HONEYMOON - Day 2, Planning & Shopping

After a long, comfortable sleep in our king-sized bed we joined our host, Carol, and a lovely young couple (Brian and Neve) from Ireland for a 9 AM breakfast of eggs with spinach, sausage, fruit, toast, tomatoes with feta, coffee, juice, and a sweet danish. A delicious first breakfast at this adorable B&B. We talked of Brian & Neve's trip into Yosemite the day before and what they experienced. They gave us some good insight on parking, wait times, what they saw... and before they left the B&B that day, they even gave us their Yosemite parking voucher so we could use it for the rest of the week. How nice!

We spent a few hours after breakfast looking at maps and searching the world wide web to plan our week, making sure we could hit all the places we definitely want to see, and figuring out which things we need to buy to make some of the more strenuous hikes in Yosemite National Park.

We ended up deciding to get up super early tomorrow morning to start our Yosemite adventures... so today, we hit the town of Coarsegold and stopped at several little shops (including one named Rocks, Gems, and Junk... yes, those kinds of shops). 

We spent some time talking with the gent who owns After Wine Designs, and we might have purchased a deck chair and table set made out of wine barrels if we had the extra cash (or a deck on which to put said chairs and table!). We stopped for an iced coffee at Zanders and admired the necklaces made from Scrabble pieces. We followed a sign that said "Point of Historical Interest" and stumbled upon Fresno Flats where we took a self-guided tour.

Wanting to take a rest from the 90 degree heat, we sought out Idle Hour Winery and spent just under an hour tasting 5 of their local wines, which Joseph (the one employee) poured out for us. We met and talked with Anna (the owner) and learned a little bit of their wine-making process from her.

 She also owns the Queens Inn, which has a wine bar & beer garden and features live music on Friday nights... so, I think we have our Friday evening plans in place.

We ended the day celebrating my husband's 30th birthday with a luxurious dinner at The Narrow Gauge. A bottle of wine, a course of fondue, and two delicious entrees later (he got the "Sportsman's Special" of antelope, elk, and wild boar chops), we fell into our beds after a wonderful second day.

HONEYMOON - Day 1, Traveling (Part I)

We've embarked on our honeymoon. A whole week together, just my husband & me. On the opposite coast from our beautiful daughter (we love you even from 2700 miles away!) and headed toward some beautiful national parks.

After precious few hours of sleep, we arrived at BWI at 5:30 AM. We parked our Nissan Sentra in the Econopark lot and took a shuttle (with the happiest shuttle driver ever) to the terminal, where we checked one bag, got some breakfast sandwiches, and boarded the plane. Our seats were 39B (middle) and 39C (aisle). I love my husband; he's taller than me; so I took the middle seat. I love my husband so much that I didn't even ask him to switch with me when one of the largest gentlemen I'd ever seen told us he had 39A... the window seat (seat - singular - being a relative term). I got to love my husband even more as I pressed ever closer to him each passing hour of the 4 hour and 2 minute flight, while my window seat neighbor slowly oozed over into my personal space.

Somehow the time passed quickly and painlessly enough and we de-planed in Salt Lake City for a short layover before boarding the smallest plane I've ever been on to make the quick hop over to Fresno.

An hour later, our 3 bags and the 2 of us were driving up 41N toward Oakhurst, CA in our 2012 Spider. Yes, we did feel pretty cool... even despite the blazing hot mid-day sun.


We arrived at Oak Cottage Bed & Breakfast. We set ourselves up in the Rose Room. We took a quick dip in the pool. And then we went out for a drive to explore the area. 

We ended up at El Cid, at the recommendation of Carol - our B&B hostess - and ate our fill of some delicious Mexican food while sitting at a table with a view that overlooked the mountains. Stuffed and satisfied and sleepy, we headed back to the B&B, cuddled up to a movie and drifted off to sleep.

HONEYMOON FORECAST

Not a bad week to look forward to... thanks, Sunny California.

TodayAug 7	Mon 8	Tue 9	Wed 10	Thu 11	Fri 12	Sat 13

Sunny	Sunny	Sunny	Sunny	Sunny	Mostly Sunny	Sunny
92°F High	93°	93°	93°	93°	93°	94°
60° Low	60°	61°	61°	62°	63°	63°

I DON'T DO MUCH FOR A LIVING

A funny quote from a friend's weekly newsletter:

I don’t do much for a living, but it sure takes all day.

I can totally identify! More and more, I long for a job where I can use my mind and my muscles (or what's left of them after sitting at a desk for almost 10 years). I want to be able to see what I've accomplished at the end of the day. I want to get my hands dirty. I want to go to bed happily exhausted, instead of sluggishly restless.

THE PASSING OF A PAIR

Over the past several months, my maternal grandmother has been slowly winding down to the end of her life - and last night, she died in her sleep (hopefully, finally at peace). She had lived 91 long years. And although I knew it was coming, expecting it even... it still made me cry when I heard the news. I was glad that my grandma wasn't suffering any longer - and she had been ready to go for quite some time. I was sad for my mama - even though she was also prepared for this moment, I can imagine it's still hard for her to lose her own mother. I was also very happy that my daughter got to meet her great-grandmother before she left this world; and that my husband spent some time with her, too (grandma loved them both - and told me so several times).

You know "those strange and wonderful things" that happen sometimes surrounding events like new life and death... one of those things happened this time. And I just love stories like this. An older cousin of mine - who also happened to be my grandmother's godson - was diagnosed with aggressive cancer not too long ago and he also died last night, just a few hours before my grandma. When my aunt found out about that, she called my mom and told her. My mom, although sad for this loss of life, said "Wouldn't it be nice if he could come visit mom tonight and tell her it's okay, not to be afraid, and that she should go with him? They always had a special bond as godson and godmother." My aunt said she was thinking the same thing. And I suppose that's what happened... he died around 10:30 PM and just about 3 hours later, my grandma went, too.

I like to think of them - their souls - drifting off to some wonderful place together. And smiling.

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DESIGNED FOR PEOPLE, NOT STUFF

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