The Most Magical Treehouse Adventure

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have you noticed i really like to stretch birthdays out? well, i do. ravery’s birthday present to me was probably one of the neatest things i’ve ever received and he gave it to me this weekend. we got to stay in a TREEHOUSE! yup, you read that right…a treehouse.

treehouse point is located in the snoqualmie valley in washington state, only a smidgen more than 3 hours from portland. we weren’t really sure what to expect but it outrageously exceeded our expectations. take a look…

Treehouse Pointour tree house was the trillium treehouse and the only 2-story one there. we kind of freaked out when we saw it. it had such incredible attention to detail and everything just felt serene, calming and magical.

tree huggerthe outside was a work of art…and the inside…well it was another beautiful masterpiece. everything was so well thought out and the craftsmanship was like nothing i’ve ever seen.

treehouse point hotellet’s also not forget that we were in the two-story one-so neat!

climbing up raveryafter climbing the ladder to the top, there was just enough space for a bed and little back corner. i also contemplated wrapping myself in that adorable comforter and hoping they wouldn’t notice…but i left it. waking up right here was one of the best places i’ve ever woken up.

treehouse point hotelwe literally slept among the trees and not just any trees but trees that slightly reminded me of a dr. seuss story because they were covered in amazing, neon green moss. i felt 100% at ease and in my element (until i sat still and ryan walked around you could feel the slight sway of the treehouse…i a little bit freaked out the first few times this happened). it was amazing to turn our phones off, leave the computers at home and the two of us connect.

we sat by these windows for hours; reading, talking and absorbing the world.

treehouse point hotelwe obviously needed to explore before the sun went down so we grabbed our coats, slurped the last sips of our tea and cocoa and headed out with our trusty map. but honestly how magical is this map?! it too was a work of art. i am telling you that EVERYTHING was visually pleasing.

treehouse point hotelwe followed the paths and found a lookout point that ravery scampered up because he’s quick like that.

treehouse point hoteli should also mention that we were only a few hundred feet away from the river and could hear it inside our treehouse. love the sound of moving water, it brings such peace to my soul. naturally we had to go play along the river and ravery found some champagne bottle toppers, which we immediately started cleaning up because this is no place for trash-only rock piles!

treehouse point hotelnext we found a gorgeous area where i said we should renew our vows in a few years. this was ravery’s response to my proposition while standing in that spot. thumbs up (this is real life…not movies or imagination…this is a real place people and it’s so magical).

treehouse point hotelthen i started smelling freshly baked cookies and found this to not just be in my imagination but occurring in the main lodge. happiness. i had 3.

treehouse point hotelravery and i also decided to decorate our future home the exact same way they had…a rustic chic where everywhere you looked was something interesting but it fit unobtrusively. i will also need a sweet center piece such as this:

treehouse point hotelall this hiking around and introspection obviously made us hungry so we ventured a few miles down the road to a little place called “yummers-almost famous bistro.” it was here i proceeded to eat way too much. please see the below pictures for evidence. we started with a cookies & cream milkshake AND a cookie.

milkshake and cookiesnext up was our burger with sweet potato jojos. ravery did not know what a jojo was and was pleasantly surprised by their deliciousness.

burger and jojosas i sat in my food coma thinking about how i was going to whoop ravery’s keester in a game of cribbage while seated in the trees…yummers‘ fabulous staff heard it was my birthday and surprised me with a treat (as if the milkshake and cookie wasn’t more than enough). of course i still ate it. and it was deliciously filled with raisin and apple pie filling with a drizzle of caramel sauce, granola and ice cream. whoa, i know.

i then felt a bit ill. turns out i can have too much sugar.

surprise birthday treatwe got back to our treehouse (that’s the coolest sentence ever) and i obviously could not fit in my jeans anymore so it was pajama time paired with cribbage. something crazy happened during our 3rd round of cribbage…we both discarded the right cards so that we held the exactly same hand. if that doesn’t make us soulmates, i’m not sure what does (please also note that i’m winning).

cribbage hand

i found so much clarity among the trees. it was also so freeing to disconnect with the outside world (aka technology) and truly connect with each other. no constant checking of text messages/emails/twitter retweets/blog posts/phone calls (i almost forgot phones still call)-it was just us in a beautiful, unique setting where my 29481 worries seemed to float along the river and away from me.

we also met a nice couple over breakfast (which consisted of fabulous homemade granola, yogurt, bread pudding, eggs, oatmeal and bread) and we did a little treehouse-viewing-swap to see in each other’s treehouses. i opted to be less creepy and not take pictures of where they were staying but certainly did ask them to take our picture in our treehouse we fell in love with! we are already planning where all of our family members will stay when we venture back here. thank you ravery for such a fun birthday celebration and always making our relationship a priority, both on the ground and suspended in trees.

us in the treehouse

life lesson: this world is full of wonder and your surroundings truly do make a difference. surround yourself with a positive environment and take time to have quality communication.

questions:

1) where is the neatest place you’ve ever stayed? (this absolutely takes the cake for me)

2) how long do you usually stretch out your birthday for? (this might have been my record..all the way to february!)

