Heaven Couldn't Be Better Than That

A couple weeks ago G and I took a little break from real life and spent a couple days in the Columbia River Gorge.  It was fantastic in every way.  We dropped the kids off early at my brother's house.  Once we were free, our first stop was a 4-hour scenic train ride around the Hood River valley.  The fall colors were at their peak and it was so much fun to sit in silence and look out the window at all the farms and trees.  We both fell asleep a few times, which at first we felt bad about, but actually that enhanced the experience.  Relaxing in every way!

 

Halfway through the train ride we stopped in a gorgeous rural farming town.  The town is known for it's apple and pear orchards and sits at the foot of Mt. Hood.  We bought lunch at the little grocery store and sat in the park and ate.  The sun was out, the air was warm, and the scenery could not have been more beautiful with the fall colors, and Mt. Hood in the background.

 G in front of his beloved Mt. Hood.

 Eating our picnic lunch.  We both agreed this picnic was a highlight of the weekend.  Reminded us of the pre-children era.

Me in a pear orchard. 

After our train ride, we drove to a big farm and walked around.  It was weird not having the kids because they would have loved it, but I'm not going to lie... it was really nice. We wandered around, picked out some cool gourds for my dining room table, ate a donut, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Next we returned to the city of Hood River and walked up and down the streets looking in all the shops.  G found Buddy his very first pair of skis (used) for his birthday!  We had dinner at a delicious pizza place and watched an a capella group perform.  We felt like we were back at BYU.

Our last stop of the night was our resting place, Skamania Lodge.  If you live around here, you must go.  Wow!  It was so relaxing.  They had a giant fire going in the main area of the hotel and a bonfire outside.  We sat in the outdoor hot tub.  We wandered around the hotel and noticed there wasn't a child in sight.  HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! 

The next morning we slept in, laid around, watched TV, and finally went to brunch at noon.  The main reason we even went to the Skamania Lodge is for the brunch.  And that's the main reason you should go too.  It was amazingly wonderful.  Delicious!  After brunch, we sat in the family room and looked out the windows at the rain and decided to take a little nap right there in the rocking chairs.  Since we were so exhausted from doing nothing all day, you know. 

We drove around a bit, then did some shopping and eventually returned home in the evening.  It was the perfect getaway because we were missing the kids by that point.  They were mildly happy to see us and after an hour of being back in their presence, we were exhausted again and ready for another weekend away.  Luckily it was bed time!

The kids survived without us, of course, in my brother and sis-in law's capable hands.  I think Jordan and Tahsha were a little worse for the wear, though.  When they told us about their weekend, they kept giving us the "They were great!" line, while giving us that "courtesy" laugh people do when they are feeling really awkward.  My parents joined my brother and everybody to take the kids to our ward's trunk-or-treat.  My dad said the kids had fun but after comparing my kids' energy level/behavior with the rest of the ward (and my ward has NO shortage of kids), he said, "Your kids had fun.  And your kids are not calm."

And this, everyone, is why me and G had so much fun on our weekend away.

That, and the fact that G is a wonderful friend and companion.  And as fun as it was to see some new things and eat great food and be without the kids, the very best part was just being with him.