weekend recap

Home. After many hours of driving.

We did indeed spend our first night at a rest-stop. There were a few other overnight "nappers" already tucked in when we arrived. It went just fine.

Although I did indeed velcro the pepper spray to the little shelf directly above my pillow.

That turned out not to be so smart because then in addition to worrying about bad things happening that would require me to use the pepper spray, I also got to lose sleep worrying that the velcro would break loose, and the spray can would bonk me on the head, and then I'd fumble around half asleep and spray myself in the face while trying to figure out what just hit me.

(I once saw a sign that read, "Worry Is The Misuse Of Your Imagination." So true.)

Anyhow. The next morning we woke early and finished the drive to the home where the retreat was being held. 'Twas a humble abode, but I do mean that with much affection.


The place, and the property, were full of character and truly special. Once you walked in the front door you were greeted with a wood burning stove and these fabulous worn floorboards (very old house). Then you took a turn to the right and stepped into this...



Pretty great, eh?

Our schedule for the day...the usual.
Lots of sitting and walking ;-)



Here's the makeshift lunch I assembled out of what I had in the van....



(romaine, grapes, walnut gorgonzola bread, pretzel chips, hummus, tofu "egg" salad, cured olives)

Here's where everyone sat together for tea at the end of the day.


That's the view from the kitchen window. Now that I think of it, that whole wall, plus the adjoining wall...it was all windows. I think the owner described it as, "the hundred thousand dollar house with the million dollar view".


Rather then staying overnight on the host's property, we decided to put in a couple of hours of driving back towards home so that we'd have less time to drive today. This weekend was the Redwood Run, so there were tons of motorcycles traveling the same path as us. I was glad to chop the drive up into smaller segments. We stayed at Benbow RV Park. A little plush, but we had stayed there last summer and remembered loving it, especially because it was just a few minutes from the main drag in Garberville, which meant that we'd also be able to have breakfast at The Woodrose Cafe.

On the drive home we made a very impromptu stop at this little winery/distillery that grabbed our attention as we were whizzing by called Jaxon Keys.







Super cute. Their tasting room is a big house on hill. It has a porch full cushioned wicker furniture to sink into and gaze out at the vineyards and the valley. They offer tastings (the wine we tried was very good), but they also offered wine by the glass, plus they had a little corner "shop" with cheese, crackers, and spreads...so we just made ourselves a little afternoon snack on the deck.


Another fab run in the van :-)

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Now: Tony Awards just switched to the local news and I really need to go turn it off. Depressing. The flowers on the diningroom table are fading. There is a skein of yarn that arrived in the mail this weekend and it's sitting right next to the laptop---creative ideas of what to make with it abound. Seriously distracted by the week ahead and how full it looks. Wishing I could be more present in today instead. Tomorrow isn't even here yet.