We're going to need more than five minutes

I hope you don't mind camping?

They left the next day in the afternoon. He watched her carry all kinds of things outside and load them into her car, but he was not allowed to help her to not ruin the surprise. Lastly, she let the dogs hop in the backseat – so wherever they were going for the weekend, it must be dog friendly, at least for Lola. Levi was too young and the drive would be too long for him, so they dropped him off at a friend of hers for the weekend.

She had been kind enough not to blindfold him, and he could barely contain his excitement when she steered her car north onto Route 101.

"Pleeeease, babe??", he was begging her like an impatient five-year old, "Where are we going?"

"You know I can't and won't tell you that, honey", she reached out and gently ran her hand over his head, she loved feeling his short cut afro curls underneath her fingertips. And she loved to 'mess' with his hair, even though there was barely anything to mess with, but it still annoyed him and she found it cute and funny.

He shook his head, pushed her hand away and pouted, but just very briefly, then he went back to smiling at her, he was just way too much looking forward to this surprise weekend that she had planned for them.

Whatever it was, the drive alone was more than worth it, taking them all along the Pacific coast, sporting a breathtaking sunset, and eventually right into Big Sur, one of the world's most scenic coastlines and a region abound with natural beauty, which was when he started to slowly get an idea where they were headed and what she was planning, and he couldn't be any more excited. By now it was dark and there was not much to see of the stunning scenery all around them that she knew very well from countless previous visits.

"Have you been before?", she asked.

"To Big Sur? No, never."

"I love it so much! It's one of my favorite places when I need to get away. I just went last summer with my nephew Bryce. This place was badly hit by the fires last year, but thankfully not all of it, and the rest is slowly recovering. I hope you don't mind camping?"

"Are you kidding me? I LOVE camping!! Oh my gosh, this is so exciting, baby, I love you so much!"

She had to laugh at his overenthusiastic reaction, he was even more excited than Lola in the back. "I love you too, babe! And I hope you'll enjoy the weekend."

When they reached the campsite, it turned out that they wouldn't be quite sleeping in a tent, but she had reserved a neat little cabin that was barely bigger than a tent, but it was solid, made from wood, better isolated, had a proper bed in it on top of which they could roll out their spacious couple's sleeping bag and – and this was the coolest part – a roof made out of plexiglass, allowing them to watch the stars in the night sky between the branches of the trees surrounding them from bed.

They could barely wait to lay down with this view and get some rest, especially Lana who had been driving for almost six hours, but they were hungry, and their little private fire pit was waiting to welcome them!

As Lola was exploring the area, somewhat lazily, but visibly relieved to be able to be out in nature and stretch her legs after the long drive, Jordane wanted to impress his girl by lighting the fire with a flint as he had once been taught in summer camp, eventually though she had to come to his rescue with a lighter if they ever wanted to eat tonight.

"Don't worry, baby", she said giving him a soft kiss, "this is a relaxing weekend, not an episode of 'Survivor'. Would you go get the cooler from the car? I brought some sausages and some veggies we can grill over the fire, and also some bread."

"If there aren't marshmallows in there too somewhere, don't even bother lighting that fire though", he replied, getting up to do as she had asked him.

She just looked up as if he had just delivered the most insulting of blows. "Well, hello?? Not just marshmallows, s'mores, obviously! What am I, an amateur?"