Vacation
We've had a difficult few years. We have adult children who have dealt with very adult problems, like mental illness, addiction and an eating disorder. It's been a hard few years, particularly with a girl dealing with a heroin addiction.
My husband and I went on a vacation in 2016 to San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma and Lake Tahoe. It was a wonderful trip. Since then, we hadn't gone anywhere. For my 50th birthday, my husband got me airline tickets. I didn't have time to use them during 2017 but finally made some time for 2018 because, why the fuck not? I don't take a lot of time off from work and have so many hours of vacation time that it's ridiculous.
In August of this year, the husband and I went to Chicago with the daughter and her boyfriend. it was a good trip and we did all the touristy things around the city. I've been to Chicago nearly every year of my life when I was younger. The step-monster (yes, for stepmother, b/c monster is more accurate.) had relatives there so we used to drive up to visit often.
The other trip was in September with my best friend and one of my twin sons. We went to Napa, Sonoma and Lake Tahoe. My son has been twice, but he was young. This time, he could drink wine, which made it a much better trip. Flying in to Sacramento, we flew over Lake Tahoe. It's quite a sight to see it from the sky.
The wineries were beautiful, as usual. Going when the grapes are on the vines is always a great time to go. We enjoyed eating at amazing restaurants and drinking fabulous wine. However, it's what happened in Tahoe that was the best part of the trip.
We went on a bike ride one day and had trouble finding the paths that would get us to the lake. We found what we thought was one path and headed on down hoping to get a glimpse of the lake. We got to the end of the trail and there was a parking lot with a restaurant/bar and some cabins to the left of it. As we rode up, a maintenance man drove up on a golf cart yelling. He was yelling at a mama bear and her two cubs who were trying to get into an open trash bin. My son and I rode right up to the golf cart behind the man and I fumbled for my phone while asking the guy to stop yelling so I could get a picture. He started throwing rocks at the trash bins to make loud noises. The cubs were trying to see over the wall to the bins while the mama bear was on her hind legs about to reach in. Oh, my friend had high-tailed it to the other side of the road as far away as she could get from the bears. :D
With all the noise going on, the bears started to leave. I got my camera working just in time to get a short video of them heading off into the woods.
On our last night in Tahoe, after dinner, three coyotes crossed the street in front of our car. The bears and the coyotes were my favorite part of the trip. Something so simple as seeing wildlife after visiting some beautiful, famous wineries was really profound for some reason. I found I spoke more about the wildlife in Tahoe than anything else on the trip.
When we got home, my hummingbird feeder was empty. I'd tried to attract hummingbirds all summer to no avail. The sugar water finally went bad and I changed it before we left for California. There wasn't a drop left when we got back a week later! I changed the water again and saw three hummingbirds taking advantage of the bright red sugar water. They are so pretty, fast and small. They hang out in our neighbors tree and fly over to the feeder to eat.
It's odd to me that all the critters are what's on my mind. Next time in Tahoe, I want to drive around the neighborhoods at night in hopes of seeing more wildlife. Next vacation is with the hubby. Still haven't been to Europe but...
My husband and I went on a vacation in 2016 to San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma and Lake Tahoe. It was a wonderful trip. Since then, we hadn't gone anywhere. For my 50th birthday, my husband got me airline tickets. I didn't have time to use them during 2017 but finally made some time for 2018 because, why the fuck not? I don't take a lot of time off from work and have so many hours of vacation time that it's ridiculous.
In August of this year, the husband and I went to Chicago with the daughter and her boyfriend. it was a good trip and we did all the touristy things around the city. I've been to Chicago nearly every year of my life when I was younger. The step-monster (yes, for stepmother, b/c monster is more accurate.) had relatives there so we used to drive up to visit often.
The other trip was in September with my best friend and one of my twin sons. We went to Napa, Sonoma and Lake Tahoe. My son has been twice, but he was young. This time, he could drink wine, which made it a much better trip. Flying in to Sacramento, we flew over Lake Tahoe. It's quite a sight to see it from the sky.
The wineries were beautiful, as usual. Going when the grapes are on the vines is always a great time to go. We enjoyed eating at amazing restaurants and drinking fabulous wine. However, it's what happened in Tahoe that was the best part of the trip.
We went on a bike ride one day and had trouble finding the paths that would get us to the lake. We found what we thought was one path and headed on down hoping to get a glimpse of the lake. We got to the end of the trail and there was a parking lot with a restaurant/bar and some cabins to the left of it. As we rode up, a maintenance man drove up on a golf cart yelling. He was yelling at a mama bear and her two cubs who were trying to get into an open trash bin. My son and I rode right up to the golf cart behind the man and I fumbled for my phone while asking the guy to stop yelling so I could get a picture. He started throwing rocks at the trash bins to make loud noises. The cubs were trying to see over the wall to the bins while the mama bear was on her hind legs about to reach in. Oh, my friend had high-tailed it to the other side of the road as far away as she could get from the bears. :D
With all the noise going on, the bears started to leave. I got my camera working just in time to get a short video of them heading off into the woods.
On our last night in Tahoe, after dinner, three coyotes crossed the street in front of our car. The bears and the coyotes were my favorite part of the trip. Something so simple as seeing wildlife after visiting some beautiful, famous wineries was really profound for some reason. I found I spoke more about the wildlife in Tahoe than anything else on the trip.
When we got home, my hummingbird feeder was empty. I'd tried to attract hummingbirds all summer to no avail. The sugar water finally went bad and I changed it before we left for California. There wasn't a drop left when we got back a week later! I changed the water again and saw three hummingbirds taking advantage of the bright red sugar water. They are so pretty, fast and small. They hang out in our neighbors tree and fly over to the feeder to eat.
It's odd to me that all the critters are what's on my mind. Next time in Tahoe, I want to drive around the neighborhoods at night in hopes of seeing more wildlife. Next vacation is with the hubby. Still haven't been to Europe but...
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