10 years of us

I just re-read the holiday card, and I don't think I mentioned a most noteworthy important thing, Matt and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this year! I think we would have easily guessed that we would still be happy and madly in love, but not that it would be in spite of a global pandemic! And, 10 years ago we thought we would celebrate the big 10 back in Vietnam as an homage to our honeymoon, but with Alice still a wee one, and that whole covidthing, we decided to go to upstate NY, where we could get in some hiking and eating time with a touch of luxury. We settled on Mohonk Mountain House, and it was just a fabulous choice.

And how was all this made possible? Matt's amazing parents, Jim and Julie went above and beyond the call of Grandma and Grandpa duty and stepped in for a long weekend to get in some Brock and Alice time, while we got some Matt and Holly time. It would be only the second time we would be away from children for more than 24 hours. Hard to fathom after over a year in quarantine with the little uns. I'll say it a million more times, THANK YOU JIM AND JULIE!!!!

A first toast in the airport as we arrived early. It is easy to travel without children it turns out.

 

A professional picture of the resort in the Hudson River Valley. A very special place that was the perfect mix of nature and nice. And there was a disc golf course on the premises! It reminded us a bit of an adult YMCA camp. Our ears rang with the tune "I had the time of my life", set in a similar resort in the Catskills as the film "Dirty Dancing". Too bad no one was around to take our picture of Matt lifting me out of the water in our replication that classic scene. More info here about the glorious Mohonk and their gallery here.

Take in this picture. There's a lot going on. So, this woman was part of the resort's guest lecture series on small animal encounters. This is an opossum! So cute! They eat anything! And live like only 2 years. But what a couple of years. We did not get to pet this snoogly friend though.

Yawning or screaming? Doesn't matter! SO CUTE. This woman also is credited for planting the rats as pets seed in our (Matt's) brain. It was her very convincing presentation that kindled a small rodent fire in our hearts. She spoke of their charm, intelligence and over all social curiosity. And somewhat low maintenance.

And here I am with a hairless guinea pig. I mean, this place was like the perfect fit for us.

Mohonk was founded in the late 1800's, and it is just a lovely quirky place. Here we are looking up the stairwell, it sort of reminded us of ours!

One of the most awesome amenities was that the rooms in the original building have all working wood burning fireplaces. So our room was insanely cozy and smelled of campfire. Matt's feet cost extra though.

Speaking of rats, we purchased some small finger puppet rats from the lecture lady and they will serve as our mascots for this trip. We wanted to take some cute pics for the kids to enjoy, so these two, which are symbolic I guess of Matt and I, went with us on our adventures. I can't remember their names!

We went in October, as that was the month we wed. Part of the reason we chose upstate NY was its reputation for amazing fall foliage. We missed that by a couple weeks, but we instead got pretty glorious weather hovering in the mid 60's in the day and low 40's at night. And sunny! Featured here is the famous Mohonk "summer house", a rustic gazebo of which there are around 155 scattered around the grounds and hiking trails.

 

There really were some fun trails that featured a bit of scrambling. They pointed the way on the paths with colored arrows painted on trees and stones. This one leads straight up to the highest point on the resort.

You can see the directional arrows here. And a cute Matt creature.

Almost at the top, but this is where one of the best views was from!

   

At the top was the look out tower, we went the fun way up, but there is also a path that is very open that you could ride a bike up that traverses its way up.

This used to be a wading pool at the top, but now is more of a mutant petri dish.

This place was a blast with just Matt and I, but we did keep remarking how much fun our kids would have here as well. Maybe on our 15 we can make it a family affair.

There were so many deer sightings, but this one we had to chase them off so we could putt! But then again, maybe they added to the par 3...

 

Camp activities were part of the package. Here we are trying our had at tomohawk throwing. I don't need a 21 and me to know that apparently if I have any Native American in me, it is buried too deep in the DNA to reveal itself.  In other words, I'm not good at this.

 

Matt has a bit of the warrior in him though it seems.

We ate 90% of our meals in the dining hall, where the menu was switched up between days. It was quite delicious but the amount of food was head spinning it being an all inclusive. A soft target apparently, I managed to cough down a chocolate croissant each morning with the waiters gentle urging. Alcohol not included of course. We, and the rats, found the suds delightful despite their price tag.

A romantic boat ride on the grounds. Holy moly that thing was hard to row. Happy to have my scrumptious gondola boy to assist.

It really was challenging.

That evening we wanted to go back up to the top to toast in our anniversary with the sunset over the valley. Also to tap our bottle bequeathed to us as a wedding gift from our friend Dash with the instructions to cellar for 10 years.

Not sure if this picture needs a censor.

At dinner we get a special nod from the staff.

Next day we are hiking again!

And then archery. Matt nailed himself with the string, doing some minor damage to his forearm. But it was a great lesson and we both progressed in the sport.

There were many beautiful gardens throughout the grounds. On our last day, we went to explore some of the non-mountain portions of the resort.

Inside the children's garden. I am totally stealing this idea for our yard.

 

The rats take a dip in the pool.

We then headed down to the "Barn Museum" where we met the curator who was an extremely talented old timey tinker and carpenter who told us about the history of Mohonk and shared some very interesting artifacts from its past.

Of course we had to pay homage to the waffle maker.

This car still works! The curator has driven in a few local parades.

One of our favorite places to eat was the outside bbq joint. Great food overlooking the swimming area of the the lake.

This was our anniversary bottle.The rat us's are trying to get a sample. 

 

The past 10-13 years Matt has been in my life are an absolute blur. How has it gone so fast when we have done so much? I tried to re-write my vows for Matt based on where we are and who we are now, and it was an interesting reflection. This trip was so special, and could not have happened for even a day without the gracious time from Jim and Julie. But what I found even more amazing, was how special the normal moments are with us and our family. And yes, we all need a little sweet in our lives from time to time, this trip being beyond sweet. It helps the spinach go down; but it is the spinach that makes you strong and is truly nourishing. And that is our life, the spinach, that I can't wait to go home to every day.