Getaway

Thank you David for taking me on a late anniversary trip to our favorite tropical getaway!  It is hard to leave the kids when things are busy, and I at first just thought we better not go, there was too much going on, but I am so grateful that David made this trip happen.  Every time we go away together and catch our breaths from the craziness that is our life, I am grateful.  I'm so grateful to be more in love today than I was 21 years ago when we got married.  I'm grateful to be married to a man who loves me more than I thought possible.  I'm grateful that we had a few days to spend on just us. ( Thanks grandparents and Allie for making that possible!)

I wish I could wake up to this every morning:

 I wish I could watch sunsets like these every night:

I wish I had more time to read and have this view while doing it (:

I wish my kids would fix us gourmet candlelight dinners every night, ha!

I wish I could have video taped the hilarity of one of our sailing adventures.  Everyday we set off sailing and exploring little uninhabited islands.  One day was particularly windy and I was afraid the boat was going to flip so I jumped out.  The water was only up to my knees but David, worried about leaving me, jumped out after me, as our little sail boat took off in the wind!  Thankfully it only went a short distance before slowing enough that David caught back up with it, because I really thought we were going to be stranded out in the middle of the ocean while our runaway sailboat landed on some island with all of our stuff.

David:  sailor

 

Banff, Canada

David and I went on a belated 20 year anniversary trip with friends who were also celebrating their 20 year anniversary.  Our friends suggested Banff, Canada which we had never heard of before but upon arriving we were instantly blown away by the majestic beauty of the Canadian Rockies.  David's knee was bothering him so we weren't sure how much hiking he'd be able to do,  but he didn't slow us down at all (:  We hiked everyday and saw some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in my life.

Our favorite hike was at Lake Louise.  This lake was the most must unique color of turquoise.  I kept thinking it looked photo enhanced.  We learned that Glacier fed lakes have that color because of the light filtering effect of rock flour (a powdery substance that the glaciers grind off the mountain rocks) in the glacial runoff.

 Victoria glacier in the distance

Often, we would come across an area where there had been a snow avalanche and all the trees would be pushed over like this.

David feeling proud at far we had come!  (Lake Louise in the background)

We saw a grizzly bear with her 2 cubs on one of our hikes, about 200 yds off the trail.  Later, we saw a black bear that was right off the interstate and just ate grass while dozens of cars stopped to take his picture.

We saw elk everywhere, here they are resting in the local H.S. baseball field

One of the many hikes around Lake Louise led up to a tea house, overlooking yet another lake.  We enjoyed some hot chocolate while enjoying the breathtaking views.