Anniversary Trip 2023
After 9 years of marriage we’ve discovered that the best gift to give each other for our anniversary is a trip just the two of us. December of 2022 we went to a Getaway cabin and loved it. But this year I really wanted to have a hot tub and we wanted to be near Mt. Rainier. So we found an amazing tiny house for the weekend. It was significantly bigger than the getaway, had the hot tub, had an actual bedroom and a full size shower, and was 5 mins from the entrance to Mt. Rainier. We also enjoyed having a real kitchen, a tankless hot water compared to getaway where you have about 5 mins of hot water, a TV, the location, and the backup generator which automatically flipped on when the power went out.
We drove to the house December 7, getting in around 4pm. It was a bit tricky to find the house which was sandwiched right in the middle of two other houses. It was also raining a ton, I was borderline sick with and cold, and we(as always) had gotten a later start than we hoped to. We brought our stuff in, unloaded the cooler and then made a beeline straight for the hot tub. Usually I don’t like a cover over the hot tub but since it rained the entire weekend it was perfect. We then had leftovers for dinner which I’ve realized is amazing to not actually have to cook while on vacation, and then Corban introduced me to Tiny Desk Concerts and we watched a ton of those as we played Rummikub.
We enjoyed a slow morning on the 8th, played games, read our books, enjoyed our coffee and then decided to head up to Rainier. It was raining at the entrance and snowing at the top! I love driving in the snow, it’s always a magical experience for me. We snowshoed, albeit slowly because I was trying to take it easy, and then watched this random guy in jeans and shoes absolute posthole up to his waist which was insane. It was my first time actually snowshoeing(not just around my grandparents’ yard in Bend) and it was a doozy with the elevation but so fun! Then we drove down and stopped at Narada Falls and walked around a bit to see the half frozen waterfall. We turned around to stop at an amazing little pull out right before the exit to the park on the Nisqually river as the sun was dipping down behind the hills and we walked along the river. Then we went back and played Life, ate some dinner and chocolate chip cookie bars for dessert and then went in the hot tub again.
Our second full day, the 9th, we again enjoyed our slow morning because with kids you just can’t not when you have the ability to do so. Lots of reading, multiple cups of coffee and breakfasts and then headed back up the mountain. We explored Longmire which neither of us had ever been to, walked on this super picturesque bridge, and the did a little walking trail around the area. There’s a copper little stream that we enjoyed looking at because of the clay in that area. Then we drove half way up Rainier again before turning around because the snow was dumping and we hadn’t seen plows in a while. Since we had gone the day before we decided to go back to the tiny house and relax. We played Cascadia, which was a frequent flier this trip, ate dinner, went in the hot tub and then went to bed.
Check out wasn’t until noon on the 10th and we were in no rush to get back to we enjoyed another slow morning. Another round of cascadia, coffee and reading before once again being absolutely in awe, as we always are, at how easy it is to pack up 2 people without kids around.
The cozy and slow nature of this trip, being in a tiny house and not a hotel, and getting so much quiet time near each other was amazing. I wish it would have snowed at the tiny house and not just rained but it was an amazing trip I think about often and I’m so grateful to my MIL taking the kids so we could go and have this time together. I wonder what we’ll do next year!
