An October trip to Paris wasn’t in the cards this year, but I’ve been feeling all kinds of antsy and asked Shane if we could please get out of town for my birthday. He hemmed and hawed about the driving and the COVID logistics and so I let it drop. He then spent the rest of the evening looking at AirBnB’s on the sly and told me the next morning he’d found the perfect place and would be whisking me away for a weekend surprise! He let Juliette in on the secret and she reveled in knowing something Mama didn’t, hardly able to contain her excitement. October 9th couldn’t come soon enough.
I packed per Shane’s vague instructions (bring slippers and a coat) and we set out on a Friday morning. Juliette took great joy in the big reveal as we departed West Seattle: “We’re headed to Leavenworth! The house looks SO nice. It has a coffee table and everything!”. A coffee table?! NO WAY.
Ah, the Cascades. They catch me snapping photos through the windshield every time.
Friday’s main agenda item was a seven-mile hike at Lake Valhalla. I admit I raised my eyebrows when Shane told me the distance, wondering if Juliette could really hang, but we hit the trail with a backpack full of snacks and our hopes held high. We could do this!
The trail was a gorgeous mix of greens and golds and our little mountain goat handled the elevation like a champ.
The lake trail meets up with the Pacific Crest Trail for a bit and I felt an extra bump of satisfaction in knowing we were hiking even a short stretch of the legendary PCT. Shane has dreams of our family backpacking a much bigger chunk of this someday.
Our legs began to get heavy about three miles in, but these colors kept us going.
And finally, a lake view!
The descent down to the water was particularly stunning.
We reached the lake as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds and happily settled ourselves on a group of large rocks. Lunchtime!
Juliette loves when I ask her to snap a pic of her dad and me, but the price we pay is the obligatory silly face photo she always requests. And the silly photo is somehow always more in-focus than the normal one. Go figure.
Alright, gang – let’s do this return trek!
Wowee!
Shane urged me to peel off and take the short trail up to the very top of the mountain while he and Jules took their time heading down. It was a steep climb but worth the sweaty jaunt.
Pay-off!
Pay-off!
PAAAAYYYY-OFFFFFFF!!!
I was on my lonesome for a bit as I headed back down to catch up with Shane and Juliette and while the quiet was nice, I much prefer hiking with a buddy.
Found these two patiently waiting for me on a log while eating gummy worms, and then we joined forces with three miles to go.
We blitzed the trail back to the car and high-fived Juliette for finishing her longest hike yet. SEVEN miles and some change. We told her we’ll take her on a hike each year where the number of miles matches her age – she’s set for another 11 months.
It was a short drive to our cozy AirBnB in Plain, which did in fact have a coffee table, but also had a sweet little deck tucked in among the foliage. Shane and Juliette hunted for birds while I popped open a bottle of wine and tore into a bag of chips. Happy Hour!
Shane cooked us a pasta dinner that night and we wolfed down our carbs with total delight. We’d earned them!
We closed out the evening with game 5 of the NBA finals and while I felt no particular affinity for the Lakers or the Heat, I did really love watching Juliette yell at the iPad when Anthony Davis missed a shot and whoop it up when LeBron sunk a three. Our family has spent A LOT of time together in 2020, but snuggling up with these two for the night still felt like the best gift ever.
Boatloads more mountain photos coming your way in part II…