Kim really went all out for planning birthday this year, so it was a really good one. Last week she planned a little surprise party, and yes, I was surprised. I thought we were just going to Hopworks for happy hour, but when I got there I kept seeing people I knew and at first I just thought it was a coincidence. Then I realized there too many people to be a coincidence and that Kim had organized a gathering. After happy hour we all came back to our house to sit around our fire pit, play Rock Band and board games.
This weekend Kim planned a trip to Breitenbush Hot Springs. We did a native american sweat lodge on Thursday. That was an intense experience. I thought it would be more like a sauna, but I didn’t expect it to be so physically uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable because there were so many people crammed into such a small, dark, hot place for around 3 hours. The physical discomfort wasn’t all bad. In fact, I think that’s a large part of the experience since being uncomfortable forces you to be very present and in the moment.
We camped a few miles from the hot springs in the national forest since that was free, then returned Friday for a day of soaking in the hot waters. We soaked all morning, and then went for a hike to look for mushrooms in the afternoon. We had dinner at the lodge both nights, and the food is very good. It’s buffet style, so we ate a very light lunch so that we could eat more at dinner and because being stuffed while you’re in the hot pools wouldn’t be very goo.
All in all it was a very relaxing couple of days and a great birthday week. We should celebrate birthdays for a week more often :-)