January 9, 2006
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Shhhhh, I pulled a fast one on Richard!
I couldn’t tell you guys, cause then he would know, but our ONE WHOLE YEAR (of marriage!) ANNIVERSARY is coming up soon, so I asked him if he would spend a weekend going with me to do some property inspections that were way out in Eastern Oregon – about 200 miles from home.
SOOOOOOOO – after we got on the road, I told him we were going on an Anniversary trip! And our first stop was the Kah-nee-ta Resort, Spa and Casino on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon. It is in the fricking middle-of-nowhere! It took us over 3 hours to get there, and it’s way up in the high desert.
We left on Thursday evening and arrived at Kah-nee-ta about 8:30, grabbed a quick dinner in the restaurant, which was empty. They were friendly and more than happy to make us some dinner, we were the last folks with reservations to arrive, so they were waiting for us…..so nice! And my salad! It had pecans and huckleberries and Oregon Bleu Cheese dressing…….heaven! After that we headed to the casino, we agreed to play with a $20.00 limit…. I know, we’re big gamblers, lol! I won $50.00! Woot! So we ended up ahead $38.00 for the night…. That’s right bay-bee! I had the mojo going!
On Friday morning, we got up and went down to the hot springs, this is the ladies locker room, I loved the colors of the stones they used in here
The hot springs pool was huge! And it went from 3 feet to 10 feet deep. Again, we were the only folks there! I love traveling in January!
Oh, I forgot, we shared the pool with three bears that were busy fishing……….
Of course, we had to try out the slide! Here’s my Ricky-poo, just hitting the water!
And I’m laughing my ass off after coming down myself! What a rush! We had a blast, and really enjoyed relaxing on Friday.
Then we started driving North, up towards the Columbia Gorge. I loved the red dirt here on the reservation. Click on this if you’d like to see it enlarged. It was lovely!
We saw several signs along the way showing a horse running, then we got to see the real thing! There were about ten of them running towards us on the road, so I quickly got off the road, and as they ran by us, they went on the other side to avoid the cattle guard, and whinnied and kicked their feet to let us know how tough they were, a street gang of wild horses! LOL! This sight really made our day.
After they passed by the car, they got right back up on the road and kept running. I wonder why they prefer the paved road?
Here’s a photo from that same road of Mt. Jefferson, my favoritest mountain ever! Of course, these photos cannot begin to show you the depth and richness of the land, you’ll have to come visit to see it for yourself.
We got up on the Columbia Gorge, and had a wonderful time looking at all the pretty stuff, even if it was gray and rainy. I had intended to take Rick to the Maryhill museum and Stonehenge The great Washington State photographer and all around wonderful gal Sandy had visited there, and posted such amazing photos I really wanted to visit there myself, but it was CLOSED! *sniff* It’s only open from March to October, so after recovering from that disappointment, I remembered what Debbie, another wonderful Xanga friend from Washington had told me about Skamania Lodge in Washington. So we stayed the night there. This photo is from our window in our room! Thats the lights of the town of Stevenson you can see to the left, and that’s the great Columbia River flowing by! Just gorgeous! Thanks for reminding me of this Lodge, Debbie! We had a great time!
What an incredible place! Thats the Skamania Lodge from the Oregon side of the river.
Sunday morning we went down to the great hall, and had some coffee and watched the clouds and sun play with the river. I’m going to put this photo on my fridge……sheesh! I was a Sumo wrestler in a previous life……..
There was a gentleman in the Lobby all dressed up as part of Lewis and Clark’s expedition, and he had some cool old stuff. Richard loved this small cannon, he even knew what it was called. Doesn’t he look like he means business?! LOL!
Then we started driving towards Portland, so we could head home. We stopped at the Lodge at Multnomah Falls and had Sunday Brunch. Some guy with a real cute tush is helping himself to some Eggs Benedict here.
Here he is on his 3rd or 4th plate, I stopped counting………….those windows behind him look out to the falls
Multnomah Falls!
