The BEST DAY EVER: The 21 Hour Adventure

Yup... Anticipation was high to hang out together.  Did you know that the best adventure days begin before daylight?  You should always remember that.  Did I mention that we had only communicated via text messaging or through Facebook and here we were planning to spend the whole day together?  Yes, I wondered if I was crazy... on quite a few different levels!

Well, as it turns out, I wasn't crazy.  Seeing each other in person for the first time in over 30 years was well worth the wait!  And what a fun dance we had that day - reconnecting and realizing how much we had in common.  The Law of Attraction was heavily in play on many different levels - mental, emotional, spiritual and physical.

Our journey through that day took us through Starbucks then up to Darrington where we visited Sauk River Falls.   The 100 foot short hike to the falls was covered in a light snowfall.  The forest was quite, but you could hear the rumble of the falls growing stronger and stronger the closer we got.  We crawled over logs and rocks and made our way down to the water line.  Washed in the spray of the falls, it was a perfect moment, as we stood so close together soaking in all the beauty that was around us.

Whispering a prayer for a sign that I wasn't crazy because my heart was beating louder than the waterfall... We were greeted by not one, but two magnificent eagles that flew out and circled over the us as we stood at the base of the waterfall. My soul smiled...

We made our way back to the SUV and headed back towards Darrington, our goal was to try to make it to Diablo Dam.  A short stop at a convenience store in Darrington made it obvious that we were not dressed appropriately - forgot to wear camouflage and drive the pick-up truck.  Yes, it was obvious, we were tourists.  (Could it have been the 4 camera's we had with us, too?)

It was snowing off and on all day... but we had no problem traveling.  The roads were fine. Diablo Lake offers much to see and enjoy.  We stopped at the Old #6 Train and took a picture of Sock Monkey enjoying a quick thrill of a pretend ride.

Yes, SM was quite happy.  There were so many places to stop and take pictures from... the scenery was absolutely breathtaking.  And the company was taking my breath away, too. 

As we were driving around the lake up to the lookout point, we caught a glimpse of the the mountains and valley behind the lake and we both exclaimed, "Wow!"  Then, glancing back at the road, we both exclaimed, "Oh, wow...!"  again, as there was a snowplow coming straight towards us!  He was thereafter aptly dubbed "Oh Wow the Snow Plow".

The view from up top was magnificent!  It was amazing to watch the sun, clouds, snow and shadows roll across the mountains.  We were the only ones there and the quietness of the scene penetrated through me - it was so peaceful and serene. 

We headed down the mountain and began the trek out towards Anacortes.  Our plan was to head out to Friday Harbor and enjoy dinner on the island.  While waiting for the ferry, we ventured down to the beach and, in that stolen moment, shared a kiss for the first time.  The comfort level between us was, as Peter described it, like "coming home." 

The ride from Anacortes to Friday Harbor is about an hour long so we ended up watching the sunset from the ferry.   After finding the right restaurant - the food was good, the wine was better and the company was the best.  Afterwards, we decided to venture out to find the lighthouses and see if we could take pictures of them in the dark...

Yah, that didn't work so well.  We did however, manage to make it back in time for the last ferry off the island that night.

There came that moment on the ride home when I realized that he was flying out in 36 hours... So, I took a chance of a lifetime, and asked him if he would possibly be interested in changing his flight and go with me to my friends cabin on a little island in the South Puget Sound for the weekend instead of going home... I told him that I wanted to know if there was more to this than just the "Best Day Ever Date".... It seemed like time stood still before he replied.

-Cheryl