Sebastopol CA

I was in Sebastopol CA for a few days visiting Joan and Jane.

Many years ago, I worked for Joan at a wonderful store in LA called Sadie. This blog doesn't provide enough space for me to express all the memories and experiences I had while working there. Suffice to say, we have been friends for about twenty years or so, and well, those types of bonds don't happen without some powerful stuff at play. These ladies came along at the perfect time in my LA story, and I will forever be in their debt for showing that girl what it meant to be an independent and conscious woman in this world. Joan and Jane now live in Sebastopol. A sweet little city in Northern CA. Tom Waits lives there too. I didn't see him, while I was there - but I looked! I had such a wonderful and relaxing visit. J&J toured me around to some beautiful places, and we had wonderful meals, nice walks, and great conversation. There were several highlights - but my favorite night was when we went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D at the local theater, and had late night bologna sandwiches huddled around the kitchen table after the movie. Sylvia, Joans Mom, who recently passed, would fix the best bologna sandwiches. I felt she was there with us that night. Good times! 

The drive to CA, and back, was beautiful through the Red Woods. It rained like mad, but I was able to get a couple of shots. I will have to go back someday when I can get out and hike a bit. We live in an amazingly beautiful country.

The drive along the coast was gorgeous. Big stormy waves. Lovely!

I stopped at one point to stretch my legs, and happened upon this little river. I drowned a few wishes in it. I would tell you what they were, but then they wouldn't come true, now would they?! I will let you know if they transpire.

Portland to Eureka! (eureka doesn't sound right without the "!")

I dropped Lucy off this morning for her sleep over with Mark and his pack. 

Mark is a trainer with Leader of the Pack. He is also head master of the boarding school she will be attending while I'm in Europe. I was a little worried at first because, other than a day or two per week at day care, we don't really hang with other dogs much. I hope she is having a good time and minding her manners.

Here is a picture of Lucy's new friend. Her name is Lucy too. Lucy Sherwood. 

I cried a little. I miss her. We' haven't been apart before. I hope she is ok. 

After a quick breakfast and fuel up in Salem, I was ready hit the road for the long haul. I wasn't sure where I would stop. I just figured I would go until I got tired. I plugged in the ipod, put it on shuffle. Shuffle is great. It makes me realize just how schizophrenic my musical taste is. I did not know there were so many sheep farms in Oregon! Lots of sheep, and new little baby lambs. Everything was super green and beautiful. That's one good thing about our gray skies, the green totally pops out. I love that. I was going to take pictures, but the battery in my camera died. So all I have are some grainy cell phone pics. The Red Wood forest was amazing. I took these photos from the car because it was raining the whole drive. I hope the drive back will be nicer. I noticed a couple of places I want to revisit on the way home.

I didn't really remember how close I was to the ocean. It kinda snuck up on me. Lots of waves. Nice and stormy!

Black sand. This is NOT a Southern California beach! NoCal baby!!

I got tired and hungry, so I stopped in Eureka! My friend, Josh had mentioned this Victorian B&B. After driving around a bit, I found it. The room is nice, and they gave me a price cut for coming during the week.

I had a hot bath, a tasty 5 course meal, and a glass of wine. I should sleep well tonight!

Fluff and Guitars

I took Lucy to the groomers to get all prettied up after our trip to the beach. They gave me the "you've been where?" look. I guess matted hair from sand and sea isn't so easy to brush out. I'm just glad they do what they do. Lucy now has a soft and fluffy coat, and isn't stinky anymore. Well worth it in my book! 

I don't usually like the fluffy look, but Lucy's hair will go back to it's normal shaggy look in a couple of days. 

I spent most of the day working for my first official bookkeeping client. I think I'm going to like working for myself. I will try and make a go of it for realz when I get back from Europe. 

I met up with my guitar playin' buddies and Jeff's house. We always have a good time! I will miss this, for sure! For a newbie like me, I feel pretty blessed to be a part of this group. These folks know what they're doing, and I'm getting better, I think, at plucking along with them. 

From left to right: Tracy, Mr. Washburn (my guitar), David, and Jeff. They usually pick out a song, and I practice picking out the chords and following along. These three also write original music, that is really good! Some day I hope to be able to do that!

Tracy has a super sweet Martin guitar that I covet.. I know, I know.. thou shalt not covet your neighbors... guitar.  :)

Last day at the Russell Wood cabin

Today is our last day in Arch Cape, OR. After a quick breakfast, the Luce and I went for our usual morning walk on the beach. Not many folks, or canines, on the beach this morning. Maybe it was too early. Today is the start of Spring Break for some, and I guess they are sleeping in. I'm sort of glad we are leaving here today. I have a feeling the beach will be busy this week. I noticed Lucy doing a bit of tide pool spelunking..

This is what she found

Fish! Poor thing. We carried on, leaving it behind for some seagull to have for breakfast. I would periodically say, "Lucy! Fish!" and she would start looking frantically. It was funny.