I had such a wonderful time, having Richard all to myself, we laughed, we played, we ate, we swam, we drove all over the place! Over 600 miles in a weekend.
Happy Anniversary, Sweet man! The Universe gave me a wonderful gift when it gave me YOU!
Comments (38)
What an incredible anniversary gift! You picked a beautiful place to celebrate, and sounds like you guys had a wonderful time. I’m jealous!
Congrats…and Happy Anniversary. I really thought you guys were married for longer than a year…lol.
What a great surprise, and a great trip! I would love it. The horses were awesome. It would be great to see!
Oh wow, that’s wonderful! I can imagine the look on his face when you told him where you were really going. Happy Anniversary!
Happy anniversary U 2. Wonderful, wonderful, gift to share. You are the BEST SHELLIE.
RITA.
Happy Anniversay.. Has it been a year already I have been on Xanga way to long..
) That trip sounds awesome asnd as usual you have the best photos..
Well, Shelliebean, I see there are still no flies on you. You continue to be up to your sneaky antics, even where poor, unsuspecting Rick is concerned. I don’t know how he ever managed to survive a trip like that one. A huge casino, a gargantuan “hot tub”, complete with a water slide and no else there to break up your endless laughter or to pee in the water!
And then a scenic drive where you get to see some of nature’s most beautiful creatures, running down the highway.
And a nice brunch, with endless “guy” trips back up to the food table. I just don’t know how he can stand the relationship the two of you have.
And what’s with the Sumo wrestler remark? You’re a gorgeous broad. If you think you look like one, just remember that the camera, (our friend), adds 10-15 pounds in the picture. So unless you’re coming in at 85 lbs., just be prepared. I haven’t liked any of my photos since I was in my twenties.
So Happy Anniversary to you, cutiepie. I think your kind of sneakiness is really a wonderful thing!!
Now I have to go visit Rick for chowing down so much!! hahaha…
It sounds like you had the perfect weekend away. All of it looks fabulous but the horses are truly remarkable. That is something we would never see down here in our part of the world. Happy Anniversary!
How romantic……….sigh…………..and what an awesome surprise!!!!! I wish I could have seen his face when you told him. These pictures are gorgeous and so are you….you are way too hard on yourself because you are very photogenic and beautiful in each shot!!! (ok Shellie, STOP gagging…I am being serious!!!!)
~Happy Anniversary~ to you both. Love and hugs all around!!! 
What an incredible weekend! And those pictures…it makes you want to take a plane ride to Oregon right this minute! You are very lucky to live in such a beautiful state (and to have such a wonderful man)!
Oh, I love this posting! What a wonderful surprise and beautiful pictures. I think the horses prefer the pavement because they haven’t learned yet about pot holes:)
That was just wonderful to see. I’m glad the surprise came off well and the pics, as usual, I drool over OR’s landscape.
Happy Anniversary!
It must have been the week for Piscean road trips!! LOL
Great photos, Shellie… they make me want to visit even more.
I’m drooling at the thought of blue cheese dressing and pecans mmmmmmmmmm
Which day is it excactly??
And what a blast that was!! LOVE the pictures. You two are the sweetest, I tell you!!
Wow, does that sound like fun.
And how is it possible that it’s warm enough to swim?
Our anniversary is in January also, and I think I’m going to get tickets to “Wicked” for the event. Not exactly the event you had, but you do what you can do.
Lynn
How did you manage to pull that off? Looks like you two had a great time. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
That was such a cool trip! VERY nice.
What a great idea you sneak!!! Happy Anniversary. Great pics once again
Happy Anniversary! What a fantastic, relaxing, romantic way to spend it. With surprises like that, I’m sure he feels just as lucky to have you! Many more happy years to you both!
Oh my gosh! How COOL to have seen a bunch of running horses like that!!!
What beautiful places! Glad you guys had a great time!
Happy Anniversary ^_^
Nice butt! Whew! what an awesome surprise…..I am going to steal that! Love tha black and white of Multnomah Falls! Lovely!
Hey woman can’t wait to see ya this weekend!
