Friday after work I stopped at home for a few minutes, parked my car, packed some last minute things and headed out to Harrison Hot Springs with Meredith. I've been to Harrison many, many times with my family. To picnic at the beach, to hike up to the hot springs, to see the World Championship of Sand Sculpting and even to see the fireworks this Canada Day. This time was different though. This time we went out for the whole weekend and stayed at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa.
Before this weekend the only time I had been to the Resort was about 15 years ago when we took my grandparents for lunch at the Lakeside Cafe. Oh, and briefly last summer when we stopped to get directions to a hiking trail. I'd never stayed there over night though.
Meredith's brother and sister-in-law are moving, with their three daughters, to Costa Rica for a year and then to Mexico for three years to do missionary work. They are in town for about a month before they go and Mere's mom wanted to take a family trip as part of their good-bye. Meredith was allowed to bring a friend and she chose me.
We took the back way to Harrison and arrived in plenty of time. We unloaded the car (her mom had already checked us in) and then made our way down to the Copper Room for dinner. The Copper Room has a reputation of being THE place to go for a nice dinner and dancing in the valley. There is a live band and they play a variety of big band and pop hits. Lots of Michael Buble, Elivs, and everything in between. It made for a really fun night. The older two girls (7 and 5) had a great time dancing. (in the picture on the left you can see Mere's dad dancing with her oldest niece) The food is really good too. I had a delicious four course meal (soup, salad, New York steak and chocolate mousse for dessert) which was included in the package deal for the weekend.
That night after the girls went to bed, Mere, her parents, brother, sister-in-law and I sat in our room (which was adjoining her brother and SIL's) and played "Settlers of Catan" It was my first time playing and although I lost miserably and was having a really bad allergy attack, I still had a great time.
Saturday morning our resident alarm clock (Mere's youngest niece) woke us up. We got up, got ready and went for breakfast in the Lakeside Cafe. They had an extensive buffet filled with pretty much every breakfast item you can imagine. It was great :) From there Mere and I went for a short walk in to town to pick up water wings for the girls while they changed into their swim suits. When we got back we met them at the pool where they played until lunch. After lunch Mere and I went for another walk into town. This time we got ice cream and walked around the lagoon. Then we came back to the hotel and sat in the lobby and read for awhile. I'm finally re-reading the Harry Potter series and by the end of the weekend I had finished the book.
Saturday evening we went back to the Lakeside Cafe for a buffet dinner. The prime rib was the best part. I got the end piece and it was huge but I ate the whole thing because it tasted so good. After dinner Mere and I were scheduled for pedicures in the spa. Her's was at 7:30 and mine was at 8:45. They were wonderful. I've only had one pedicure before and my feet definitely needed the attention. I just went with a clear polish but it was so nice to be pampered. While Mere had her pedicure I took a walk through the gardens and then read by the pool.
Our room was on the eighth (top) floor so we had a good view of the town of Harrison, the lagoon and the lake.
Following our pedicures, Mere and I went for a drink and then went for a walk and hung out with some very drunk wedding guests. The "smoke pit" outside the Copper Room is centered around a gas fire pit. We sat by the fire and were entertained by them. Following that we went and changed into our swimsuits and went in the hot tub for a little while.
Sunday morning we packed up and loaded the cars and then had breakfast in the Lakeside Cafe again. The weather was pretty iffy. It was warm but very breezy and overcast so we decided to just head home.
It was a wonderful weekend. Very relaxing. I didn't get many pictures but I've included a few of the ones I did get.
~Heidi
2 comments:
That Cataan game sounds cool. Is it better with more people or oaky with two?
Glad you had such a great weekend. :D
We actually played with 6. 4 is probably optimal but you could do it with 2 for sure.
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