Happy Anniversary

It is a busy Monday morning at work and I am supposed to be catching up on all the stuff I didn’t get to on Friday. But this weekend is fresh in my mind, so I want to get it all down. Our 14th wedding anniversary is on Tuesday and we go to our honeymoon spot—Long Beach peninsula in Washington—every year to celebrate. We planned ahead a little bit this year, so we were able to get a yurt (a round camping cabin) at Cape Disappointment. There usually aren’t any yurts left because our anniversary usually falls on the same weekend as the Cranberry Festival, but for some reason there were still yurts available when I booked one in August.

Despite our best efforts to leave town at a decent hour, we were not ready to get on the road until well after dark, so we decided to just stay home Friday evening. The kids had no school Friday, Rick did not work and I took the afternoon off. But after grocery shopping, packing, the boys’ paper routes and a late dinner out… we got home after dark and remembered that the trailer lights weren’t working. Rick was not willing to drive without the lights (we got pulled over on our way home from the last trip) so he started working on them. By the time he was done it was pretty late. We figured we would not be able to get a key for the yurt and our beds are so much more comfortable….

And the best part: the kids had a blast playing hide and seek or was it tag? in the front yard while Rick worked on the trailer. And they were happy to go to sleep in there warm, cozy beds. I got online to try and figure our reservation out. I wanted to just get a phone number to see how late we could get a key. When I looked up the reservation, I saw the total price for the yurts and realized why there were so many available so late in the season. The yurts in Washington are $65 a night!?!??! A hotel on the peninsula is less than that!!! I didn’t look at the total price when I made the reservation. I just assumed it’d be around $30/night, like always! After seeing the price, I was motivated to get the reservation changed, since we would not be going Friday night. I explored my options and figured that I could just cancel the whole thing, get our money back, and then pay for Saturday night when we got there.

We got up early-ish Saturday morning and headed out first thing. The office (with the yurt key) did not open until 9am, so we went straight to the yurt to cook breakfast on the porch. While I drove the campground crazy cooking bacon, Rick went up to the office to check in. The ranger guy was having trouble figuring out how to cancel/re-reserve the site, so he sent Rick back to camp with the yurt key and reassurances that he’d figure it out later and let us know. While we ate breakfast and settled into the yurt (and Rick tarped off half the campsite in the rain) one of the park staff stopped by and let us know that the ranger guy figured it out and we could stop by the office later. On our way to town for the day we stopped by the office, as instructed. Then the ranger told us our original reservation was non-refundable and by not showing up on Friday night, we forfeited the entire reservation. Then he said that the “new” reservation for Saturday would be $65. But we’d already paid for that night—and the night before! So, we decided to go pack up, then spend the day on the peninsula and head home that night.

About 45 minutes later, we were just about finished packing up when Rick jokingly said, “Now that we’re all packed up, I bet the ranger guy will come tell us that he was mistaken and that we can stay.” Sure enough, about 2 minutes later, the ranger guy showed up and told us just that! He felt bad about having us go, so he made some phone calls and they decided to let us stay in the yurt that night for “no charge” (remember, we’ve already paid for two nights here!) Anyway, we decided to at least leave the trailer and some bulky items at camp and either stay the night or come get it all on our way home.

We then went to Long Beach for the day. We played in the arcade. We bought a pound and half of fudge. We got ice cream. I found a new fabric store!!! So, I got some fabric to add to my collection. (At Rick’s suggestion 14 years ago, I’ve been collecting fabric—1/4 yard at a time—every year. When I have enough, I will make an anniversary quilt. But a few years ago, the fabric store closed! So, I’ve gone fabricless for a few years. Now I’m back in business!) We had pizza and scrumptious sandwiches and chowder for lunch. We drove out to Oceanpark—the northern end of the peninsula and picked up some groceries for dinner. We stopped at the yarn store and Sarah picked out some pink yarn for a hat and scarf. (I started and finished a hat for myself on the trip, so Sarah wanted one for herself, too. When I got that done, Gabriel asked me: “Do you have any blue yarn?” I also worked on Elijah’s purple blanket.) We drove out on the beach for a little while, but the sand was way too fluffy and we really had no business out on the sand in that whether… Did I mention that it was raining ALL DAY Saturday?! In fact, we usually hike at Lead Better State Park, but we were not in any mood to be outside that day, so we skipped it.

When we got back to the campsite, Rick started a fire, Luke made friends with the little boy next door, and I made yummy camping dinner. I just made top ramen, camping toast, a bagged salad kit and sautéed vegetables. Simple food, but it tastes so good when we’re outside! After dinner, we ate lots of that fudge. I washed dishes while the kids played hide and seek in the yurt (basically they just turned off the light, screamed and giggled a lot). Then we all crashed in warm, dry, fairly comfortable yurt beds.

It rained and rained and rained all night long. The raccoons tried to make away with our cooler. I had to go to the bathroom way too many times for camping. Then we woke up to a beautiful dry day. We had a fabulous breakfast in town and then climbed around on the jetty, under a perfect blue sky. We saw seals (or sea lions?) playing in the surf. I got sprayed by a wave—Sarah got SOAKED! Then, on our way home, Rick found some cash in the van’s sun visor that my mom had given us for our trip to Hawaii… What a weekend!

What I love most about this weekend—aside from spending it with my 5 most favorite people—is that it all worked out. We spent way too much money. We didn’t get out of town when we wanted to. The weather totally sucked. There were complications and surprises and changes in the plan more times than I can remember. And it all worked out. The kids rolled with it and just enjoyed the ride. Rick and I stayed calm and pleasant with each other the entire time. I don’t even think either of us got irritated by the chaos. The weekend was such a microcosm of our marriage and family. Shit happens. Things don’t always turn out like we wanted. Plans change. The weather usually sucks. And we all have a good time together, despite it all. Then we wake up to sunny skies and are a better family for it. Things have not always been this way—does anyone remember Vernonia Happy Days?! Or the cabin in La Pine??!?!? But Rick and I are growing as a couple. Our children are growing as siblings and as individuals. Life is good. Not always smooth and flawless. Well, never smooth and flawless. But rich and wonderful!

Happy 14th Anniversary Schmoopy! I love you…