Chapter 27 _ A La Cuenta de Tres
"I've never been on a plane, let alone a helicopter." Lupe said nervously as they got comfortable on the helicopter. It was the day after Valentine's Day. They were on their first family trip to a cabin near Loon Lake. The girls along with their parents.
The cabin was on a small island they could usually reach by boat but given the weather, the lakes were frozen over leaving Leon to pick the helicopter ride instead. The Valdes family had never seen snow in person leading Lucia and Valentina to plan a snow trip. Lucia and Lupe got along very well and Lucia thought this trip would be a good idea to get their husband's to bond a bit more.
"Don't be nervous, Lupita, Leon is a great pilot. We'll be there in no time." Lucia said reassuringly taking Lupe's hand in hers.
The trip was a 20 minute flight from the Carvajal mansion to the cabin. The scenery was beautiful. Thousands upon thousands of tress. They flew over the three frozen lakes until they arrived to the property's helicopter landing pad. A couple that stayed in the cabin taking care of it made sure to clear the pad so the helicopter could land safely.
"Hector, Mari, this is the Valdes family, they'll be staying with us this weekend." Leon said turning to Juliana and her family as he continued, "Anything you need let Hector and Mari know."
Valentina hugged the couple before dragged Juliana to show her the rest of the house and showing her where everyone would be staying.
After getting everything settled and put away, they gathered round the table for breakfast.
"So how was Valentine's Day? Did everything work out how you planned, Val?" Lucia said wanting to know if Juliana enjoyed their date.
A blush grew across both girls' faces and Juliana took Valentina's hand in hers as she spoke. "It was lovely Lucia. She's crazy for renting out the museum just for us to watch my favorite movie but it was amazing and really sweet." Juliana said as she brought Valentina's hand to her mouth and kissed her knuckles.
"She did what!" Lupe and Chino said simultaneously.
"I didn't get a chance to give you guys details this morning but yeah she rented out a museum in downtown for six hours just for us..." Juliana said knowing her parents would definitely oppose to Valentina spending so much money on dates.
"It was nothing really. I promise. I know Juls doesn't want anything too expensive or fancy but it was Valentine's Day and I wanted to do something special for her, something quiet and relaxing yet romantic." Valentina said trying to defend herself before Juliana's parents had a chance to say anything else.
Chino sighed in resignation knowing that they were from very different worlds but Valentina loved his daughter with everything she was. "I know you're not trying to buy my daughter or any of us, we're just not used to any of this." He said motioning to the house with his hands but referring to everything that's happened since the girls met. "It's simply overwhelming knowing you can do that for Juliana and think of it as something small... like I said, we aren't used to it but thank you for taking care of my daughter and giving her pieces of the world."
"Macario I hope you know we all genuinely love your daughter, she's gained all of our respect and love and she's made my Valentina happier than I've ever seen her since her mother passed. I know my daughter, she not only wants to show your daughter the world, she wants to empower her to go after anything she wants. That's what Estella, her mother, always instilled in our daughters, to uplift other women and I'm really proud of the woman Valentina's become. She's always known how to manage her money well so if she can do these things for Juliana it's because she's thought about it and knows when and on what she can invest her money. Think of it as a movie date but on a much bigger budget." Leon said causing the women at the table to break into laughter at his final comment.
"I trust your daughter with my daughter, there is no doubt about that, I guess it'll just take a while to get used to the thought of that big of a budget." Chino said shrugging as he took a sip from his orange juice.
They continued enjoying their breakfast. Valentina talked animatedly about what the plans for the rest of the trip were trying to change the subject. Lupe was excited about building a snowman with her husband and making it her height. Juliana on the other hand wanted the six of them to have a snowball fight before the trip was over. Chino loving to please his girls was on board for whatever they wanted to do while secretly excited about making snow angels with his girls.
After breakfast they got ready and each grabbed a snowmobile heading to the west end of Loon Lake. From there they chained their snowmobiles together before heading towards what is normally a vehicle bridge but for the moment was covered completely in snow. They walked around a bit until Juliana and Lupe sat on one of the bridge's barrier boulders looking out to the distance enjoying the peace and quiet. Valentina made sure to snap a picture of the two while keeping her distance not wanting to interrupt. A few minutes passed and Juliana turned behind her feeling Valentina's gaze on her. Juliana waved her over taking Valentina's hand as she reached Juliana and sat Valentina on her lap hugging her tightly.
"Thank you for bringing us here. It's beautiful. I never imagined this was what snow felt like. It's so fluffy and cold. I love it, it feels like the consistency between and icee and a raspado." Juliana said playing with the snow on the rock she and Valentina were sitting on.
Juliana took the bit of snow up to her mouth and tried to blow on it causing Valentina and herself to giggle in the process.
