Life at the Cabin: Thursday & Friday {Part 1}

Think about a time when there was no TV, no Internet or cell phones, and no connection to the outside world.  These days it’s hard to believe that such circumstances actually exist, but they really, really do. 

This past weekend, my family plus my in-laws and our friends Jolene and Sib ventured up to my husband’s hunting cabin in northern PA {just outside of Williamsport} for a relaxing weekend getaway.

  

The cabin is just that, a hunting cabin, but it has a few modern amenities that make it just right for me.  You see, I’m not a camping kind of girl.  I like my running water, heat, flushing toilets and hot showers.  I also like to cook in a real kitchen, so the outdoors isn’t necessarily my cup of tea.  However, I can totally “rough” it up at the cabin because it has ALL of the above mentioned.  In fact, they just renovated it recently with a second bathroom, a few more bedrooms, and new hard wood flooring.  

  

Here are Payton and Willsey chilling in the back on the car ride up. 

This was Willsey’s first-ever trip and long car ride.  He’s gotten car sick before on short trips around town so I took some precautionary measures and got him some medication from the vet.  Unfortunately it didn’t work so well because he still got a little sick.  Poor guy!

We started the trip on Thursday afternoon when Jolene and Sib followed us.  On the way, we made two stops at local produce stands for some fresh fruit and veggies for snacks and meals.  This was the second stop we made.  I’ve been to this one before and they always have the freshest stuff.  

Here's Fred checking out the produce...

  

Once we got to Williamsport, we stopped at Fred’s mom’s house and everyone hung out there while Jolene and I did some grocery shopping.  We were famished, and we saw this bar at the check-out so we decided to get it to split.  Low carbs and high protein!  My "kind" of bar!

After our car was stocked up, we picked everyone up and headed north. While unloading groceries, we had a few {not so healthy} snacks prior to starting dinner.  

Finally, dinner was served.  Chicken, hot dogs and steak on the grill with fresh corn from the stand along with baked beans.  

For dessert…Paula Deen’s Ooey Gooey Butter cake which got a little squished on the ride up since it was in the cooler {again, not so healthy}.

Thursday was a busy day, starting with my swimming workout in the morning, and ending with a relaxing glass of wine and a good book.   Who could ask for more?

Very early Friday morning, Mother Nature brought us a wicked thunderstorm that completely shook the house.  When you are in the mountains, the sounds are escalated due to the echoing amongst the trees in the forest and even the lightening itself was intense.  The kids ended up coming into our bedroom and Willsey was shaking in his boots!  The power went out, but eventually came in within the hour. 

That morning, while we anticipated the arrival of Fred’s brother and his family, I started out with a beautiful yoga session on the back porch that overlooks the pond.  It was refreshing to do yoga while hearing crickets chirp and the trout jump.  Ahhhh!

After breakfast, everyone started out on a hike in the woods.  I contemplated going…I even started out with the group.  But as we entered the woods and the trees were closing in around the trail, my fear of snakes kicked in and I just couldn’t go.  I have this insanely ridiculous fear of snakes and I just can’t shake it.  Even within the cabin, I am on the lookout.  It really drives me nuts, but I’m afraid it is something that I have to live with.  This was the trail I started out on….it would have been an amazing workout!  

  

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing this…relaxing and reading.  

  

Then we enjoyed some cheese and crackers during our Happy Hour.

For dinner, I made a salad with greens from the market, carrots, yellow peppers, scallions, feta cheese and toasted almonds.  I concocted a dressing of Fig balsamic vinegar, olive oil, agave nectar, salt and pepper.  

We also had fresh organic beef burgers topped with this Beer Cheese sauce from my most recent Food Network magazine.  It was decadent!  Here’s my plate.  I went bunless since I opted for a nice helping of homemade macaroni and cheese.   

If there’s one thing about the cabin…it’s that there is always PLENTY of food!  I will post Saturday's adventures tomorrow. 

Have a great day!