This summer we hosted Jessica Stasyuk and her family, including their new baby, at Getaway Mount Adams outside of Portland so they could escape the noise and reconnect to nature as a family. Here’s what Jessica had to say about their escape.
Silence. No sound of cars, buses, or people humming. Just the distant swaying of the evergreens and sweet melody of the birds. The sound of hearing nothing was something I am not accustomed to. Living in the city, you get used to the hustle and bustle of noise all around. But this, this was different. And I couldn’t ask for anything better.
My husband and I were on the hunt to find somewhere special to celebrate our one year anniversary. We thought about heading to the beach, maybe flying to another state, but gas prices increased so flights were expensive. We kept looking for over two months, but nothing sounded quite right. We wanted to find a place that would be intimate and allow us to spend quality time, but that would be friendly for our two month old baby. And then I remembered about Getaway. I saw a friend a while back post on Instagram about Getaway houses and I made a mental note that I wanted to go there one day. We decided to try it out for the first time and booked it.
As we passed through the turns and hills on country roads, the golden sun reflected off of the fields creating a picture so beautiful it could be a painting. We finally arrived to our cabin after making lots of pit stops and we were in for a surprise. Everything was even more beautiful than we had imagined. Instagram just didn’t do it justice. The cabin was in a secluded area that hid us from any neighbors, and our little campsite was covered with luscious trees. It felt like we were in the middle of a beautiful picture. The cabin was bigger than I expected and had every basic amenity we needed. I was very happy that it contained air conditioning and heating so that our baby could sleep comfortably.
There was no service so after snapping a couple of pictures, we put our phones away in the box provided. No social media notifications, calls, or texts. At first, it felt weird. My brain is so wired to external stimulation that when taken away, I didn’t know what to do with myself. But we agreed we wanted to take the opportunity to disconnect and use it to its full potential. That’s when we set up a cozy spot in the hammock, and just got to talking. We were able to disconnect and refocus our minds from the busy grind culture to what is really important, each other. We used our free time to read, hammock, cook together, play board games, and most importantly just spend quality time with our loved ones. I couldn’t have asked for a better anniversary gift. The gift to spend uninterrupted time with each other was far more valuable than any monetary gift. The hours flew by and soon it was nighttime. As baby slept inside, we decided to sneak outside to do a little star gazing. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. The constellations were so bright, we sat for hours just counting shooting stars. We drank in the view of the great big woods and glowing sky. However much too soon, it was morning and our getaway trip was coming to an end. The only regret we had about the trip was that we didn’t book it for longer. The advice we would give any family looking for a Getaway is to book fast and for more than one night. Trust us, you won’t regret it.