"What was that?" Valentina asked with a bright smile on her face.
Juliana laughed burying her head into Valentina's shoulder. "I'm not sure. I wanted to see if I could blow it out of my hand."
"It's not powder babe. That's not exactly how snow works." Valentine said shaking her head, not noticing Juliana's smirk forming.
Juliana grabbed a bit of snow and balled it up in her fist creating a small snowball. Suddenly she leaned back slightly away from Valentina and made eye contact with a confused Valentina as she began to speak. "Is this how it works?" Juliana said throwing the small ball of snow at her girlfriend causing a shocked gasp.
Valentina stood from Juliana's lap with a determined look on her face as regret began to take over Juliana's face. "That's how you want to play? Okay. Get ready Juliana. You have 20 seconds to run."
Juliana threw her head back laughing. Seeing that her girlfriend was not moving Valentina raised an eyebrow as she smirked started counting, causing Juliana to get up and start running towards the rest of the family.
"6... 5... 4..." Valentina didn't finish her count down as she began to run after Juliana with a snowball in each hand giggling. She threw them at her girlfriend who was still running hitting her in the back causing her to dramatically fall into a pile of snow.
"No! No you cheated! I still had 3 seconds!" Juliana said giggling turning around to look at Valentina with a huge smile.
Valentina offered Juliana a hand to pull her up as the wheels started turning in her head. She whispered to Juliana to grab two snowballs and on the count of three they would throw them a their parents. Juliana smiled mischievously and looked over at where her parents were, distracted talking to Leon and Lucia.
Once Juliana was standing, Valentina whispered the countdown creating a snowball fight between the two of them and the other two couples. They spent the rest of the day playing with the snow, only taking a break to eat their packed lunch. After their lunch they built three snowmen, one by each couple. As the day turned to evening they began heading back towards the cabin where they would be having dinner.
As dinner was being set up, Juliana asked what the plan for the following day was.
"We're going on the Rubicon Trail" Leon said with a bright smile as Valentina's eyes grew wide.
"Wait, but we never go without Guille..." Valentina said getting a little disappointed that they would be breaking tradition.
"You never go where without me?" Guillermo said he and Renata stood by the dining room entrance.
Valentina gasped in surprise and stood up to hug her brother and her sister-in-law. "What are you doing here?"
Guillermo placed her arm around Renata as he began to speak. "Dad called last week, said it was a surprise so I couldn't say anything. Once Renata closed up shop at noon we headed over to get the jeeps and make our way. Hector went to pick us up by the edge of the lake."
All the while, Juliana had a confused look on her face. "Wait, but what is the Rubicon Trail? Also, hi." She said with a small wave to the new guests.
Guillermo and Renata walked towards the table to greet everyone and sat down to join them for dinner.
Once they were all settled, Leon and Guillermo began to explain what the Rubicon Trail was and telling the Valdes that they won't be going on the entire trail only to the top of the mountain and back down and then take them to see the sunset by Big Hill Lookout. They would end their night with the pies Renata picked out from Apple Hill on their way to the cabin.
The following day, they did exactly as they planned. Valentina and Juliana went with Guillermo and Renata while The parents went together in the other Jeep.
Juliana and her parents loved the views and especially the sunset from the lookout tower. Valentina got a lot fun pictures of their first family trip. What she hoped would be the first of many.
Their day came to end with movie night and a slice of pie with a side of ice cream and hot chocolate.
When Sunday arrived the family headed back home in the jeeps. They made a point to stop by Apple Hill. They stopped by their favorite farmers market, Boa Vista Orchards. Valentina went up to the bakery window with Juliana where they each ordered an apple turnover with a scoop of ice cream. They sat down to eat their goodies while the rest of the family looked around the market.
After they ate Juliana wanted to look around and see what goodies she could take home with her.
They were approached by one of the workers who also happened to be one of Valentina's childhood friends. "Oh my god, Yuri! It's been so long!" Valentina said as she gave the girl a tight hug, "look this is my girlfriend, Juliana. Juls this is Yuri, we used to go to school together down the hill." The three chatted for a bit and Yuri gave Juliana recommendations and answered a few questions related to the products being sold.
Once everyone had bought what they wanted they headed across the street to the pumpkin patch where Valentina took pictures of everyone and eventually asked Guillermo to take a picture of Juliana and herself at the cheesy Instagram looking window set up.
The eight of them headed to the Carvajal mansion where they eventually parted ways ending their first family trip.
Notes: The video I included is of the trail they went on with the jeeps. I go camping there with my family every year and we love going on the rubicon trail by foot. The boulders on the left hand side at 0:10 are where Juliana and Lupita sat near the beginning of the chapter.
