Cast your memories back to late summer 2020. Months of lockdown, vaccines are still just a dream/glimmer for a future date. Death tolls rising. It’s now been several months and zoom parties can only do so much. And so, decided to be extra safe so I could pod up with two families for a getaway in the mountains. Looking forward to hiking the trails and exploring and outdoor meal cookouts, as we’d down a few years before. In order to be super safe, we all agreed to basic super safe at home isolation for the two weeks before we’d be meeting up. And then, the new terrible climate change effect in Washington State reared its ugly head, and FIRE SEASON was upon us again. And the wildfires were so so bad that we were facing statewide Hazardous Air Quality Warnings (keep the windows closed and put towels under the door type of warnings). Well, crap! But we’d done all the isolation prep, and decided that we would rather be trapped indoors staring at 4 DIFFERENT WALLS. So the trip was still a go! Shame about the “not going outside” part. To be in amongst all this natural beauty and not be able to enjoy it. Still, so great to just be in a different location, and seeing friends IN PERSON!!
Teresa, Lindsey, and their 3 kiddos joined me for the first 3 days. Zoom-school with vacation cabin WiFi proved tricky, but the kids muddled through somehow. We played games, and had shared reading time, dance parties, enjoyed family meals. It was just so nice to be somewhere else, and getting to see each other in person!
Because of the “Seriously, Do Not Go Outside Because of the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Air Quality,” we couldn’t do the fire pit thing. Turns out the kids were just as excited by microwaved S’Mores (which somehow proved even Messier than normal?!?)
Then that family returned home and Sarah and Jen joined me for the final two days. We played games, had at-home spa treatments (including Sarah’s upsetting foot treatment that included warnings of skin sloughing!!!), attended a virtual auction fundraiser for Seattle Area Feline Rescue (which included some at home crafts!), and heckled our way through Hallmark movies.
The final day saw some rain and winds that finally removed the air quality warnings, so we were able to go outside!!!
Jen crawled back behind the couch to explore the “Harry Potter Suite,” which had been such a hit our last time in this cabin.
Then we hear this plaintive “I Have Regrets!!” from the front room. The cabin has a new couch and it is much taller, which made Exiting the Harry Potter suite much trickier. I helped rescue her… after taking a photo!!
Created a new chalk masterpiece on their blackboard, and then it was time to head home. So, not quite the recreation of our previous outdoors-full trip, but still, a really nice getaway, wonderful to spend time with each other, and share laughter and love.
