Had a lovely weekend being outside and getting out for hikes with friends. On Saturday Heather and I went to Muir Beach and hiked the Coastal Trail going past Pirates’s Cove then looping around and down through Green Gulch farm. It was a beautiful sunny day and even though we arrived at Muir Beach before 9:30, by the time we got to the Coastal Trail there were lots of people marveling at the beautiful weather. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many big groups on the trail. We even ran into my sister Nata and her family and dogs going for a hike! Later Nata and I both wondered if there were people from the LA area visiting to escape the fires and smoke. That definitely would have been on my list of things to do.
After the hike, I took a delicious nap to restore my energy then spent time getting the rest of the Christmas stuff put away. Nata and Kris stopped by and took the lights off the house, which I was very grateful for because it meant I did not need to go up and down the ladder. I organized my gratitude journals going back more than 20 years – it is great having them easily accessible so I can pick them up and look back at what was going on in my life years ago. Mom and I played Qwirkle in front of the fire, a nice way to end the day.
Sunday I was up early enough to see a beautiful sunrise on my way to meet Julie at Jack London State Park and hike from the North Sonoma Mountain Park back to Jack London. We passed a place in Glen Ellen with all kinds of old gas pumps and old service station memorabilia. I love finding spot like this! It was chilly to start with, though we soon warmed up with the very consistent uphill. It was a lovely hike, a new trail for both of us with lots shade and not many people on the trail – a nice change from Saturday. We saw deer that were so unconcerned about us being on the trail they barely paused to look up as we walked by. Obviously, it’s a very safe spot for them. In fact, we almost hit deer a few times driving over because they kept bounding out in front of the car on the road. The drive from Jack London to the North Sonoma Mountain Trailhead was beautiful – lots of windy tree-filled roads, which luckily we did not end up passing too many cars on. After the hike picked up sandwiches at the grocery store in Glen Ellen, Julie was the winner with the Jack London sandwich – turkey, bacon, avocado and sprouts. Oh, it was amazing! We were both starving after the hike and that definitely filled us up in many ways. I passed a free little library on my way home from the hike – always such a delight to find one unexpectedly!
I am so grateful to have been able to get out and enjoy this nice weather with friends. Especially knowing what is happening for all the folks in LA – the devastation and smoke – I can’t imagine what it must be like. I know it’s just a matter of luck that we’re not the ones dealing with that.
This morning’s walk was a special one with the full moon peeking out from the trees. At work today – it’s my second to last day at VCRC – Karina called me over and said that everybody had to stop work because they had a surprise lunch for me. Alicia, one of the promontora volunteers who is an amazing cook, had made pozole for lunch – it was delicious! She had both chicken and pork pozole and everyone happily ate and chatted away. They are such a wonderful group of people that I am really going to miss. I think they supported me as much as the other way around. And I hope that the short time I was there helped to keep things on a positive trajectory. I am excited about my adventures ahead, but I am sad to say goodbye to such a wonderful community.
