Last year for our 10th anniversary we planned to go on a backpacking trip in October, just me and Ty. With me being back to work full time, Covid, and training for the Boston Marathon (which I eventually decided not to do), we realized it just wasn't our year. This summer I signed up for a week long writing institute training in July. Then I totally spaced and helped my parents plan a trip to the Grand Canyon which fell on the dates I needed them to watch the kids and Ty's parents were going to be in Florida. My parents decided to just take the kids with them on vacation which ended up being wonderful and they all had a blast! They left the Thursday before our anniversary and Ty suggested a weekend getaway for our anniversary. He started looking at cheap flights, but I was thinking more of a close drive with hiking involved. He thought that sounded great so I started looking at cabins with availability within a 2 hour drive. We were planning about a week or 2 out, so many places were already booked up. We landed on Long Lake Resort in Poteau, OK. It was right around 2 hours away and was within 30 minutes of Ouachita National Forest. We took the Talimena Scenic Drive with the kids in fall of 2020, read about that trip here, and knew the trails were gorgeous!
We arrived Friday evening, checked in, found our cabin, and ate dinner. We realized there were bison on the property so we took a walk over to see them. There were babies which was an absolute delight. We stood and watched them eating for quite a while. Ty was thrilled to discover there were lots of very friendly, loose cats and spent a lot of time petting and playing with them. We looked on AllTrails at some hiking options in the area and decided hiking in Ouachita National Forest would be our best bet. We planned to hike in the morning and then rent a kayak in the afternoon when we returned.
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| Ty meeting all the cats at the resort. |
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| On the back porch of our cabin. |
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| One of the baby bison was nursing while we were there. |
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| Ty showing off the shirt he got in the gift shop when we checked in. |
Saturday morning (our anniversary) I woke up before Ty and went for a run from the cabin. The trails were mostly used for horseback riding which wasn't happening due to the heat, so I found LOTS of spider webs. I made sure to run past the bison to check in on them. When I got back, Ty got up and we started prepping for our hike. Ty made us sandwiches and packed lunch for us in his hiking backpack. We took lots of water and stopped at a gas station to get some disposable water bottles for a lighter way to carry more. We also stopped off to get coffee at a little coffee shop there. Mine was delicious, Ty's was terrible. Our hike was amazing and crazy and a bit of a mess at the end, we made a video about it and I'm posting it here because it's a lot to type. Basically we misread the map and planned for about an 8 mile hike, but hit the half-way point at almost 8 miles. We ran out of water and hitched a ride with a nice man back to our truck. He was from Poteau and was out cruising around, enjoying the views. He drove us directly to our truck and wouldn't allow us to pay him. It was the best anniversary present ever! That evening we got out all of our delicious food we brought along to make our own charcuterie boards and it was amazing! I thought about bringing my wedding dress along to dance with Ty but decided against bringing it along.
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| Stopped for a photo with the bison on my run. |
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| Kayaking after our hike. |
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| My plate at dinner. |
Sunday morning we hit up Cavanal Hill, advertised as the world's highest hill at 1,999 feet elevation. Ty dropped me at the point where it would be a 5 mile run. I decided on 5 miles because the first mile would have 100 feet of elevation gain and the next 4 would all have 400-500 feet of elevation gain a piece. If I just ran 4 miles, I'd start off with my first mile of my run having 400 feet of elevation gain. I thought 5 miles would be a nicer way to transition into the run. After the hike the day before which was even labeled on AllTrails as hard and was 1,600 feet of elevation gain on top of my trail run that morning, my legs were feeling the hills! When I hit 3 miles I had to start walking a bit. Ty dropped me, went to a gas station, and then came back, stopping off at different points to cheer me on and check on me. When I saw him around 3 miles, I told him it was probably smart for me to only run 4 but I really wanted to run all the way to the top of the hill. He said he knew there was no way I was stopping until I got to the top. He was right. I decided I'd rather run all the way to the top with more walking mixed in, than stop early. So I made it all the way to the top and it was so worth it! The view was amazing. I was super proud to finish in under an hour. They run a race called the Cavanal Killer up Cavanal every year and my time even with dead legs from the day before would have placed me 4th overall female at the race back in May. We slept in so it was hot and the section where there was no shade was when I told Ty the smartest thing was probably to stop at 4!
After Cavanal, we went back to shower and check out of the cabin. Took one last look at the bison and then headed home. On our way home we stopped off to go on a little hike at a nature preserve. I was looking back for last year's anniversary post and I apparently never made one. Last year was our first weekend away from home together without the kids. We traveled for my 50k so it was a fun trip but not really a vacation and I spent the majority of it tired and sore. This year was our first weekend getaway just for fun without the kids and it was a BLAST! Ty and I are planning our weekend backpacking trip for our 10th anniversary late, hopefully this October! We meant to put my wedding dress on and dance the weekend after our anniversary, but still haven't done it. I'm not really feeling it this year after my flu and Covid weight gain, so will probably just take this year off. Maybe I'll be in the mood later, who knows! Read past anniversary posts here: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, wedding day memories, Ty's wedding day memories, wedding week memories.
Here's a list of the extra song we've danced to each year:
2012- Feet Don't Touch the Ground by Stoney LaRue
2013- Born to Love You by Ben Harper
2014- I Don't Dance by Lee Brice
2015- Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran
2016- Die A Happy Man by Thomas Rhett
2017- Slow Hands by Niall Horan
2018- Perfect by Ed Sheeran
2019- Speechless by Dan Shay
2020- Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles
2021- I don't remember and I didn't write a post, oops!
2022- Bam Bam Bam by Camila Cabello featuring Ed Sheeran
