The Craziness of Little 500

Doug and I arrived in Orlando this morning at 5:30 a.m.  Doug slept most of the two flights home.  I was pleased with the two hours that I got.  We were excited that we were able to get our bags quickly, find a Lyft to Meg's and arrive home by 7:30.  My head hit the pillow at 7:35 a.m. and I slept for almost five hours.  Doug decided to stay awake as he wanted to get back on his normal sleeping routine as quick as possible.  

I noticed that while I was sleeping that Cameron called.  I was sad that I missed his call, but glad to hear that Doug was able to talk to him.  I thought that Cameron was calling to tell us more about the shooting that happened on Kirkwood last night.  He had texted me when we got on the plane about it and told me not to worry as he was out by the stadium at the time and that his friends that were at the bars fled without injury.  I had read this morning that nine people were shot in what started as a fight between two girls, but that no one was killed.

When I finally got ahold of Cameron this afternoon, I was shocked by the story that he had to share.  It wasn't about the shooting at all.  When Cora woke up this morning, there was a man sleeping on her couch that she and her roommates did not know.  He wouldn't wake up and they weren't sure what to do about it.  After some debate they called the building manager who had to pour water on the guy to get him to even respond to them.  It took some time, but the manager finally convinced him that it wasn't his friends' apartment that he was sleeping in and soon after helped him exit the apartment much to everyone's relief.  I was very happy to hear that.

In the end, I wasn't really surprised by Cameron's Little 5 experience.  That weekend had been out of control since I was in college, so I could imagine what it was like now.  Brett, Cal and Meg all experienced similar situations during their time at Indiana and I am sure that students will in the future.  It almost seems like a rite of passage for our family and now Cameron will have his own story to share.  Thankfully, none of us have been scarred by any of those memories.

Last Day in California

Doug and I spent our last day in California going to Francis Ford Coppola's Winery, exploring downtown Healdsburg and eating lunch at the famed Russian River Brewing Company.  Jim joined us for the last two and we were so glad to have those last few moments with him before we headed back to Florida.  Coppola's Winery was extremely fun to tour.  They had a swimming pool for guests, a bocce ball court, a museum dedicated to the family's movies, a restaurant and an area to taste wine.  Doug wasn't a fan of the wines, but I loved all of the movie memorabilia.  I was surprised that over half of the museum was dedicated to his daughter Sophia.  I didn't realize how many movies that she had actually directed.

Healdsburg was my favorite small city that we visited this week.  It reminded me a lot of Holland, Michigan with an area dedicated to artwork, a rose garden and a lot of nice touristy shops.  There were also multiple spots to taste wine or eat dinner along the square.  I found the perfect towel to commemorate our time in Sonoma County.  It had so many of the places that we had visited on it including Jack London's park and even Jim's new hometown, Guerneville.  While we were there, I loved finding out that the movie Scream was partially filmed in their downtown area.  I could envision the exacts scenes in my mind as we walked through the town.

Our last stop of the day was the Russian River Brewing Company.  Since we had arrived in Northern California, everyone had recommended the restaurant.  All three of us loved the atmosphere.  It was packed with beer tasters and had an outside area for corn hole, bonfires and small children to play.  Our lunch was very good.  The guys said that the beer was a little too watery, but neither minded as they enjoyed the experience so much.  

We parted ways with Jim at 3:30 so that we could make it to Oakland in time for our evening flight.  I was very sad to say goodbye but knew that we wouldn't wait another twenty-five years to see each other in person again.  Thankfully, we text and call often which makes the distance feel a lot closer.  

Korbel & Goat Rock Beach

Jim had planned an entire day for us with he and Tim in Guerneville.  I was very excited, but nervous as well.  I had been friends with Jim for over thirty-five years but had never met any of his boyfriends or now husband.  He was the one who introduced me to Doug, so I knew I had nothing to worry about, but I was anxious, nonetheless.  Thankfully, all went well and the four of us had a fantastic day together complete with a lot of stories, laughs and a few new shared memories.

We met at Korbel this morning for a tour of the champagne company.  It was very interesting as we learned the history of the Korbel family and how they came to live in California from Bohemia.  We also found out why they were allowed to be called champagne even though they were not located in France.  We were fascinated to find out that the 1960s show "Combat" was filmed at their winery.  I had never heard of it, but Doug and I knew who Vic Morrow was from his death on the set of the 1980s Twilight Zone movie.  We ended the tour with a glass of their champagne and some fun pictures as well.

