Gilmores celebrate five-year anniversary

April 13 marks our 5-year anniversary. Yes, it's hard to believe how quickly five years have flown by. We celebrated a week early with a little getaway trip to the mountains last weekend. We reserved a room at the Apple Tree Inn near the Tenaya Lodge where we got married. Tenaya is just a few miles from the south gate of Yosemite National Park. We dined Saturday night at Tenaya Lodge's romantic fireside restaurant that serves all-organic and local foods. (Oh, how we wish we ate more of that food at our wedding!)The meal was fabulous and we had such fun reminiscing about our favorite moments over the last five years and our wedding day.

Many of our family and friends stayed at the Apple Tree Inn for the wedding and it was a treat to try this place out for ourselves. Apple Tree Inn is like a bed and breakfast meets mountain cottages. Each cottage has 3 rooms - 2 singles and 1 suite for families. We rented a single that had it's own patio, fireplace and little kitchenette, not to mention a fabulous view of the big trees on the mountainside. The Apple Tree Inn also has an indoor pool, hot tub and racquetball court but we hardly had time to enjoy all of those.

We relished in the opportunity to sleep in on a Sunday morning. (This is our first overnight trip ever without Meilani!) Then we headed out for a short hike and to drink in the peace and beauty of the mountains.

True to form, there was snow on the ground for our little hike, reminding us of the blanket of snow that began to fall just as our wedding ceremony. We laughed about our unplanned "tropical wedding in the snow." Ironically, I left my hiking boots at home and so I had to stumble along the trail in flip flops.

And just like a honeymoon couple without a photographer we snapped a photo of ourselves along the trail...

When the trail started to get steep and a bit slippery, we headed for Tenaya Lodge and took a few photos in the long corridor where the wedding ceremony was held. (Ok, so I should have dug my wedding dress out of the closet or something.)

Does anyone remember the bag pipes? Yes, they did fill this long corridor and beyond when my part-Scottish hubby and his best men marched down the aisle. What a wild, wonderful and multicultural event it was - much like our five years of marriage, I suppose.


Before we headed home, we stopped at the Three Sisters Cafe in Oakhurst. This quaint little cafe is the place where I had my Bridal Brunch with the ladies. Although they have a new owner and chef, the food and atmosphere was just as quaint and classy. We spent some quality time dreaming of what the next five years of marriage might hold.