So, today is the first day of the rest of my live. As they say. I have no job to go to, and only a few "responsibilities" on my calendar until I leave for my European Tour 2010. With todays view of the ocean, and beyond, I am feeling eternally grateful.

Grateful to have been blessed with a wonderful Mother Earth, but mostly to have been blessed with a wonderful human Mother, without whom this time in my life, literally, would not be possible. Possible... Possibility, that is what I'm filled with this morning. Not sure what's out there for me on this next leg, but I can't wait to find out.

Waves.

It's been raining most of the morning. So, Lucy and I have been reading, and napping by the fire. I'll let you guess which one was doing all the napping. About 5:30 pm, the sun made a brief showing and we went for a walk. The tide was high (insert Blondie song here), so the waves were really close to shore. Here's some photos of what we saw.

I took a moment to pick up a rock, hold it tight while making a few wishes, then let them fly as I threw it back to the sea. 

This Mornings Dilemma

Great morning at the cabin. Yep, still cloudy, but not cold. After a walk on the beach, and meeting up with some other folks, and canines, Lucy and I headed in for breakfast. Eggs, toast, Frois du Conard pate, Goat cheese brie, grapes, and coffee. YUM! The dilemma, building the perfect taste combination. 

First I tried the frois, then the goat cheese spread on the toast by themselves. It was ok. Then I tried the frois, goat cheese, topped with egg. Good, but given the strong flavor of the goat cheese, I lost the frois flavor. Next I tried the goat cheese, frois, egg combination. Delicious! The proper ratio yielded each flavor perfectly. The grapes were tasty too. Just for kicks, I gave one to the Luce. She thought is was a tiny ball, and played with it as such until it "broke".  

The view from under the table:

Lucy: Begging?! Moi?! Never!! I would, however, like to suggest a small tasting of that frois stuff you unwrapped earlier.

Me: Luuuccccyyy (in my best Ricky Ricardo accent)

Yes, I relented. 

Lucy's Favorite Get Away (Mine too!)

Lucy and I arrived at the Rustle Wood cabin in Arch Cape, Oregon today. When we left Portland, only about an hour and a half away from Arch Cape, it was sunny and 67 degrees according to the Subaru. It was a lovely drive west and I felt the stress leave my body in mile increments as we approached the Oregon coast. Lucy, however, does not like to ride in the car, and hunkered down in the back, only getting up to smell the air once in a while. Poor girl. I hope she grows out of the car sickness thing - because I really like road trips. Anyway, as we rounded the corner onto the 101 Hwy, the clouds ascended and the temperature, again, according to the Subaru, to dropped to 55 degrees. Bummer, huh? Good thing I like a dark and stormy ocean. We had time for a quick walk on the beach and down to the creek before it started raining. 

The last time we were here, it was for my birthday in October. Lucy was 7 months old. I'm not going to mention how many months old I was... It was only about 4 or 5 months ago, but I didn't know if Lucy would remember this place or not. Low and behold, as soon as we got out of the car - she did a quick sniff and was off to the path that led to the beach. Smart girl!

It was high tide, so we had to walk over a bunch of rocks to get down to the beach. There used to be a path that led you down to the sand. I guess the winter of 2009 took it's toll on Arch Cape. The beach, and the creek at the end of the beach look really different. Queen Vic (named after a famous profile pic of one of my favorite women of all time Queen Victoria) however had not changed a bit. 

After pausing to say hello to Queen Vic, Lucy and I were off to explore. Here she is conquering the "big stick".

We had a great walk, saw some fishermen, they weren't having any luck today, unfortunately. Lucy barked at the waves and ran around in the sea foam. Good times. I love it here. 

Lucy's friends

Today was doggie day care day. As you can see she has lots of friends. She will get to see them some while she is at Boarding School. Mark, the trainer, and head master, works at Urban Fauna sometimes and will make sure she gets to see her buddies every now and then. She loves Shane (he's the human). 

The part Lucy does not like however, is the ride home. I'm pretty sure she would give me " the bird " if her paws could manage it.

More on Lucy's fav's to come. 

Visiting some of Lucy's favorite haunts

In preparation for my trip to Europe, less than a month away (yikes!), Lucy and I are going to some of our favorite places in our home base of Portland Oregon. Lucy is my 10 month old Golden Doodle (silly name, I know, I know..) and she will be heading off to Boarding School while I'm away. So this week will be about her favorite things to do, and places she likes to go. 


Today, we visited the park that stretches through the whole of downtown Portland, and the NW Waterfront park.

We walk this part of the Park Block at least 3 times a week. There are always dogs, and people to chat with. Not to mention the basketball players, whom Lucy is determined to play with.

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom. It felt really nice to walk underneath the tunnel of trees, with petals falling down on us. When the wind would blow, Lucy would chase the petals. It was cute.