Guerneville, CA

Tim and I decided to do a quick overnight trip to Guerneville. It's in Sonoma County. We started by heading to the ocean and found an awesome beach with only a couple people. Turkey got in some swimmin' time. We stayed at a place called Dawn Ranch, a cute place that had freshly painted and updated cabins. It also has great food. In the morning, we ate at a popular local diner. By then, it was late enough to justify some tasting at Korbel. We hit up a farm stand for some "fresh off the tree" apples and couple of antique shops. I spotted a super cool desk right when I walked in and - given the reasonable price - bought it up! I think we are going to use as a dinning room table. It's the perfect time of year to see all the leaves changing not only one trees, but also in the vineyards. We live in an amazing state!

NCCC Reunion

I had a great visit with old friends a couple weeks ago. I flew into Atlanta to hang out with my bestest friend from my Corps Member AmeriCorps days. Heather and I were only together 10 months in that program, but our friendship will last a lifetime. Last time I saw her, she was prego with her first, who is now almost 7! Besides catching up a lot and getting to know the kiddos, we went to the Dekalb Farmers Market, which is really an international market. It was awesome! We drove up to Chattanooga to visit another NCCC buddy. Rudy works for a foundation, but in her free time she is a blacksmith! Here are some photos from the trip.

Rudy doing her thing.

Heather and Rude making an attempt at using cardboard to slide down the Cardboard Hill (not it's official name, I just made that up).

Our visit to "The Junk Man." He's got A LOT of shit and I would be in troub-le if I lived there.

We took a very scary tram to the top of the mountain and road bikes down.

And ate delicious breakfast.

Rudy's place is crafty. She makes cool stuff, such at these towel rack/hands!

We visited one of the many studios in the area. This one was a glassblowing studio.

Another handmade item from Rude. Genius: using leather belts to make woven seats.

Painter cans turned plant holders.

A hand-crafted fence with pockets for herbs.

Some of the many dead fish we saw at the market. I didn't realize I couldn't take pictures until after our visit to the fish section!

I realized I didn't take any photos of me and Heather together and this makes me sad. I also regret not getting at least one photo of her beautiful family and adorable children. However, the trip reminded me of the important people in my life that bring me happiness.