Rock-n-Rose Room Rocks! Two-Year Anniversary Getaway Weekend

Since we have two wedding dates to remember - one is x/x, that's when we exchanged vows in Arradon, France; another is x/x, that's when our marriage became official in the King County Court House, I really don't know which day I should remember to celebrate. So, it's no surprise that I just totally forgot about it. M, on the other hand, surprised me with a beautiful getaway weekend at the Rock-n-Rose Room overlooking the middle fork of the Snoqualmie River on our 2nd wedding anniversary. He is an expert in giving surprises; I, on the other hand, completely lacks that skill.

Friday evening, unexpectedly, the line in front of the snowshoe rental counter at REI was too long, we went home without snowshoes. I thought our snowshoeing plan was off and lying ahead was just another lazy Saturday. Around noon, M told me to get ready for a fun trip and didn't let me in on the details.

It's a beautiful day - sunny with blue sky - perfect for any outdoor activity. We picked up snowshoes from REI, and got on I-90.

Seeing icy snow on tire tracks leading to the parking lot at the foot of Mt. Si, we hesitated. After chatting with a couple of hikers, we went ahead and parked on the snow in the parking lot.

We were planning on doing the Talapus Lake Trail, but it was hard to follow the trail; so we just randomly trekked around on a trail where there was snow and not too steep. It was refreshing and invigorating to be in the forests; snow-capped mountain tops stand high above tree lines, displaying postcard-perfect views. After 2 hours of fun in the snow, we were re-energized and ready to hit the road home - at least, I thought so.

When we drove to the little town, North Bend, M wanted to explore the back roads in that area, that's when I sensed that we were not going home. He pulled into a parking lot in a wooded area where there are a few houses and cabins. Voila! Here is the surprise - this is where we are going to be staying tonight and happy anniversary! Yes, I was surprised and happily surprised.

The couple, who run and own the B&B, are very friendly. I immediately noticed the view from their big windows. The husband took us to our room, the Rock-n-Rose Room, which has a fascinating story. It is a room right underneath the main floor of their house overlooking the Snowqualmie River. It has a huge rock, the bulk part of which is in the bedroom, a small part of which extends into the Sauna room. The original owner had tried to blast the rock, but only small pieces broke off, the rest sat firmly in one piece. And the original owner's wife was shaken off her chair, not knowing the rock was being blasted. Thank Goodness that they kept the rock in the room! Now, the rock adds a special lure to the room.

It's truly a rock-n-rose room. Besides the prominent presence of the rock and a rose garden outside the room, the room itself is filled with rose-themed objects - paintings, plates, sheets, pillows, cups, coasters, photos, books etc. - you name it. Aesthetically, this decorative style is busy to eyes and doesn't really suit my taste. But the overabundance of rose-themed items exemplify the owner's love and care for this room. It definitely serves as a good reminder to people who are staying here to be romantic.

Well, the most romantic part about this place is really the view. It overlooks the Snoqualmie River, which soothingly flows and splashes against rocks down in the riverbed. The B&B bears the name of "Roaring River," but the river really murmurs, maybe there are moments (flooding?) when the river really roars.

After resting up a bit, we went to the main strip of the town, checked out the Bad Girls Antique Store, and then sat down for a big fat dinner - 10 ounces of prime rib and a thick bacon burger - at the North Bend Bar & Grill. As if that's not enough, we grabbed a milk shake and a hot apple cider to go at the Dairy Freeze and went back to our cozy Rock-n-Rose room. Then, we watched a movie, Mona Lisa, on the small TV next to the big rock, and simmered ourselves in the sauna room for ten minutes which readied us for a good night's sleep.

The next morning, we woke up to dancing sun rays splashing through tall pine trees; there was gossamer mist hanging low above the river; the water flows and splits around rocks like melted jade.

Our breakfast came in a basket: two danishes, two quiche, two scones, OJ and strawberry jam. Yum. We had breakfast while watching "Breakfast at Tiffany."

