October 19, 2012 (Updated April 6, 2023)

Our Mini-Honeymoon: Part 3!

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

24 comments

If you missed part 1 or part 2, read those first! 🙂

Another highlight of the mini-moon was all the great hiking! We did two fun hikes while we were there. The first was about an hour long; we hiked it late afternoon one day before returning to the lodge in time for happy hour.

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Love those beautiful leaves.

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The hike took us up and up and up – beautiful views of the VA mountains!

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We also made friends with this random tin man. Weird?

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Soon, we were rewarded with this stunning view. That’s Fort Lewis Lodge, where we stayed, below!

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Matt practiced his handstand skills while we were enjoying the view.

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We arrived back at the lodge in time for a brief happy hour, and then dinner! I would like for these women to live in my kitchen, please. Thanks.

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On this menu this evening was grilled salmon, plus veggies and ham with a mustard sauce. Yummy!

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Wednesday was our last morning at the lodge, sadly – the trip went by way too quickly! Back to the main dining room for breakfast.

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Fresh homemade blueberry muffins still hot from the oven? I’m pretty sure that’s paradise.

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After breakfast, Matt and I packed up and said goodbye to the lodge. Matt is now the proud owner of a Fort Lewis Lodge t-shirt. 😉

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We also enjoyed an intense game of tetherball while waiting for our packed lunches to be made. I’m still as terrible as the last time I played, which I’m pretty sure was 5th grade gym class.

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Goodbye, lodge! We will definitely be back. 🙂

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Instead of heading straight home on Wednesday, we decided to do one last hike on our way out! We got another round of packed lunches from the lodge, checked out, and headed to a nearby trail they recommended to do a nice lunch time hike.

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After about 30 minutes of uphill hiking, we reached a beautiful summit.

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We ate lunch while enjoying the view. Yum!

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And made friends with an older couple, also staying at the lodge, who got this photo of us. Other than that, we had the place to ourselves!

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After eating, we decided to hike on a little farther.

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We hiked another half hour or so out and then made our way back; we ended up hiking for about 2 hours total.

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It was a great ending to a very sweet trip. 🙂

So, what now? It’s going to be another crazy busy couple months as I finish out my grad school program! Here’s what’s on the docket:

  • October 22nd (Monday) – start my final dietetic internship! I’ll be spending 3 weeks interning with Danielle Omar, another private practice RD in the area.
  • November 7th – the first draft of my masters paper is due to my UNC advisor for edits. I need to start working on this today – I basically decided to pretend it didn’t exist until after the wedding was over.
  • November 9th – last day of my internship!!!
  • November 21st – final masters paper and PowerPoint presentation to accompany it are due (we’ll be having various rounds of edits between when I first submitted it and this point).
  • November 22nd – Thanksgiving! We’re staying here in DC this year, but Matt’s parents are hopefully going to come join us.
  • November 28th to November 30th – my grad school class will head back to UNC to present our masters papers to each other and the staff.
  • Friday, November 30th – DONE WITH GRAD SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!! Our department will be hosting a mini-graduation ceremony and reception just for our class. We can come back and walk later in December if we want, but we aren’t planning on it.
  • December 1st & 2nd – stick around Chapel Hill that weekend with Matt for one last hurrah. 🙂
  • December 7th – December 21st – HONEYMOON with Matt in Costa Rica!!!! So. Excited.

Whew! After all this, all that will be left is to study for and take the RD exam in January, as soon as my grad school completion paperwork goes through. The end is so close! 🙂

As for wedding-related blog recaps, they will be coming next week! I’m already starting to get more photos from our official photographers (Ben and Taylor) and I can’t wait to share them. I’m going to break the recaps into sections – e.g. one post for the rehearsal dinner, one for getting ready, one for the ceremony, one for the reception, etc. Stay tuned!

Also, I’m running the Army 10 Miler on Sunday! I’ll be back with a recap of that, too. 🙂

- anne

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24 comments
  • I've already told my husband I want us to go to that lodge next Fall for a getaway!! Gorgeous views and everything!! Lucky girl!
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  • That looks like it was an amazing mini honeymoon! The lodge seems great.. LOVE fresh muffins warm from the oven! Good luck on the Army 10Miler- I'm volunteering in one of the Army booths- come say hi!
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    • Fun - I'll try to find you!
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  • Don't you just love autumn leaves. Hey, that's the name of a song. Teehee. You'll love Costa Rica
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  • Beautiful pictures! COSTA RICA!!!!! I was there a year and a half ago... beautiful and amazing! You will have a wonderful time! If you visit the rainforest (I mean, you are, aren't you??) I encourage you to hire a guide (especially at monteverde's cloud forest if you go there). I went through two parks and the second time was with a guide and I was AMAZED at how much he could show us that I definitely would have missed. A Toucan for one! And several Quetzals (beautiful birds- the males anyway). Do you know which part(s) of Costa Rica you'll be visiting yet?
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    • We're so excited! Doing 1 week of adventure stuff in the rainforest and near some of the volcanoes... and 1 week on the beach! I forget the exact names but will share more later for sure!
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  • Amazing! congrats! i want more wedding pictures i think we had a simlar look for our fall weddings! - mansion/castle, keyhole lace back, navy blue.
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  • Your life is soooo busy :) I don't think you would want it any other way :)
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  • Honestly Anne, you are quite the dynamo and an example of how living healthy helps you accomplish so much. Thanks for the inspiration! Hope this last quarter of the year is smooth, fabulous and especially blessed for you and your hubby!
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  • Oh my gosh, you are totally going to deserve that December honeymoon! You can do it! One busy month ahead. PS - how does matt do those handstands without freaking out? Does he topple over or just gracefully come back down? And on a bench?! Impressive! (I'm currently working on getting up to handstand in yoga without the help of a wall, fyi).
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    • Haha he used to be a gymnast so he's still a pro at handstands because of that. :) He's rather graceful! I can still do them from my gymnastics days, too - I think it's like riding a bike, once you know how to do it you won't ever forget!
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  • You should win a prize for all the hiking you squeezed in! The next month will fly, before you know it you'll be in sunny costa rica!
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  • Those views are gorgeous!! So worth the uphill hikes! Anne, I don't know how you fit it all in, your life is crazy busy!! I want to know your secret to keeping sane and balancing internships, masters papers, fitness, blogging, spending time with matt and friends/family!!!
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  • That place looks adorable! I want my kitchen/dining room to look like that. Glad you and Matt had such a great time!! Congratulations!!! :-)
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  • What an awesome mini-moon! Delicious in every respect: lovely hikes, spectacular views, happy hour, and wonderful food. Well done -- and good luck in the 10-Miler!
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  • The photos are beautiful! And the food at the lodge looks amazing! Good luck with everything that's coming up!
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  • Wonderful place! there is no words, that place is the best for rest and disconect from the city, good choice. I'll be waiting for the wedding pics!! thanks for sharing.
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  • My husband and I were just talking about taking a road trip to VA. It looks so beautiful. :-)
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  • My parents recently spent 10 days in Costa Rica and said it was absolutely amazing. Make sure you do plenty of hiking and exploring. Congrats again on the marriage!
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    • Glad to hear it - we definitely will be! Thanks!
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  • What a beautiful trip!! I'm so glad you two enjoyed yourselves!
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