I used to dread the period between October and February a little in the Pacific Northwest. The days get shorter and we go for weeks on end with chilly, wet, dreary weather. During stretches like this it’s easy to wonder if we’ll ever see sun-filled days again. But then a few years ago we went to Suncadia in the mountains and realized that there is a lot to do during these cooler months just about an hour drive from Seattle. Wet weather in our northwest mountains turns into snow so our project over the past few years has been a cabin in the woods where we’ve been escaping from our daily lives and it’s been such a great way to bring a little more nature into all of our scehdules. (We store our photos in Amazon photos and it was fun to see that our first bits of framing happening three years ago today!) Getting into the mountains even just for a bit is so good for our souls!
This past weekend I heard that we had our first snow of the season so we had to go check it out. I was eager to try a new Heat N’ Serve hot cocoa from Darigold that we were sent to try. I read on the top of the box that you could make it on the stovetop or over a crackling fire (and yes you can make it in the microwave too). But in our our family if we can cook ANYTHING over a fire it becomes the only option.
We had family in town visiting so we took them to our favorite morning hike. Gold Creek Pond is so perfect for all ages because it has a scenic paved trail around a lake with lots of benches along the way. There isn’t much incline and it’s only about 20-30 minutes around. Sometimes we bring hot chocolate in the winter months to drink while the boys throw rocks into the water but today we had bigger plans for our warm-up drink. The hike was so beautiful with a bit of snow on the ground and a few salmon were migrating up one of the creeks so we stopped to watch them for a little bit too.
When we got home, I got the supplies together while the hubby tended to the fire. There is something about sitting around a warm fire on a cool day that is just so magical. We all sat in anticipation as the hot cocoa warmed up.
I live for weekends like this one. It doesn’t get much better than time in the mountains with family drinking a warm drink around a fire. I actually don’t mind the wet weather much anymore. I can’t believe we have snow in October this year!
Do you have a favorite wintertime activity? How do you get through the long, dark months in the Pacific Northwest?
(PS. This is a sponsored post for Darigold and we had a lot of fun trying out this hot cocoa. The opinions in this post and all sponsored posts on this blog are my own.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
So I actually love the fall in the Northwest, it is the late winter through spring that really gets me, when it feels like the rain JUST WONT QUIT! I love visiting the local pumpkin/apple farms, and also think Leavenworth is a lot of fun in the fall and early winter!