After checking out, we hiked down to the river, where we laid on a rock and soaked in the morning sunshine and savored the beautiful views and sounds around us. We had the whole river bend all to ourselves. There was not another soul in sight. Peaceful, blissful, and we were mindful of the beauty and serenity around us.

On our way back, we stopped by the Snowqualmie Falls. We had to drive around in circles to find a parking spot. Many people were crowded next to each other on the viewing deck, and a few ventured down below.

Then, after grocery stops at the ID and TD and dropping off snowshoes at REI, we embraced the last bit of the weekend before Monday would drag us out of bed again...

Laundry Listing the Weekend of Jan. 20 -21

Another weekend flew by; luckily, the good weather stayed with us. It feels like springtime. I love walking to M's office with the sun setting gloriously between the Sound and the Olympic Mountains, quite a breathtaking view accompanying me on my walk along the water front. Now it's almost half way into the week, I feel like recapturing our weekend activities in a laundry list format (when and what):

Friday evening after work: We tried a new downtown restaurant, Qube. The food was good; the price was a bit high; the service was fine; the ambiance was sleek and chic, also full of youthful and metrosexual energy.

On the way home after dinner, we checked out a couple of movies from Planet Hollywood, one of which was "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," the 1975 Oscar Award movie. Quite a movie! Awesome!

Saturday:
Saturday morning, M made omelet and we read Sunday newspapers together.
Lounging around, surfing around, cleaning up around the house, time just went by.

Late in the afternoon, as a spur-of-the-moment decision, we drove to Volunteer Park for a nice walk. While we were in the park, we stopped by the Green House and admired all the beautiful plants and flowers. Then we crossed over a fallen fence between the park and a cemetery. There, we zigzagged around tomb stones, and bet on in which year the oldest tome stone was erected or laid down here. The result? Roughly the late 19th century. The view from the hilltop that is part of the cemetery was stunning - what a nice piece of land to rest one's soul! We also stumbled upon Bruce Lee's tomb, right next to his son's. In fact, there are a fair number of Asians buried here.

Popped into Daiso just when a fire alarm went off, the whole Westlake Center was being evacuated and people were looking at each other in disbelief and confusion. I didn't see the source of smoke or fire. There was no panic, just shopping crowds filing out of the building obediently following a voice coming out of a speaker up in the ceiling. Instead of waiting around, I walked to BB&B and got a faucet-mounted water filter and we drove to M's brother's house for dinner.

We ate and hung out at their house and played with 3 babies. Babies are really popping up everywhere! We left around 10pm for another event, the 3rd Annual Weird Genius Science Fair, which happens to be in the newly renovated Youngstown Cultural Arts Center right in our neck of woods, West Seattle. Mostly young people - freaks, geeks and yuppies, people of all types - were there. There was the biggest baking soda volcano demonstration, artificial snow, the world viewed from insects' eyes (you actually were required to put on a pair of wings and some sort of headgear with contraptions that would allow you see the world in their way), thermal reactive TV screen etc. I'm not a science enthusiast, but it was fun watching them churning some fun out of science.

Sunday:
Late in the morning, I cooked a crustless Quiche with soy milk. It turned out well. A bit sweet - something that I didn't expect to taste - little wonder that I used VANILLA soymilk!

Afternoon-Evening: We spent the whole afternoon and evening working on a home improvement project - about 5 hours to transport rocks from our neighbour's front yard to our yard and align them along the sidewalk next to our front lawn so that the soil and plants won't overgrow onto the sidewalk. We thought it'd take us 2 hours. It turned out to be a much bigger project. Transporting those heavy and bulky rocks was the most time-consuming part; of course, arguing over which rocks goes in where was also exhausting:) But, we got it down without throwing shovels at each other. Alas.

We ended a productive weekend with the movie, La Petite Jerusalem.

Replacing a Kitchen Faucet - A Stubborn Screw and A Stubborn Crew

It's Monday, also the MLK day that makes up a nice long weekend. I had a whole day ahead of me and a long list of things-to-do, one of which is replacing a kitchen faucet set.

