Alderbrook

A gray cat sleeps deeply on the chair, facing the door inside the lobby.

The windows are from floor to ceiling in that lobby, like the living rooms across the state which happen to face mountains and water. 

We check in quickly, letting them know we booked this an hour and a half ago.  We go up an elevator, then step outside to a courtyard, then into our room.  Its a garden room, but I can see the water and mountains just fine. 



We sleep.

We order room service of mussels and clams and crisp bread.  And clam chowder.  In fact, we really only eat seafood in the evenings.

The room has a daybed against the window.  In case the balcony wasn't good enough.  We're going to make sure we have one of those someday. 

At night, we prop the door open so that we can hear the rushing of the natural fountain just below our window, and the chorus of frogs. 

There are two of them, just like the cats. 


During the day, we walk the long stretch of the marina. 

We read on the leather chairs in the lobby, next to those windows. 

We spend two hours playing video games in their Xbox room.  Because we can.  And we should.  In fact, we have so much fun, we skip lunch. 

Then, we take a nap, and then go for a hike.  Because its right across the street, and gives us a peak of the Olympic Mountain range.  Its been hiding the whole time behind grey clouds. 

In the evenings, we watch TV and just veg.  Turn our minds off.  Laugh at stupid shows.  Order room service again because this is just too good to leave. 

Before bed, we swim and sit in the hot tub, then the sauna.  We talk about alot of things, including each trip that we took while we were dating long distance.  Its an amazing look back. We look forward to, talk about coming back here, with our best friends, maybe in the Fall.  We float in the cool water, all by ourselves despite the start of Summer.  The pool doesn't close like the hotel instructions say at 1030, so we stay a little bit longer. 

We try to have a fire on the shore, because we want to wear sweatshirts, listen to the frogs and the tide, and drink wine that I bought at a Walmart ten minutes from here.  But, there's a light rain, as there has been off and on.  So we go back to our room, rent a movie, and drink the wine in bed. 

In the morning, we reluctantly pack, and frequently step outside to breathe this place in a little bit longer.

On the drive home, we have the sun roof open and the windows down.  We drive along the Hood Canal for miles, smiling.  We leave renewed, refreshed, and ready for anything ahead.