3) do you have rules in your family about when to put the phone/computer down and just connect? (we don’t have hard and fast ones but we usually say ‘no phones dinner/date/afternoon’)

14 Comments

  1. Stephen Lozano

    February 4, 2013 at 8:55 am

    1. it’s a tie for me between the disney cruise ship and our disney time share resort.
    2. just a day. my 5/14 bday gets cut short a lot because of mothers day :/
    3. no. But I know when to turn them off and put them away

    • chelsea

      February 4, 2013 at 3:53 pm

      ohhhh i’ve never been on a disney cruise and can’t remember when i went there with my grandparents when i was younger but i do know it is a land of wonder! oh yeaaah, your birthday totally does get cut short with mother’s day right around the bend stephen. i have no doubt that you go big on your actual birthday then! glad you know when to turn it off and put the phone away…i still struggle sometimes!

    • Julie

      February 6, 2013 at 4:39 pm

      We stayed here, in the exact same treehouse, on our short vacay/honeymoon last fall for two nights.. Loved it! We even had pizza delivered night two. We are from Canada and we explore Washington State at least once a year.

      • chelsea

        February 6, 2013 at 7:10 pm

        that is so fun that you stayed in the same place julie!!! isn’t it so spectacular?! i’m also jealous that you had pizza delivered on your second night-pure genius. i need to go back and do that now 🙂 thanks for your comment!

  2. Paula Howley

    February 4, 2013 at 10:46 am

    I am so glad for you two that you got to take a weekend off from business and just focused on each other and nature, a couple of miracles. Trees are incredibly therapeutic.

    1. I thnk the coolest place I ever stayed was a little cabin in the rainforest in B.C. It had a tiny kitchen, a built-in table and chairs, and a big loft upstairs. There was a porch and it was beside a running stream. I actually lived there for about 6 months and I still think of it as the most magical place of my life.
    2. I totally believe in milking your birthday for as long as possible. When I turned 30, I went to the Skydome in Toronto to watch the Blue Jays play (they won and had fireworks too for canada day)and stayed in the hotel there. the next day was my actual birthday so I went back to Fort Erie and went to a concert (that I wished for- that’s another story) with my little brother and best friend. As I mentioned, since it’s Canada Day, the whole town was there partying with us. The next day my brother took me to the greatest amusement park in the world- Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio and we went on the tallest roller coaster in the world. It was truly epic and remains unmatched to this day.
    3. I don’t like people eating meals at the computer!!!!! I also don’t like anyone to pick up the phone during a meal- that’s what voice mail is for.

    • chelsea

      February 4, 2013 at 3:58 pm

      trees are incredible therapeutic aren’t they paula? well said. i am also insanely jealous that you got to live in that little cabin you described above for 6 months, what a unique and beautiful experience! and whoa…your 30 birthday sounds epic. what a fun mix of so many grand activities-how fun! although i personally would not have had fun on the tallest roller coaster in the world. nope, no thank you i will eat and hot dog and wait for you to finish the ride 🙂 toootally agree about not picking up the phone during meals and i am however guilty of eating my lunch at work in front of the computer more often than not :/

  3. junebugroseanne

    February 4, 2013 at 12:25 pm

    I love picture number one. As soon as I saw it, I had to stop and take a moment to reflect on where this could be, and whether I could get Bob and I to visit this place. How inspiring! I think he would love it. This place could easily turn into my next favorite vacation spot. Thank you for sharing your birthday retreat pictures!

    • chelsea

      February 4, 2013 at 4:01 pm

      thanks june! i think the first picture is also my favorite (although i did take well over 100 pictures). you should absolutely get yourself and bob out there as soon as possible! i highly HIGHLY recommend it and with it being so close to portland….do it! thanks for reading and commenting june and i can’t wait to see pictures of your adventures when you go there someday 🙂

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  5. Vivien

    February 4, 2013 at 8:16 pm

    Wow what a neat place! I will most definitely try to stay there sometime before this lifetime is over.

    1) Haven’t traveled a whole lot (yet!) so the neatest place was the hotel I stayed at when I went on my own mini-road trip this past summer. Nothing super amazing, it was a great 4-5 start place. But it felt like the neatest place for me cause a) I got a super good deal, b) It was my first “trip” where I planned everything myself (aka did a whole lotta nothing) and c) they had free coffee/mocha/hot chocolate/latte/espresso/etc for all hotel guests during key hours in the afternoon. Score!

    2) Officially, just one or two days. But my family and I have this bad (or good?) habit of always buying each other presents throughout the entire year and saying “this is your early birthday/Christmas/etc” present. Then of course a few months later we forget about it and then go and buy something else for each other under the same pretense.

    3) No hard and fast rules here either. It is generally understood no phones around the dinner table, unless it’s Aunty so-and-so calling long distance to talk to us.

    • chelsea

      February 5, 2013 at 12:45 pm

      yes you absolutely need to go there vivien-do it! there is something great about planning everything yourself and it all working out beautifully-just like your mini-road trip how fun! also, any place with free mochas and hot chocolate HAS to be good, excellent choice. ha, my family is prone to doing the whole “early birthday/christmas present” thing too, it’s kind of fun as long as it’s balanced (although i feel like i owe my mom about 2938 other things). thanks for commenting vivien!

      • Julie

        February 6, 2013 at 4:49 pm

        If you are looking for another cool place/experience, visit the Adrift Hotel & Spa in Long Beach, WA. There’s a trail, bicycles, really neat add-on packages.

  6. chelsea

    February 6, 2013 at 7:11 pm

    wow, just looked up the place and looks amazing. thanks for the tip julie, i’ll have to add that to my long list of place to stay/visit! thank you

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