I want to do a quick trip report of our weekend so I can come back to this entry on days when I'm stressed or feeling low and remember how freakin' great my life really is.

We took off for the mountains early on Friday morning (Friday the Thirteenth, of all days). I'd finally told Elizabeth what the plan was -- all she knew up to that point was that something was going on this weekend. I think she had a good idea we were going away to the mountains, and I knew she was HOPING we were going to the SnowBird Mountain Lodge, but she was afraid to get her hopes up. But this is were we went:


To me, the best part of taking a trip with Elizabeth is the time in the car, the getting-there part, as we chat and make up goofy jokes and listen to music. We basically get reacquainted again, and that time is just priceless. On the way back home it's usually a case of getting back as soon as possible, but on the way out, it's fun just cutting loose, and every joke is funny. It's almost like a first date.

We cruised west on I-40 for about 4 hours, and we decided to stop in Asheville at the Biltmore House to buy wine. The Lodge is in a dry county (yes, in the 21st century, there is still such a thing!), so it's BYOB/W. After a lovely 10 minutes of tasting wine on empty stomachs, we bought 3 bottles (a cabernet for Mike the Red-Meat-Eater and two chardonnays) and then rushed over to McDonald's to eat something so we weren't swerving off the road in a stupor. We hit the highway again, and soon found ourselves in the mountains:


Ninety minutes and two wrong turns later, we pulled into the Lodge. The place was deserted, a common theme for the whole weekend, to our surprised joy. We just had to deal with the Guardian Wolf outside:


We checked in and parked ourselves on Our Couch, in front of Our Fire in the main lodge. We read (they have a wonderful library of over 2,500 books!)and watched the fire and hoped for snow:

I had Lizzie at my side, along with a good novel to read and some hot cider. I was instantly relaxed:


The next day we did some hiking, and we had fun with the walking sticks. I think I need to lay off the kung fu movies:


Elizabeth, on the other hand, was contemplating life without papers, tests, classes, or 70-hour work weeks. At least for the next couple of weeks, before it all starts again:


On Saturday we slept in and were planning on going to the Joyce Kilmer National Forest to hike around, but it was cold as hell, so we stayed inside and read some more. Then Lizzie got the urge to play Scrabble, and since this was her "official" birthday, I of course couldn't say no. But we got sidetracked by this 3-D puzzle, and we ended up spending all afternoon putting this sucker together!


Using the trails around the Lodge, we did manage short hikes both days, including an awesome early-morning trek up to the Sunrise Deck, where, fittingly enough, we saw the sun rise over the mountains:


For those of you with trouble seeing clearly, here's a pointer:


After all was said and done, before we knew it, Sunday had arrived. We made reservations for next year at this time -- there were only 6-8 other guests there all weekend, and we would've stayed another day or 2 if they wouldn't have been closing for the season as soon as we got out of their hair. We hated to leave.

It's amazing how relaxed you can get, just doing what you WANT to do, not what you feel you HAVE to do. And it's wonderful to get back in touch with what's most IMPORTANT -- your loved one, yourself, your dreams, and nature.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, we did finish that @%$*! puzzle:


We'll be back next year. Later.