy howdy, were we blown away!

It is a stunning place and God made for us the most beautiful day we've had up here in the Northwest in weeks. As we walked up to check in we were both prepared to be in the lap of rustic luxury. "I don't think I'm allowed to stay at a place like this!" was all Jared could muster as we sauntered into the lobby where we were met with the immediate heat of the giant fireplace in the middle of the gorgeous sitting room. We made a mental note to stake out a couple of the very inviting rocking chairs near the hearth, we dropped our bags off in our room and headed straight outside to walk around the grounds while the weather was, mercifully, perfect. 

Of course, it is January in the Pacific Northwest so there was a bite in the air which made it easier for us to head back inside and saddle up to the little bar for a drink to warm up. It was nice, just getting to sit and sip and talk. That mindset followed into dinner where we sat at our little table watching the end of the Purdue game (Boiler up!) and munching on some Dungeness crab laced entrees. After dinner, Jared's  work/school schedule caught up with him and he passed out pretty quickly leaving me up watching the show Hoarders on A&E (addicting!) until I too fell asleep. 

Now my plan was to sleep in but again, with a severely tweaked schedule Jared was up at 7am, showering and ready to go for the day. So I woke up and we went down to the lobby, grabbed some coffee and curled up in those lovely rockers by the fire and just sat. It was so nice. The perfect reason to get up early. To have it my way, we'd would wake up every morning and do just that. 

Of course, though the sight of the morning fog rolling across the mountains was feeding us in ways no food ever could our tummies began to grumble and breakfast began calling our names. So it was back to the little restaurant for delicious french toast, eggs and bacon. Again, the theme of the weekend being "perfect", this meal was no exception. 

Though we only had about 24 hours there, we did manage to catch a bit more time in front of that fireplace before heading back out. It is so wonderful to just be able to spend time with the person you love and have no other obligation other than to be together, even if only for a short time. 

We are truly blessed!

Before heading back to real life we took one more detour and continued east to Hood River, Oregon to visit Cathedral Ridge Winery. It was a sweet little spot with more gorgeous views and some tasty wines to boot! 

But like any delicious dream, the weekend wound down and it was time to wake up again. But that was just fine because it meant I could now dive into that comforting world of memories and start to relive some of the highlights in my mind.

In the end, I can now think of a greater gift to give because we both got to experience the present and now we have these memories that will last a hell of a lot longer than any thing we could have given each other. And that's pretty wonderful, I think.