This past weekend Grace and I took Willie on his first getaway with us! As you can see from the photo above, Lambchop of course had to come too. (Read my Meet Willie post to learn about his baby Lammy, haha!)
This weekend was really special in a lot of ways. It's a first and a last: first road trip with Willie, and last weekend getaway before leaving on our month-long road trip to Alaska. It was also our first getaway since Casper died. The weekend felt full-circle in many senses; to me this sweet time together was our redemption song after the heartbreak we experienced the last time we took a trip. Summer is normally my favorite season, but this one has been marked by loss and has just been a difficult season for many reasons. But summer is almost over. And I have seen time and time again that joy comes in the morning.
The setting for this lovely weekend away was a little town called Corralitos, California. It is in the mountains slightly inland from Santa Cruz, which is just south of San Francisco. We rented a cabin made of river rocks that was nestled in a grove of Redwood trees. It came with its own heated soaking tub and wide front porch overlooking the mountains. The interior was small and cozy but had all the amenities. I would recommend it in a heartbeat (linked above). This was also our first experience using the website GlampingHub, and we liked it! It honestly didn't feel different from renting an Airbnb. A lot of the listings on GlampingHub fall more on the camping side of things, but this one was not. Given that we had electricity, TV, running water, and a roof over our heads, I wouldn't really call this glamping--it was more of a vacation rental. Which was totally fine with us :)
Our porch view
We had originally planned to venture into Santa Cruz, check out the beach, and do some sightseeing during the weekend. But once we got to our destination, we just didn't want to leave. The road coming in was navigable but a little bumpy, and we decided it would be a lot more relaxing to stay at the cabin for the whole weekend. I'm so glad we did.
We played about 15 games of Scrabble, napped, enjoyed the soaking tub, ate well, and talked and dreamed about our upcoming Alaska road trip. Over fresh caprese salads and local peaches one afternoon, we brainstormed packing lists and planned our last to-do items before the trip.
As much as it pains me to say it, Grace insisted that I include in this blog post that she was the overall Scrabble champion of the weekend.
Homemade French toast on the porch
Afternoon naps enjoyed by all
A little stone pathway led down from the house to a wooden soaking tub overlooking the mountains
This might seem like just a pretty picture, but there's a story behind it. One of my best friends, Caroline, gave me a beautiful bottle of rosé for my birthday this year. I brought the bottle with me on our Joshua Tree getaway, but I never got a chance to drink it because Casper died that day. Bringing the bottle with me to the redwoods and sipping it in such a beautiful setting, with Willie waiting for us in the house, was another full-circle moment.
Another really nice thing about the cabin was that it had a piano! Grace has an amazing ear for music and can pick out most tunes on piano or guitar. Some of my favorite memories from the weekend are me cooking dinner while Grace played us music (she brought her guitar, too).
For food, I brought a big cooler of stuff and cooked most of our meals. The cabin had an adorable, old fashioned gas stove. The first night, we decided to order in pizza from Big J's in Corralitos, which amazingly delivered up the tiny mountain road to the cabin. We LOVED it and would highly recommend it. On the way into town on Friday, we also stopped at the Corralitos Market and Sausage Company, where we picked up some fresh produce, seafood, and locally-made ice cream.
We loved this getaway. While we didn't "do" much, just getting away from it all was heavenly. Also, the much cooler temperatures in the mountains were so lovely compared with the heat waves that have been plaguing LA. On Sunday morning I woke up to walk Willie, and we were literally walking through a cloud. Even at 8 or 9am, fog shrouded the cabin and surrounding trees, making it so cozy and atmospheric.
Thanks for reading! One last photo--Willie's request.