I allotted a couple of hours for replacing the old faucet in our kitchen sink. But, in reality, I started the project at 10:30am and finally decided to stop at 2:30pm - that's 4 hours! As it turned out, replacing a kitchen faucet can be extremely time-consuming.

Installing the faucet set is fairly easy and straightforward. The diagram is simple enough. There are three major pieces: the faucet, the level and the spray. The key is connecting hot and cold water pipes with the right hoses. The hardest part is fastening the three different pieces onto the sink due to the tight spaces under the sink. I noticed the improvements made on the newer model. But to install the new set, I needed to remove the old set. And that's where I got stuck - I spent hours trying to remove an old rusty screw below the faucet under the sink!

I lied down under the sink like a car mechanic under the belly of a car holding a flash light while trying to screw off a stubborn screw that's way more stubborn than me. Residue water was spraying and dripping all over my face and arms; little rusty bits were falling off the back side of the sink into my eyes. I tried different wrenches in different poses until my hands and my neck were sore. The skin on my fingers were completely chapped... And the screw just wouldn't budge. I let out a few subdued screams.

I've always enjoyed studying a diagram and putting things together. I've worked on many other home repair and improvement projects - putting together furniture, installing closet racks and shelves, hooking up speakers with stereo - and I never gave up in the middle of a project! But now I'm stuck on this screw. Obviously, I don't have the right tools!

Finally, I was able to drag myself out of my determination of finishing the project. What a triumph! I breathed deeply and realized that I don't have to finish it right now. I can come back to it when I have the right tools.

Now sitting in front of computer as I typed away, I felt calmer and a sense of freedom too. Let's wait until I have the right tools. Patience is a hard-learned virtue that can go a long way!

Long Weekend Is Always Too Short

Over this long weekend (MLK day), the weather has been surprisingly good - blue sky with steaks of white clouds, crispy air; it's cold, but pleasantly cold - no wind, very calm. Snow on major roads has mostly melted; but rooftops and tree branches are still covered with snow - adding a silver lining to the city. Mountains in the distance are glowing under the sun.

On Friday night, M and his friend, R (visiting from LA), went to a basketball game. I curled up on the couch sipping hot chocolate and reading, then fell asleep at an unknown time. I love a quiet night like this: no TV, no noise, just Birdie (our cat) in my lap and a magazine in hand. I had a full evening's solitude all to myself.

The next morning (Saturday) M cooked omelet, I cut up some fruits, we had a pleasant breakfast with R; then they watched college basketball game (UCLA vs. USC) on TV, and I went about my own business.

In the afternoon, we ventured out to a new contemporary art space called "Western Bridge," which used to be a warehouse in the SoDo industrial district. Now on exhibition are works that use non-traditional media or methods - broken light bulbs, tins and cans hanging from ceiling, music collages from different movies. There are also a bedroom and a kitchen integrated into the space.

After a good dose of culture, we went to M's brother's place for a good dose of food and family fun. The night ended with us watching "V for Vendetta" on our big screen TV (and M fell alseep on that:-).

After dropping R off at the airport on Sunday morning, we went straight to F's house for the big NFL Playoff pajama party. We could feel a sense of excitement in the air - the Seahawks is in the Playoff again, a step closer to the championship which they've never obtained. We heard a round of loud roaring noise coming out of F's house right before we opened the door - the Seahawks and the Bears just tied up!

There were about 20 people with their eyes all glued to the TV screen. Breakfast foods, fruits and snacks of all kinds were laid out on tables. I'm not a sports fan; yet the enthusiasm was contagious. Unfortunately, the Seahawks lost out in the overtime - it's a close game. After the game, one group jumped into their big hot tub in the backyard, another group started poker game. We didn't join either - left with a quiche that F made and headed for TJ's and the ID grocery store.

Later that afternoon, M made Chili loaded with fresh ingredients and garlic; and it simmered on the stove for a long time as the night pulled in around us.