Stranded Alone at a Cabin in the Woods

Well, hahahah! This post was originally supposed to be called “how to have a successful blogging retreat” but it wasn’t successful and we definitely didn’t get any blogging done. Nope, instead, Shanna & I got Stranded Alone at a Cabin in the Woods.

This post should also be called What to do if You Lose Power at Your Airbnb.

Luckily for us, I have a set packing list of items I always bring with me when I book a cabin. I had also asked Shanna to grab a few as well. Thank goodness we did cause if we haven’t, we would’ve been screwed.

Table of Contents

Stranded Alone at a Cabin in the Woods

I’d love to say this three-day trip started out well but it didn’t. Haha! From the get-go, I was late to pick up Shanna because I had to finish something up for work. Then it started POURING. Not PNW rain. Florida-style rain! It was awful and took us almost an hour to get to Tacoma because the roads were so bad.

Preparing for the Weekend in the Woods

The night before we had both packed and I remembered my standard cabin packing list. Always bring the following:

Flashlights
Portable Battery Changer
Extra Blankets in the car
First Aid Kit in the car
Food that doesn’t need to be cooked
A Meal Plan (buy supplies for breakfast, lunch, & dinner + snacks)

We stopped in Tacoma for lunch, food supplies, and gas. I’m so thankful we did because the drive to Packwood, WA was wild after that. We ended up taking Hwy 706 because apple maps said it would be the fastest route but then it ended up being an off-county road! There was a landslide, it was windy, and there was snow on the road. It was rough and, though could have been worse, still nerve-wracking.

The Cabin

You guys, the cabin was perfect.

Adorable furnishing, a hot tub, two bedrooms with super comfy beds, a pizza oven & large outdoor patio, and a lovely kitchen that was stocked with everything imaginable (including seasonings and marshmallows for the hot chocolate they left for us!).

I can’t tell you how much we liked this place.

When things went south

We stayed up late getting organized for the next day. We had a late dinner of homemade chili, watched the new Enola Holmes movie, and read in bed.

It rained all day but then, the wind picked up even more. It got louder and louder and we kept hearing cracks and loud bangs until suddenly at 12:30 am… the power went out. Thank goodness we had those flashlights!

Once the power went out, we didn’t have anything. No lights, hot water, or wifi. We also didn’t have cell service. We slept with ease knowing we at least had a landline, just in case we needed to call 911.

The next morning

In the morning, we put together a plan. We decided it would be smart for me to call my mom from the landline to let someone know what was happening. BUT, then I quickly realized that the landline was out too! This meant the phone lines were down as well. This was a red flag and we realized this was worse than we thought.

Luckily, we had donuts! So we didn’t need to make breakfast.

We headed into town in search of cell service, wifi, and coffee. We ended up spending 3 hours at The Mountain Goat, which is the most charming coffee shop! It was the best place to be because that’s where all the gossip was! We found out that 3 trees brought down the power and landlines and it was going to take a long time to fix because 200k other people within Washington State were experiencing power outages.

Calling it quits

After realizing the power wasn’t going to come back on and chatting with our Airbnb host… we decided to call it quits and go home. We were going to get any blogging done and we were in desperate need of a hot shower and a warm meal.

I’m really proud of us because it could have been a lot worse. There were people who lost their homes that day. Multiple houses had trees go right through them. There was also a woman who woke up to her jeep underneath a tree.

We were able to simply pack up and head out. So, we had a lot to be thankful for. Additionally, we gave ourselves a deadline. 1 pm was when we needed to make a decision, so we weren’t driving home in the dark.

It all worked out

Honestly, it worked out for the best. The cabin didn’t get electricity back til Monday and we would have been cold and miserable all night. Instead, we met up the next day and blogged at a coffee shop.

We didn’t get nearly as much done but, in fairness, it was an adventure and it all turned out all right.

And that’s it, you guys! An utterly insane weekend that could have been awful but turned out okay because we got smart. Everything could have been so much worse.