mountain vacation part 1

For years Matt has suggested that we try to vacation in the big country.  And for years I've thought, "you have got to be joking".  The idea of trying to go on vacation inside the cultural stress that hovers every day seemed impossible.  But then, three years ago, we found a little mountain spot (and stayed in a hostel) and I started to think that I could relax, really relax, here.  

And the summer after that we spent in Colorado and we both felt like we needed to find some healthier ways to decompress while in country if we really want to keep thriving over the long haul.  So we renewed a desire to find some ways to get out of the big city, into the mountains, and find some restful spots within a reasonable drive.  [And I still don't love the drive - oh those roads can be a little too hairy for me - but we do it.]

Then last fall I heard about this new spot, gorgeous high mountains (second highest in the province, the tallest peak in the area is 20,000ft), not too far from us (4 hours on a good traffic day), and a sweet little guest house too. So we tried it out in May and fell in love.  And scheduled a 5 day trip in June! 

The guest house has 8 rooms and two yurts (large Mongolian tents).  This trip we stayed in a yurt and it was perfect for us.  They also allow us to pitch tents on their lawn so for a few nights Matt and some kids slept out in the tent.  The rest of the nights we squeezed into the yurt ;) We can still put a lot of people in a small space if we need to - ha!  

We left Monday morning and ran into a little traffic problem about halfway up the mountain!

By the time we turned down the steep driveway to the guesthouse the kids had the windows rolled down and were hollering for the guest house dog.  They were thrilled to be there! That night we roasted hotdogs and S'mores and the big kids stayed up late playing Bang with Matt. 

Tuesday morning we set off on a hike we enjoyed during our May trip.  Several great trails start right at the guesthouse.  The mountains were so much greener and the peaks had significantly less snow.  Oh, and the rivers were raging with all that snowmelt. 

Just such beauty to enjoy. 

And my favorite person to enjoy it with :) 

It had been a long and challenging two weeks leading up to and during the move.  I was so so grateful to be away from it all with this man. 

And just when John Paul's spirits were flagging and he needed to rest he discovered this animal skull.... spirits revived!  He carried it all the way back to the guest house and propped it outside our door for the remainder of the week (no, we did not bring it back home with us).

And that's it for the first full day.  More in the next post....