Cotton Anniversary (year 2)

It has been 730 days of wedded bliss!  Okay maybe not every moment could be described as blissful, but so far these past two years of marriage have been good, and our 2nd wedding anniversary vacation was pretty amazing.

Beach Time

Just like last year, Scott and I, with our dog Triggs, managed to get away from reality for about a week.  This in itself was considered an epic feat as Scott hasn't had more than a few days off in one stretch for about a year now.  His young business SMT Cabinets and Millwork has been keeping him pretty busy in the last year; not that we are complaining in the least.  It's just that all work and no play makes for a stressed out man and consequently a stressed wife.  So with our anniversary in sight we both agreed Scott needed to push back his work schedule and schedule in some "down time" with me.

Chef Scott with his chicken

So last week we packed up and headed to sunny Shuswap.  We arrived at the cabin Wednesday night in record time to find the the place without power.  Usually that would have put a damper on the vacay mood, but we made the best of it; in actuality it created spontaneous romance- candles, nothing to do but sit on the deck and watch the millions of stars (which are normally hidden from the lights of near by cabin ect).  We drank wine and reminisced about our wedding day and finally got a chance to reconnect.  The next day it poured rain but the weather didn't wash out our plans, as we didn't have any.  That's right, we did something so foreign, so radical called - NOTHING.  With rain as our backdrop and only a chilled -out dog to care for, we hunkered down on the deck armed with coffee and Handyman magazines for Scott and Food Network magazines for me.  Then for countless hours we read and relaxed.  After a lengthy nap Scott and I adorned aprons and created a feast for dinner; menu being grilled corn on the cob, summer salad, and BBQ spatchcock chicken (butterflied whole chicken) in Scott's special spice blend and Quail's Gate Pinot Noir..

As the week waxed on, we got into the habit of sleeping late (8ish, since the alarm at home goes off at 5), reading on the deck while drinking coffee, and then after brunch heading to the beach.  Friends of ours lent us their kayaks and this semi-new activity became one of our favourite past times.  Within 20 mins of our first voyage we were gliding along enthusiastically planning the purchase of our own to tool around the lower mainland with.  Hours floated by while on these vessels and I felt the burn in arms later.

They even came in handy when we had Triggs on the beach with us one day.  He spotted a flock of ducks in the water and swam after them.  These ducks didn't want a new friend but Triggs wasn't taking no for an answer, so Scott paddled out into the lake to redirect Triggs before he would drown.  Later that day we got Triggs into a kayak with Scott.  On our last day we were treated to a boat cruise with our lake family.  It was so relaxing and really cool to see the other side of the lake.

After six full days we were all uber relaxed and headed for home.  Little did we know our epic vacation would be slightly prolonged as entering Merritt we discovered the handy #5 HWY to be closed.  This meant rerouting through Spences Bridge to get onto the very slow, but scenic #1 (Fraser Canyon).  Still in our zen state we took this as another opportunity to see new places.  And I actually stayed awake (normally I sleep on the way home from the lake).  6.5 hours we made it home safe and sound.

Here's to another 365 days of wedded bliss.