Landlubbers For a Week!
25 July 2010 | Wilsonia (near Sequoia & King's Canyon)
Sally
We're now back from a very relaxing week spent with Darlene up at The Kovar Cabin in Wilsonia. The skies were a beautiful blue the entire week and the temps were in the comfy high 70's - so much better than the yucky gray stuff we left behind in San Diego (and unfortunately came home to)! What happened to our wonderful San Diego weather while we were gone?!!
The little village of Wilsonia is so lovely - rustic cabins spaced out around beautiful meadows with giant sequoias, redwoods, and all sorts of other pine trees surrounding it all. The meadow behind Darlene's cabin had a wave of purple wild flowers running through it with fringes of wild, white azaleas that smelled fantastic. We enjoyed watching the local wildlife (chipmunks, squirrels, and lots of different birds) from the back deck while playing lots of rummy tiles (I should say while getting our tushies kicked by Darlene!) and catching up on some reading. Our last evening, we were treated to two bucks frolicking in the meadow - they were so beautiful and graceful looking. Of course, we had to name them both Chuck - you know, as in two buck Chuck!!!
Each day found us exploring the surrounding area - this picture is taken in front of the Sentinel Tree in the Sequoias. It's amazing how tall and regal these trees are - way taller than the Kauri trees in NZ! It was interesting to read about them in the little museum and then drive through the tunnel tree nearby. We are saddened to hear there is a fire now burning in the area - we hope it is quickly brought under control. Darlene loves swimming at Hume Lake and we enjoyed visiting there twice. The first time, Darlene rented a kayak and both she and Glen had fun paddling around the lake. The beach area at the lake is just perfect for lazing around and reading. When Darlene asked if we were able to relax there, we had to laugh and answer that if we were any more relaxed, we'd be comatose! On another day, we found a beautiful spot at Stoney Creek. There are natural pools formed into the huge boulders along the creek with crystal clear water running through it all. The water is run off from high in the mountains and was a little chilly, but Glen plunged in up to his neck. Darlene and I opted for wading, and even Penny enjoyed getting her tooties and tummy wet in the cool water.
The people of Wilsonia are all close friends and it was nice to meet quite a few of them. They all look out for each other and laughingly call their community "Wilsonia Place." It was fun to take daily walks around the area and Glen and I tried hard to de-thrown the local horseshoe champs, Will and Pam, but quickly found we need more practice. Good thing they just put in a horseshoe pit at our marina! We hope to get back up for a rematch before the end of the year (and before snow covers the stakes!).
Darlene is such an awesome hostess and, as always, fed us way too much yummy food - including two homemade peach cobblers (Glen's favorite!). We bought freshly picked peaches, plums, and tomatoes from the fruit stands in Dinuba both on the way up and back - amazing how much better they taste than the grocery store versions. So much for thinking we might lose a couple pounds!!! It was amazing how quickly the week flew by and before we knew it, it was time to leave. Darlene has a revolving door on the cabin and was looking forward to her next visitors (especially grandson Wyatt!) within the next few days. The cabin is so comfy and the area so gorgeous, we can see why she gets so many guests.
Back home on the boat, this week finds us trying to get more projects done. Glen is finishing up painting the cockpit as I am typing this, and I continue to go through all the cubbies and bilge holds to reorganize for life in the "real world" - ugh!!! It took an entire day just to go through all of our paperwork and get a file box set up with such mundane titles as "car insurance" and "tax info"! I still don't know which school or grade I will be teaching and am finding it increasingly difficult to not have anxiety attacks about it. Principals go back to work August 2nd, so hopefully I'll know something after that. My first "have to report" day is August 18th with kids starting the 23rd. Wherever it may be, I will be going back to work in a wonderful new wardrobe thanks to my sister, Gladys. She has been acting as my "personal shopper" and there was a big box waiting for me when we got home Saturday evening full of lots of cute capris and tops. Now I need to work on organizing our closet space! :)
We are still trying to clean out stuff from our storage room and are looking for a home for some of the stuff we had kept thinking we would be moving back into the house. If you could use a 29" Sony TV (not a flat screen), let us know - we'd love to give it to someone we know rather than donate it to a stranger. Give us a call 808-756-5510!