Weekend getaways 2009

In December, we decided to devote some time to ourselves. We came up with the idea to take one weekend each month and do something different, just focusing on us. No rules, just a weekend to ourselves. My months are the odd ones (jan, mar, etc) and Greg gets to plan the even ones (he says it's because he wants his birthday month!). That being settled, it was up to me to plan January. What could we do that we have never done before, that would be fun and somewhat inexpensive? I came up with snowshoeing!! And since Greg had never been to Mt. Rainier, I decided that was the place to visit. It just so happens my sister's husband, Bryan, works for the National Park Service and is "stationed" at Mt. Rainier so now we had our own personal guide! It was an absolute blast and one I want to do again! Beth and Bryan hosted us for the weekend and took us on a magnificent scenic trail. Beth and Bryan have their own snowshoes; we had to rent ours. It isn't near as much gear as when we were skiing or maybe it is, but it's much lighter!!! The park entrance - we still had an hour's drive up to Paradise where we would begin our expedition. We saw the mountain "peek" out from the clouds. A beautiful day- no snow, but overcast with sun breaks. Fog rolled in later in the afternoon so we were thankful to have such great weather in the middle of the day. Here we are......we had just finished lunch and were ready to tackle more trail!

We ended the day with a rousing game of spades. It is our tradition to play men against the women. And yes, Beth and I lost the series again! We just can't seem to catch a break against these guys! What a weekend - good food, great friends, lousy cards (at least that's what Beth and I thought!), and lots of laughter! Thanks, Beth and Bryan, for helping us have a fantastic time! Love you guys lots!