As a couple approaches and bypasses the 20th year mark in marriage you (at least I do) begin to reflect on all the years that has led up to this moment in time. I get to thinking about that first time I ever saw my spouse, did I know at that specific moment, somewhere in my subconscious, that this would be the person I would grow old with? There's the first meeting, the first date, the meeting of the friends, the introduction of the parents and family members, the proposal, the engagement, the marriage, the honeymoon, the family, the life...
In celebrating our 20th anniversary this year David decided to surprise me with a trip to the San Juan Islands with some mini stops leading us to our destination. Here is how our story goes:
Day 1: We wake up in our beds in Denver at the crack of dawn to make an early flight into Seattle. We have both traveled to Seattle in the past and absolutely love the area. If it weren't for missing friends and uprooting our children (again), we'd probably live there, but for now we visit. Smooth sailing, pick up rental car, start driving. Oh, and by the way, the entire trip is a surprise to me so I am clueless on our destination spots. We drive and drive, which is perfectly fine with me, because as long as someone else is driving, I love car rides and just watching the world pass by through my rental car window. We see Mount Rainier in the distance, which is a rare sighting because of the heavy cloud cover and misty rain. But today we see it perfectly clear in the way off distance. Should we stop to take a picture, I ask but Dave makes excuses about where to stop safely, etc....
We keep on with our travels and Mount Rainier is getting bigger and clearer and closer as we progress. I start to realize the possibilities of our first destination. The small back roads get windier and the sky gets smaller as the enormous pines grow taller. The car slows down and ahead is a beautiful old Inn. I catch my breath as we pull into the parking area and let out my typical gasp of excitement (which usually startles unknowns but in this case Dave knows he's done good). The Alexander Inn is the name of this quaint inn. Two years shy of 100 years old, this majestic beauty doesn't look a day over 80! It has a long and interesting history and is tucked on a large site, surrounded by trees and ponds. We check in and our guide shows us around. The pond out back is stocked full of trout, she explains. We find our room and settle in. Our room is cozy and furnished with all the authenticity of its time. Visions of my Grams' house keep popping into my memories. They are having unseasonably warm weather so window fans are in each of the windows, trying their hardest to pull in any bit of fresh air. Our hostess tells us not to worry, that night will bring cooler temps. We assure her we know because we experience the same in Denver.
After a delicious lunch served in their dining room and a promise to return for dinner, we head out on our first adventure. Destination: Mount Rainier. The majestic beauty is breathtaking and although it's lower in elevation than were we live in Broomfield, Colorado, this monstrous mountain fills the entire sky with it's form. We stop at all the pull offs to get that perfect shot. Dave is on a mission to capture the very best shot ever taken of Mount Rainier. He's a wonderful nature photographer so I am sure he'll rank amongst the best! Traveling through windy roads and pulling off for various waterfalls (each one larger than the next), we collect well over 200 photos between the two of us.
As we head back to our resting place, we skim through our collection of photos, commenting, deleting, oohing and aahing over the exceptional ones. Cleaned up and ready to fill our hungry bellies, we wait by the trout pond, contemplating our dinner choices, sipping wine and relaxing. The sounds of birds in the trees and the whisper of the pines in the winds. What an amazing first day!
As I crawl into bed that evening and find cool sheets waiting for me, I know that 20 years is only the beginning of this journey Dave and I are on together. It's only been a spec in time compared to all we have ahead of us. I fall asleep, pondering our next destination and sleep soundly all night.
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