The Cabin By The Creek

There were numerous reasons NOT to go on our monthly Weekend Get-Away.

1. The weather: the weather has been all over the map lately. We’ve had a blizzard with white-out conditions. We’ve had avalanches up in the pass. We’ve had so much rain the town flooded. We’ve had winds gusting over 100 mph causing power outages across the valley. We’ve had icy roads that resemble ice rinks, causing multiple car pileups. All of this within a one-week period.
2. Timing: we are in the process of trying to transition Mother into the assisted living home here in town. She asked to go, but now that she’s moved in, she is not adjusting well at all. We try to have at least one family member go visit her each day, sometimes two or three go and sometimes they go more than once a day. Our hope is that eventually she will settle down, but honestly, I don’t really see that happening.
3. My Health: all this stress has, of course, caused a massive migraine. I barely sleep at night, and throughout the day am just exhausted. I’m taking my meds, but they are not helping. He tries to help but at this point that just makes things worse. On top of that, I feel guilty for having “gotten rid of” my mother, even though I know she asked to be moved.
4. His Health: on top of dealing with my mother he has to deal with his own family issues. His mother is facing terminal cancer, and his father has a mystery malady they are trying to track down. Both issues require his assistance, and both are equally distressing. And of course, there’s his own personal health issues that he has put on the back burner. Those will need to be addressed at some time, and soon!
5. Necessity: in reality, the need for a weekend get-away has basically been negated. The biggest reason we went on all these mini vacations was to get away from the stress of dealing with dementia and to spend time with just the two of us so that we could recharge and handle things back at home better. Now that mom has moved out, our home is so much calmer and is becoming more and more peaceful every day.
6. Transportation: the fuel injection system in his truck conked out on him over a month ago. He had to send the part out to the manufacturer for them to repair it, and we are now waiting on them to send it back so that he can reinstall it. My brother has very generously loaned us the use of his spare truck, for which we are ever so grateful – but there is just a certain bond between a man and his truck that simply cannot be replaced. He knows his truck almost intimately; knows how it handles and what it can do. He does not have that with my brother’s truck, so the drive up and over the pass was a bit more nerve wracking than usual.

There was really only one reason TO go on our monthly Weekend Get-Away.

1. Emotions: We just really wanted to go.

So, Friday morning found us packed and on the road, heading 178 miles South to the little town of Stirling. The cabin we rented was right on the Moose Creek and was just a lovely place. It was clearly built by hand, with odd little corners and uneven flooring – but I could totally see myself growing up in a cabin like that, and Bryan was literally salivating over the creek just outside the back door.

I set up my table for my crafting while he headed off to do some bunny hunting out in the wilderness. I had my movies and snacks nearby while he was well supplied with a thermos of coffee and some moose sausage & cheese to nibble on. All in all, it was a good weekend – and now we have a place to come back to when the reds are running!