A Canoe View | Adventures in Vermont | Lovely Travel

On our recent Vermont cabin retreat we awoke early to take in the sunrise from the view of a canoe. I’m the sunny morning person in our little unit, but I was pleasantly surprised when Matthew woke up early to walk out by the water with me. By the time he started to rise from bed I was already dressed and bouncing by the door. “The sun is rising!”

It started with a string of golden light flowing between the trees and illuminating the fog on the water. We watched the world grow brighter from the warmth of our wool blankets on the dock.

Then it was time to bring out the canoe.

Matthew and I are kayakers. With a kayak you can gain speed pretty quickly in the water and maneuver around twists and bends. With a canoe, you have no choice but to take it slow and steady, which was exactly our goal for our weekend retreat in Vermont. Nothing can be compared to the stillness of a lake in the early hours of the morning. The surface becomes a glass mirror reflecting the sun and the sky.

The air was cold so we kept ourselves warm with wool blankets. We brought one from home and the other was found right in our cabin.

I need to take a moment to thank this amazing man right here. Not only is he the love of my life, my greatest fan, and the supporter of my dreams; he is the adventure partner of my soul. Instead of saying, “No, you can’t,” he always asks, “why not?”

So when I come up with some crazy new plan or great big (or local) adventure, he joins my excitement until we make it a reality. When I told him I thought we should disappear for a weekend in Vermont to celebrate nine years together, he started mapping out ideas in his head. We ended up in a small argument on our drive home. Turns out, he was upset that I didn’t see everything on the list I made for our trip. What he was missing was that I don’t need to see everything on my check list, not when I receive so much more than I ever expected simply by living this life together with him. Life cannot be predicted from a list. The most memorable moments are those that are unplanned and that unfold spontaneously, like this excursion on the lake.

Despite being very tired and extremely cold, he joined me out on the lake for the morning and we created these very vivid memories that I will never forget.

“Keep close to nature’s heart. . . and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” -John Muir

We kept our adventure short so Matthew could catch up on some more sleep and I could cozy up with a good book before checking out and continuing our Vermont adventure. When we returned to our cozy cabin, Matthew retreated to the bedroom for some more sleep and I brewed some hot coa coa.

Taking in the morning’s stillness.

The bedroom was also cozy, but my feet reached the bottom of the bed and I’m only 5’3.” Matthew’s 6’2″ frame didn’t quite fit. His feet were way off the bottom of the bed.