Update: We’ve posted the pictures here
Rachel and I had a wonderful time last weekend. We were able to spend the weekend in a cabin in the mountains that some friends of my family own. They were nice enough to let us stay for free too!
Aside from the relaxing, watching a few episodes of Monk, and playing a lot of Bohnanza, we also had a couple unexpected adventures.
As for the first of our adventures, I take full responsibility. You see, it seems that I remembered the hike up to the cave as being “not that tough.” Well, that was a long time ago, when I had a ton of energy, and I was with my equally hyper friend. This time… well, we almost died. We weren’t dressed for the occasion, and it was a pretty rough hike up. The hike slide down wasn’t particularly pleasant either. I think Rachel’s forgiven me though… I think 🙂
The second adventure wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Let me set the stage:
It was getting late, and even from inside the lighted cabin, we could see that the stars were out in force. So after Rachel bundled up a little (I figured I’d go back in if I got cold), we headed outside in our pajamas (I was wearing shorts and slippers) to go stargazing on the deck.
Here’s where the problem comes in: The cabin has doorknobs that always open from the inside, whether they’re locked or not. Well, they were locked. Now we are outside on a moonless night, with one lamp on inside the cabin, out in the boonies, with no way to get into the cabin or our car, no cell phone (and no reception even if we had one), and no clue if a spare key even exists.
After trying to remove the screen from the tiny bathroom window which “might not be locked,” we decided that it was probably locked, and I couldn’t get the screen off anyways. Then we started walking around trying to find a thin piece of metal or plastic to jimmy the door with. Finally, we found a thermometer bracket (we owe the owners a new thermometer) that would work to break in to the basement door. However, the basement doesn’t connect to the main (heated) part of the cabin, so we were still “locked out”. But now we had light and access to a lot more tools.
After trying unsuccessfully to jimmy the upstairs door, we ended up using a screwdriver to remove a diamond panel from the top of the door, which allowed me to stand on a chair, reach down and unlock the door. No problem!
Note: The stars were amazing and the bathroom window was unlocked.
In addition to the adventures, we had a fun time trying to figure out how to have pancakes with butter and powdered sugar (like Rachel likes them) when we didn’t bring butter or powdered sugar (spray butter and regular sugar is not the same). Among other things we forgot and sorely missed: Rachel’s camera (big bummer), spices for the grilled chicken, and jelly for PB&J. Luckily, we were able to take pictures with the phone we were borrowing from Jamie, we had Barbecue sauce for the chicken, and we turned PB&Jelly into PB&Honey.
But like I said, apart from those adventures and forgotten supplies, it was a nice relaxing time alone, and our first real vacation together. Next time, I think we’ll do better. We’ll try to post some of the pictures from Jamie’s camera when we get them.