Maybe We Were Meant to Be (Tay Jardine and Jenna Mcdougall)

Oh Deer!

Jenna:

Today Tay and I were going to our secret anniversary vacation. She hadn't told me anything about it, she had only asked me if I wanted to go somewhere. I knew we were going to drive there, but I didn't know how far. Tay had told me to pack for cool weather and lots of walking.

At 3 in the morning she woke me up and got me to the car, she had already put all the bags in the trunk/backseat. I slept for the first four hours of the trip. When I asked Tay how much further we had to go she looked at me with big, exaggerated eyes and said six hours. I looked back at her in shock.

At 7.30 we stopped at a diner along the highway to eat breakfast. We got biscuits with jam and coffee. The place was almost full. The parking lot had at least five or six trucks and two or three tour buses. I guess the place to start up a restaurant wasn't in a big city, but instead on the highway.

We finished eating at 8 and kept on driving. By 9 we were singing obnoxiously loud to the songs on my phone and we stopped once again at 11 for an early lunch and to go to the bathroom. Finally at 2.00 we had finally arrived.

I couldn't help but admire the view from the car window, we passed by long paths of trees and were welcomed by clear patches that looked down on to little towns in the valley. It only got better the closer we got to our destination. I spotted deer, rabbits, squirrels and birds among the trees and saw rivers flowing down the mountain.

Tay pulled up beside a little wood cabin. It looked like tree trunks had been stacked one on top of another to make the house. There were little pieces of wood stacked outside near a small cement grill and in the distance I could hear the rushing of water. The pine trees around us were filled with the songs of birds. This was one of the most beautiful places I had been.

When we walked inside everything got better. The design looked like what people would think of in a mountain house, wood furniture around a fire place in the living room and a patchwork quilt on the bed. Thankfully there were no animal heads hanging on the wall or bear skin rugs.

We unpacked the car and then decided to go for a walk to the info center to stretch our legs. We followed the road and caught a glimpse of the creek that flowed parallel to the cabin. Smooth stones lined the sides. I wrapped my fingers in between Tay's as we walked. So far it looked like she had picked a perfect place to relax for our anniversary. I tried to hold back the urge to kiss Tay, I didn't succeed. I pulled her closer to her and gave her a peck on the cheek which made a big smile cross her face.

As we were walking along we noticed a deer eating on the side of the road. I'm sure any park ranger would have told us to leave it alone, but I couldn't help myself. I reached out towards the deer to see if I could touch it. It lifted it's head and sniffed my hand for a minute, just long enough for Tay to get a picture. Then it turned around and ran off into the forest.

The office wasn't far. It had plenty of brochures for places to see and activities around the area. We grabbed a few and a map of the hiking trails around the camp site. It showed where the creek flowed and the best sights around, which in my mind sounded like good places to make out. Tay's eyes lit up at the thought too. This was looking like it was going to be more and more fun. Isolating yourself with the person you love and being away from any ordinary stress was perfect.

When we got back to the cabin we made a small fire just to have the smell of the burning wood. We made an early dinner with some pasta and tomato sauce Tay had packed. The kitchen was tiny, but functional for two people. It just made us have to be closer together. It wasn't hard for us to stay in sync with each others movements since we were used to cooking and living together. It had been almost a year that we were dating and at least four that we knew each other and had hung out at each other's houses, cooking and managing not to accidentally stab someone with the knife we forgot to point down when we were carrying it around.

Before bed Tay rubbed my back and massaged my shoulders. Afterwards I did the same for her. We opened the bedroom window and let in the cool, fresh air and then I drifted off into one of the best sleeps I think I had ever had, with Tay laying beside me holding my hand.