in search of a hot tub

but happily settled with a sauna.
erik and i decided to try and find a getaway cabin for an overnight trip last sunday that might have an outdoor hot tub. after way too much online searching and plenty of fruitless phone calls it became apparent that an outdoor hot tub in/around anchorage is pretty scarce in the winter. there are a few, but they are often booked. i did however find a cabin with a sauna and i must say it was just as nice, if not better. we left the little boys with a sitter and took just duke and rosco with us for the two hour drive to hope. stayed in a nice little cabin and took full advantage of the wood burning sauna.

when we got to hope the trees were bare and the roads were wet with rain. we went for a hike on the gull rock trail and just two hours later the ground and trees were covered with fluffy white snow. while on my backpacking trip with nolan this summer, he taught me to play chess. it always seemed too complicated for me and i just never really had the desire to learn. but, i'm glad i finally did because as with most anything the slightest bit competitive, i was hooked pretty quickly. i love fun competition. when nolan taught me i actually did pretty darn good. unfortunately i learned this weekend that it must have simply been 'beginner's luck'. erik demolished me over and over again. this of course only fired me up more and made me want to keep playing to redeem myself. poor erik eventually had to refuse. i think we played 6 games and i only won 2 and one of those games was nearly given to me because erik was so sick of playing. yikes. i had fun even as a loser.

it was so great to be outside in the elements. the snow flakes were huge and it was really beautiful to watch as the trail became a winter wonderland. gorgeous.

the next day the snow stopped, but was still sitting softly on everything around. unlike the day before the sun was out in all her glory creating a blanket of glistening snow. you'd think there were diamonds on the ground. we took another nice hike on resurrection trail before heading home. it was fantastic. the boys rolled and played, while erik and i were kicking up powdery snow with every step we took. good stuff.

p.s. i think i am going to build a sauna in the backyard.

p.s.s. could i be any more pale? sheesh. tells you what kind of summer we've had.