Valentine's weekend getaway

The past couple of days, me and my Valentine have been taking advantage of the extra long holiday weekend and were on a little getaway. Our neighbors back home in California own a vacation home in Lava Hot Springs and have been so kind as to offer me to go stay since I came out to BYU. Until this past weekend, I had yet to take them up on their offer but, boy, am I glad I did. A few weeks ago, I was thinking about what I could do for Zach this holiday weekend. We decided not to give gifts to each other so I got to thinking about a little getaway and immediately thought of the Spencer's! Of course, they were kind and graciously offered us their home to stay for the weekend. I was so excited! I wanted to keep it a surprise but couldn't keep it in and the weeks leading up to our getaway were charged with excitement!

Our weekend started Friday after Zach and I both finished classes. We headed up to Salt Lake to visit with some of our family for a while before driving the rest of the way. My cousin Sammy and her husband Mike, along with their 3 kids, live in Salt Lake and we love when we get a chance to visit them. They are always so fun to be with and love spending time with them. To make matters even better, my Uncle Frank and Aunt Joanne were visiting from Sacramento and my other cousin Charley from FIJI! Yes, you read that right. Fiji! I was so, so sad when I found out that Charley and her family would be moving so far away and we have missed them so much. But it was so great to be able to see, hug and visit with Char for a short time while she was here.
Charley, me and Zach. 
After some much cherished visiting with our wonderful family and delicious homemade pretzels (thanks, Sammy!) & Reese's milkshakes (thanks, Mike!), we were on our way! Luckily, the drive to LHS is only about 3 hours from Provo making the drive from the Blakesley's only about 2 & 1/2 hours. We drove for a while then stopped for gas and little gourmet dinner at Taco Bell, then by about 8 we made it to our destination. This house was seriously the cutest, most comfortable place I have yet to stay. We love it.
Friday night, we brought all stuff in and settled down each with our own books (Harry Potter #4 for me and "My Name Used to be Muhammed" for Zach). I fell asleep after a few chapters but Zach stayed up until the wee hours of the morning finishing his; because when we get ourselves into a good book, there's no telling when we'll stop. Or in Zach's case, he stops just when he finishes the book. Saturday morning to early afternoon consisted of sleeping in, a little working out on my part & a run on Zach's, eating a late (but quite yummy) potato and egg breakfast,  watching "The Help" and heading into the town. 
Z coming in from his run. Isn't it so pretty?!
From our research, we knew that we for sure wanted to eat at the gas station-turned-thai food restaurant and that we wanted to go to the hot springs. So when we got into town, we parked and took a walk down Main street. There are some pretty cool shops, yummy looking restaurants, an arcade/pizza place, and one market. It was really, pretty small but so fun to be in! 
We enjoyed our time just strolling through town and once we became hungry, we headed back up the street a little ways to the Riverwalk Restaurant for some highly anticipated Thai Food. First off, I just think it is so awesome that this place was turned from a gas station to a restaurant! We even parked where an old pump used to be. Our review? Yummy! We really loved the green curry and cashew chicken! The people were so nice and, really, what more could you ask for? Good food + nice people = 2 happy campers here.

After eating, we headed just a block down the street to the Hot Springs. We payed to get in, changed and were off to the first pool. There are several different pools, each with different levels of temperature. We, however, were not aware of this. So, we just went to the pool that was closest to us. It was a long, rectangular pool that seemed shallow. At first, I was wondering where we were supposed to stand/sit if it was so shallow. Then, I stepped in. Holy. Crap. This must've been the highest level of temperature because I immediately thought I had mistakenly stepped into a pool of molten lava and my foot was melting off. Obviously it was not quite that hot, but it sure felt like it! It was then that I realized why there were so many people siting on the outer steps with just their feet in. When Zach got out (& this is really the only thing I wish I had gotten a pic of) there was a very distinct line where the water came up to his chest because his upper half was white and the lower was bright red. Ha! We eventually picked a pool that was a very nicely heated temperature and relaxed while we chatted for a bit. After leaving the hot springs, we made a quick stop by the market to get some treats and then headed back to the house, changed into our pajamas, had another date with Emma Stone and "Easy A" and ate our ice cream. It was the most perfect Valentine's day-long date I have ever had. I can't wait for all the many more to come.
          The Hot Springs!                                                                Our treat YUM
The next day, Sunday, we slept in again (seeing a pattern?) and for breakfast had the most heavenly Rhode's Orange Rolls EVER. They were gobbled up so fast I didn't even have time to snap a picture so you'll just have to imagine the ooey-gooeyness. We were planning on going to church with our friends in Pocatello but didn't realize it was an hour away until 15 minutes before the Lava Hot Springs ward started. So we threw on our church clothes, got in the car and hurried over to the church. The Sacrament meeting was wonderful and the people of LHS are so kind and welcoming. It was a wonderful experience and testimony builder of the truthfulness of the church anywhere you go! We then went home, watched another movie ("The Dark Knight Rises" a favorite of ours) and took naps. Then Zach did a little homework while we watched another, yes another, movie/read books. After that we made a yummy dinner and sat and chatted with each other for awhile. 
Our turkey & avocado sandwich dinner. 
The rest of our day consisted of lots more reading, snuggling, chatting and then "How to Train Your Dragon" (another favorite of ours). We finished off our ice cream treats and read some more before falling asleep. This morning, we slept in (yes, again.. we sure love our sleep) and then started to pack all our stuff up. It was sad! We had had such a wonderful time away from the world (mostly, we still had service and would check Instagram/Cougarboard from time to time) and were sad that our time was up. 
Here are our parting pictures from the Spencer's vacation home which we loved so much!
Thanks Spencer fam! We sure appreciate and love you guys!
We were sad to leave and come back to the real world, but are so grateful for our time that we had together there. Although it was only a few hours, I love road trips! It is so fun to just be together with no distractions, munchin' on snacks and talking the time away. It was a quick couple of hours until we made it to SLC to have lunch with one of our favorite people, our cousin Andrew! Andrew was working here in Provo and living here when I met and starting dating Zach. He is seriously one of my favorite people and I'm grateful Zach made us cousins. We met at the Pie and ate some delicious pizza, then got some Italian ice from Rita's. Now we're home and not ready for tomorrow but grateful for our Valentine's weekend getaway!


Comments

  1. What a fun weekend! I'm glad you're home safe!

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    Replies
    1. It was so fun! We have to do something similar with all of us somewhere a bit closer soon! It would be so great.

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