Say Please

ILY

Chan and I had planned to camp at Lake Kachess, a small tent camping area off of i90. I'd been there a few times growing up, and fell in love with the isolation and stillness of the area—a stark contrast to the busy Seattle life. The campsites were a short walk from the edge of the lake. Most of the time the water was too cold to swim in—glacier runoff almost always is. This weekend, however, we had planned on dipping our toes in since the forecast read mid-90s—something quite unexpected for the pacific northwest.

"Ready?" I asked Chan as I admired the amount of blankets he was able to shove into a duffle bag.

"Do we have everything we need?" He responded, a faint look of concern furrowing his brows.

"I think you've checked five times, so maybe we need to give it a sixth once-over." I folded my arms together and raised an eyebrow, hoping the sarcasm was apparent.

"Fine," he threw his hands up with a smile.

"If we think of anything else before we hit the pass we can stop at a store anyway." He nodded and glanced around his living space once more. "Remember when you told me not to stress about LA?" I added. "Let me be your guide to all things camping adventure this weekend."

"You've got me there," he shot a finger gun toward me. "I promise to relax and enjoy the ride." The wink he sent over after sent a tingle down my spine.

A half hour later we were headed east toward the Cascades. Cityscapes turned to lush forest greens that were speckled with houses here and there.

"Have you been out this far?" I glanced at Chan, who eyed the foliage with wonder.

"Never," he sighed. "It's gorgeous."

"Just wait until we really get up the pass," I smiled, knowing the grandiose scenery that awaited us. We remembered that sunscreen was probably a must and stopped at a local grocery store right before the incline up the mountains began. We grabbed some additional snacks and extra drinks for the nights ahead.

As small town streets turned to unpaved roads and roofs of houses turned to treetops, I couldn't help but glance at Chan constantly; the way his eyes glowed as he took in each shade of green on the same evergreen, the way he gasped at the gray rocks that towered above the tree line, it was all beautiful.

"Can we stop somewhere to take a picture?" He asked, eyes fixed on the changing view outside the car.

"Of course, I know a really nice spot that we can pull off at." Not a minute later, the trees to our right melted into a large body of water that lined the freeway. The crystal clear waters pushed out toward the sharp peaks of the mountain pass. The air was clear up here—so clear that we could see details in the trees that were football fields away.

"Holy shit," he gawked. I pulled off on the scenic view ramp and parked. We took a collective breath before exiting the car.

The air was cooler in the mountains, and a small shiver ran through me as we walked toward the viewpoint. A few other cars were stopped as well, with families and couples taking endless photos of every tree they could zoom into and the mountain landscape in the background.

I couldn't help but smile as I watched Chan take it all in. His eyes were wide with wonder, and they seemed to scan every possible tree and ripple on the lake and edge of the mountaintops.

"This is..." he began, losing himself once more to the view.

"Amazing?" I finished. He glanced at me and nodded, his smile almost too big for his face. The sun sparkled against his irises, illuminating the deep brown hues within.