Jim chose the deli at Korbel for lunch.  It had a unique way to order, but once we figured it out, we all enjoyed lunch on the patio.  It was cooler than normal, but overall, all not too bad.  The conversation revolved around our families at first but then quickly turned to Survivor.  This week's episode had a big twist, and we all had fun giving our opinions about it.  Jim and Tim favored players opposite from Doug and I, but we did all agreed on our least favorite Survivor, Emily.  After lunch we headed to Jim and Tim's in Guerneville for dessert.  Tim made the best cookies, and we had a lot of fun meeting the rest of the family - Donut and Willow.  I don't know if the two chihuahuas enjoyed it as much as we did, but it was nice to see their beloved pets.  We also really enjoyed getting a tour of their backyard.  They had almost a dozen fruit trees and even two redwoods on their property.  It was beautiful.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Goat Rock Beach.  It was about twenty minutes from their home, and we absolutely loved exploring the shoreline.  There were pebbles everywhere as well as remnants of a few jellyfish.  A hut had been built out of driftwood, and two surfers were out in the ocean.  It was a beautiful afternoon and Goat Rock Beach was filled with beach goers. It didn't feel crowded, however, as everyone was extremely friendly and we met several new dog "friends" as well.  On our way back to Guerneville, we stopped at Duncans Mills antique shopping area.  It looked like an old mining town, and I had a great time exploring the shops especially the vinyl record store where I finally bought The Associations' Greatest Hits.  

Tim made dinner tonight.  The chicken, salad and potatoes were delicious.  They had a surprise dessert for me, and I almost cried laughing when I saw it.  Jim and I had had an inside joke about caramel apples since we were juniors in college.  One night we were at my apartment drinking wine and making the delicious treat.  I was talking with my hands and kept flinging the apple around.  Jim envisioned it flying out of my hands and sticking to his head.  We laughed about it for hours, thinking about how funny it would have been if he had shown up to class with it still stuck there.  I don't know if anyone else found it as humorous as we did, but at least Tim and Doug could appreciate our long running joke about "caramel apple head."  The apples tonight were once again delicious and were also the perfect way to end our day with Jim and Tim. I have loved every day on our trip, but this one was definitely my favorite.  

Santa Cruz

Doug and I were up early enough this morning to see the sheep return to their pasture.  They were a lot more active this morning than yesterday afternoon and spent most of the time we were watching munching on the grass or scratching their backs on the branches of the bushes in their field.  I don't know why I found them so fascinating, but they definitely made our stay even better than we imagined.  I commemorated our stay with a new pair of sheep earrings that I found for sale while checking out of our room.  

Aunt Rosie had given us a list of things to do in Santa Cruz on our way back to Sonoma County which we really appreciated today.  First, we drove up the 17-mile drive that took us past Pebble Beach.  I had always felt bad that we didn't take Cameron and Meg on it when we were there seven years ago, but once I realized that the famed golf course was hard to see from the road, I felt a lot better about it.  It was awesome to see the tree that was on their logo still standing on its rock in the ocean, but overall, it wasn't as neat as I thought it would be.  While we were on the drive, we did get to see the seals on "seal rock" and the birds nesting on "bird rock" which I loved.  I was also surprised to see four other golf courses along the first half of the drive.  

We stopped in Monterey next to see the otters at Lover's Point.  It had been our second time there and I decided that it would be my last.  The otters are hard to spot out in the ocean, and the rock is hard to walk on especially with all of the ground squirrels in the area.  They were not afraid of humans, and I was scared that I was going to step on them as they kept running near our feet.  From there we went to Gayle's Bakery next.  Aunt Rosie had highly recommended it, and we were ready for breakfast.  The parking lot was a nightmare, but the food and deli style atmosphere were great.

Our last stop before heading north was Henry Cowell State Park.  We had been there on our last trip and wanted to compare their redwoods to what we saw in Muir Woods.  We were correct in remembering that they are a lot wider than the ones in the national park.  We found out today that was because they were roughly five hundred years old.  It was rainy and cold, but still very beautiful and both of us enjoyed the hike very much. 

Carmel & Mission Ranch

Doug and I left the Sulavers early this morning for our trip to Carmel.  We were glad that they were still home so that we could say goodbye before we left.  We decided to drive straight to downtown Carmel to enjoy all the city had to offer before we checked into Mission Ranch.  The weather was beautiful on our drive but once we arrived at the seacoast community, the skies opened up and the rain began to pour.  It didn't hinder anything that we were doing, but it did make the morning a little dreary and cool.  

Our first stop was the Carmel Bakery.  Maggie had suggested it and we loved the two pastries that we picked out for breakfast.  We then did a little bit of shopping where I found the perfect purple sweatshirt and Doug bought a Carmel hat.  The rain stopped soon after we finished shopping, so we decided to drive out to Point Lobos State Reserve to see the sealions.  We had not visited there on our last trip and were blown away by the views of the ocean that we had on the hiking trails.  The sealions were hard to see where they were perched on their rock, but we could hear them loud and clear.

Doug picked out a brewery to try next and while we were there, Mission Ranch called to let us know that our room was ready early.  I was very happy to hear that and we spent the rest of the day on Clint Eastwood's renovated sheep farm.  To say that we loved our day there was an understatement.  Our room was awesome complete with a working fireplace and back porch.  We had the best view of the sheep meadow and could even see the ocean from our windows.  The happy hour in their piano bar was fantastic with even better views all around.  We returned for dinner a few hours later and enjoyed a delicious dinner while watching the sheep being called in for the evening and listening to the "piano man."  All in all, Mission Ranch was wonderful and we ranked it as one of our favorite places to stay ever.