I Like #293

 I missed last week because my mom and I were in the middle of a trip to Empty Spools Seminars out in Asilomar California.  She was teachin ga five-day workshop out there (it was very exciting!!) and I went with her.  I took a class from Katie Pasquini Masopust which was great.  We love Asilomar, it's just a gorgeous gorgeous place.  It feels like camp for grownups.  We actually had great weather until the very last day when we got caught in all the storms and flooding and power outages.  We had some stressful driving getting off the Monterey peninsula.  All the power was out so all the stop lights were out, then one of the roads on our route was closed due to flooding so we had to backtrack and re-route, and then even  Highway 101 was flooded and we barely got through (very slowly in a giant line of cars).  We were lucky we weren't going north, quite a few more roads were flooded there, and of course many many people had severe damage from the storms and flooding.  

The road trip was quite long- three days each way, but I enjoy mom's company and we listened to some audiobooks and lots of podcasts.

Blue stayed at home with a house sitter and I took Spooky to stay with my dad.  He got to spend the week playing with Quark, and apparently had a grand time (and taught Quark some naughty behaviors too evidently).

On the way out, mom and I stopped at Petrified Forest National Park for a couple of short hikes to break up the second day of driving.  I hadn't been there since the mid 80s, so it was great to see it.  Such a beautiful and stark landscape, and the giant petrified logs are amazing.  So many gorgeous colors.

We had been a little worried about the weather going out as there had been lots of storms, but our primary area of concern (around Flagstaff) was fine,  lots of snow on the mountain and piled up on the side of the road but the roads were all clear.

On the third day of driving, we stopped at Cesar Chavez National Monument which is dedicated to highlighting the work of Cesar Chavez (and others) who formed the first agricultural union and worked tirelessly to improve the abysmal working conditions for farm laborers.  We were there very early, before they opened, so we mostly just strolled around the gardens (which are beautiful) and read the outside signs.  But just before we left an NPS employee arrived and kindly opened the memorial garden for us (where Cesar Chavez and his wife are buried), answered lots of our questions, and let us into the visitor center where we were able to stamp our National Park Books.  It was a beautiful stop.

We finally got to Asilomar, and had a lovely five days at the workshop.  At some point I'll do a post on the workshop itself, but every morning while there Mom and I went out for a walk along the gorgeously rugged coast and sometimes went tide-pooling.  We got caught in drenching rainstorm one morning but otherwise the weather was perfect until the last day.

Starfish and anemone!

On the second day of driving home, we stopped just outside of Flagstaff at Walnut Canyon National Monument to have a break and a hike.  It's so close to Flagstaff, but I'd never heard of it before!  The canyon was really beautiful, especially covered in snow.  The monument preserves a wonderful series of cliff dwellings, inhabited by ancestors of the Hopi people c. 1100 AD.  We hiked the Island trail and it was a beautiful break.  Well worth a stop.

After getting back to my parents' house, Spooky was very happy to see me and jumped right in the car.  I think he didn't want to be left again even though it's really fun to visit my parents.  He didn't seem to understand that we first had to unload all the stuff from the workshop before he could get in the car.

And now we're back home, reunited with Blue and running around like a crazy person trying to get caught back up at work.

It was definitely a good trip and a good mental break for me.  I love Asilomar.  Click over to LeeAnna's for more things to like!