The Key(s) to a Successful Marriage...

...is to live in different countries.
That and spend time together in the woods...alone...in the rain...with two bottles of wine.  This is commonly referred to as camping.

Stuck in the rain and still all smiles

We celebrated four years of marriage at Sand Point on the Washington Coast.  After 5 hours of driving, a ferry ride, and a last minute trip to REI for "necessities" we arrived at Lake Ozette and began our 3 mile hike to our camp site.

We are NOT light packers; Mike will pack three pairs of jeans for a two day trip to Eastern Washington (he is going to kill me when he reads this).  Mike has a 70 L pack and I have a 60 L pack and they were FULL.  Needless to say, it was a long 3 miles of constant pack adjustment and muttering about whose idea it was to pack the French Press (guilty).  

It took us about 20 minutes to select the perfect camp site.  We needed to to have great beach access, be close to the water hole and be far away from anyone with kids (kids are even noisier in nature).  

I am new to backpack camping.  This was my very first time out in nature with only the items that I could carry.  I have never had to purify drinking water, hide my food in a bear keg or pee in the woods, so this was definitely an eye-opening, learning experience.

I can honestly say that I loved every minutes of it!  Here are some highlights:

Breakfast on the beach!

French pressed coffee!  Worth the extra weight in the pack.

It stopped raining!!! We wear able to hike down the beach.

Drinking wine from camping bowls with sippy-cup lids.  No spills!

Spending the rainy afternoon in the tent, drinking wine and reading.

Nature!  We ran into this "little" eagle on the trail back to the car.

We are looking forward to having as much fun in the next four years of marriage as we did in the first four.  Cheers!!