Love ya!
Fabulous! What a wicked planner you are! As usual, the story you tell in pictures says it all: beautiful, whimsicle, and fun-fun-fun!
I am trying to figure out what is Oregon Bleu Cheese? We have a restaurant in town that specializes in Northwest food, and my favorite is the Oregon Bleu Cheese salad. It never occured to me that the “Oregon” part was the dressing. What is up with that?
OMG! That was fabulous of you! I sat here looking through those pictures just envying you guys. It was beautiful. Man, I love going somewhere and NO ONE being there…I’m sure you guys were in Heaven – that really looked incredible. And the wild horses – that is so cool!
Happy First Anniversary!!
What a wonderful trip and great pictures !! Happy Anniversary !! May you have many, many more.
Happy Anniversary! It looks like the two of you had an amazing trip. The photos are just beautiful!
What a perfect surprise!
What a great trip. Makes me want to marry you myself. LOLOL. Wow – incredible pictures!! I’m gonna have to bring Michael up there for all that sightseeing. Absolutely gorgeous.
what an awesome surprise!
Love the horses! at my reception..it was out in the country at this place and 1/2 thru these horses got out and starting running past, so all the “men folk” at the party had to out and help catch them!
wow what a trip!!! lucky you!!!
Oh you sneaky broad you! Ha! Happy Anniversary! sounds like a wonderful time was had by you both! Loved that pool. . .Yikes! All to yourselves. . .that’s wonderful! So much fun! Great pics, as alwyas~K.K.
Happy Anniversary!
Looks like it was beautiful!
Would you PLEASE adopt me so I can go with you to all of these wonderfully beautiful places??? Pllleeeeaaasse???
Happy Anniversary to the two of you. You seem to have been made for each other!
Happy Anniversary !!
Wow ! What a great trip !! It has been many years since I have been to Kah-nee-ta.
I am glad you were able to go to Skamania Lodge, I have always thought it was a beautiful place.
Have a great day !
This entry made me smile so broad my cheeks hurt! What a wonderful treat for you and your husband–and wild horses, too! How would you like to plan a trip for Hubby and me on our 25th? That’s coming up in another year. . .
Happy Anniversary. What a wonderful way to surprise your sweetheart. Your man is very brave (or slightly stupid) to get so close to the bears while they’re fishing. He’s lucky they didn’t catch him. Maybe they had their eyes on the pretty blonde lady.
I think the horses prefer to run on the paved road because their hooves sound better on the pavement. They don’t have iPods so they’ve got to find traveling tunes somewhere along the way. There’s just so much nagging a stallion can tolerate, ya know!
Wonderful pics. Makes me want to visit. I think we are taking a vacation this summer somewhere, somehow. I need one. Thanks for the comment. I needed that. We haven’t agreed yet where we are going, so I may check in with you closer to time. I know where ever it is, we will be camping. Can’t afford hotel rooms. I wonder how long it takes to drive there from Missouri? Guess I’ll have to check it out. The boys made it through the first day, but the female child didn’t. I’m a bigger push over with her than with the boys. Boy will it be fun this weekend. NOT! But I have to follow through. She has apologized, and I told her I hoped that didn’t mean she expected me to change my mind. Hmmm. We’ll see. I love the picture of you. Isn’t it amazing how differently we see ourselves, compared to how others see us. I think I look awful in every picture I take. I love your pics and am envious of how photogenic you are.
RYC It has turned cool again but on that day at the beach with the dogs it was SO hot and they love frolicking in the water especially if there is a ball to chase. Thanks for visiting.
AWW!! Shellieboo!! No one deserves such happiness as much as you! What a lovely trip for both of you! Happy belated anniversary, Shellster! The pic of you in the pool ….. you look so purdy there!
I remember when I first subbed to you. It was this month last year. I’m a bit nervous for you, Shellie. I’ll be thinking of you all month and hope you can get through February a bit smoother than last year. Many *HUGS* to you. I am glad you have a wonderful guy with a cute tush to hold you and kiss your tears.