Trip to the Gorge

Neither Shane nor I had ever been to the Gorge. And as Tirzah and Aaron very generously offered to stay with the kids and encouraged us to go out for breakfast too, Shane bought tickets to see Coldplay this week-end.
The scenery was incredible and as always, the pictures don't do it justice. I would go there just for the view. We were lucky and got fabulous weather.

We got to watch a beautiful sunset, and then the constellations slowly popping out. And it was still warm and cozy.

I have actually never been to a concert that wasn't in the Opera House, so it was a doubly new experience for me. I was very pleasantly surprised. We were in the seats so maybe the general admission area was more rowdy. I didn't get a picture, but in the parking lot they had a sign saying,

'No Drugs, Alcohol, or Vending- in the Parking Lot'

But I guess that only applied to the parking lot.

It was lots of fun, and the band moved to s mini stage just a few feet from us, so that was cool.

We hadn't decided what to do after the concert so on the way home I called the Salish and they had 2 rooms available- 1 King and 1 with twin beds. We got the King and finally at 1:30 collapsed on the soft, smooth, feather bed. ( Shane asked why our room couldn't be like that. I guess I'll see what I can do.) When we checked in I asked if they had a table for breakfast. She said they had one cancellation that evening, so we were able to sit and have breakfast before we left.

The weather was overcast and misty and just after we sat down they lit the fire by our table and we got to enjoy the warm crackle with our hot coffee and pancakes.

Just as the concert was starting, Tirzah sent us a text message saying the kids were in bed, they were having dinner, and to relax and enjoy. We definitely did. Although we are both tired today. Shane is building me a support for my tomatoes today. They are doing really well but need to be up off the ground now. I can't wait until they are ripe.

A Night At The Salish

Shane and I got to get away for a night- again- thanks to the bravery Trudy and Ron-again. It was amazing and becasue we'd already done it knew how to better allocate the time. We got there early and had a bite in the Attic Bistro at a little table overlooking the falls. I forgot my camera but the view was incredible- as were the meat, cheese, and fruit platters we enjoyed with some 2005 Fedelitas Merlot. Then we headed down for a hot rocks massage and some mineral pool soaking. On our way out we decided we'd do it again in the morning before checking out. Only this time we chose the Swedish massage.

Then we went down for dinner and this time I brought my camera to get pictures of the courses.I don't know why but I can't put captions under the pictures but here is a list of the dishes- also it started wiht the dish after our picture but anyway here they are:

First we were brought a thinly sliced scallop with a ginger mango sauce to "tickle the palate" the waiter told us. We were tickled. Its the one on the green long dish.

Next we enjoyed a lobster-brandy soup. It was so rich I could only eat a few spoonfuls.

We moved on to an apple-almond-frissee which was very tasty and a nice light departure after the soup.

Then came the Blue Hawaiian prawns with ginger.

Finally, we had a cool palate cleanser of green apple sorbet and fruit. I thought the presention was neat and very needed to prepare for the next course of...

Kobe beef cheeks with a burgoine - I know I didn't spell that right-sauce, mashed potatoes, and a horseradish cappuccino.

This time for dessert we had a green apple something- which of course we could only taste with our coffee.

And somewhere in the line-up was gnocchi with prosciutto which I somehow left out.

We decided the next morning to just order in which was really cozy. And the to the spa again and after check out we stopped in the Bistro for lunch and had apricot-ginger polenta with chicken and Shane had very tender lamb and we shared a bowl of red pepper tomato soup which was heavenly with the bread and european style butter.