Trying to Get Back Into Things

Just because we're home doesn't mean I had to give up the sunsets and we had one that was on fire the other night!

Transition home has been a little much. Daddy-o got my cold by the end of the week, so we've both been dealing with rough nights where we can't sleep great because of congestion and he's still in the worst of it all. I've had a lot of catch up to do with work because I didn't actually get to any of the planning I was going to do while we were gone and still had 2 more weeks of science to plan, as well as getting everything set up with my class rosters for next semester. Add in the normal stuff to get our house running again and decorated for Christmas and it's been quite the week!

Day 38 & 39: Christmas Chiles

Peanut's good day yesterday may have been too much, or the eye of the storm, or something. Whatever it was, he woke up feeling pretty poor again. We made some breakfast and took care of our morning chores (filling water bottles with ice, which we do at any convenience store, getting ready for the day, using the bathroom. . . )and then started to drive.

This has definitely been a test the past few days. We've got to stay strong!

We let Peanut have the front seat, hoping to not trigger his motion sickness on top of whatever else is going on.

Made it to Santa Fe, land of the Chile Ristras. We'd decided to book a hotel as soon as we came into town and were so happy that we were able to get in right away. We thought Peanut could use a more comfortable place to hang out for a day while he hopefully recovered. So we left Peanut with the Food Network and Daddy-o and I went out for a date.

We walked into the historic section of Santa Fe. It's such a unique city.

Visited the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

It was beautiful inside.

And enjoyed all of the sculptures.

And the Christmas decorations--it's fun to see something so distinct from this particular place.

We got lunch at The Shed and had amazing tacos and enchiladas. It's in a cool old hacienda.

We were looking for an ornament and found these beautiful hand-crafted ornaments. This woman has been making sand art for 44 years and her designs are so intricate.

The Hilton Club Vacation Villas was the perfect place for a little recovery time. It was a great price for a one bedroom with a kitchen. 

We went to the hot tub, used the free laundry facilities, and played a few games of pool. After Peanut continued to randomly throw up through the day, we extended for another night and started reshaping the last few days of the trip. We were at the point that we just needed to be home as soon as we could get Peanut in the van again.

So, on the second day, the boys opted to stay at the hotel and watch TV (Daddy-o may have had a touch of what Peanut was suffering from because he was pretty low energy for a couple of days.) I ran to the grocery store first, to get us some food for the day.

And then, I went for a long walk and stopped by the big market, looking for Christmas gifts. Decided to get my mom a chile ristra and found a couple other small things. We didn't make it to some of the other historical places that I would have liked to visit, but we did get a taste of the southwest.

Best Place

Even with the forecast for so many storms, we got really lucky. Tuesday morning was drizzly here and there, but not sopping like we thought it might be, so we set out to do a couple shorter hikes near our rental home. The creek was raging, but the trail was dry enough.

Love these three goofs.

And the mushroom hunting began. I'll just put the warning out there right now that I took hundreds of mushroom pictures during this trip. So there might be a bit of a photo dump along the way.

While I didn't hike really far (probably made it 1/2 a mile in before I turned back to the car), we were all grateful that we weren't having to hike with our arms raised in solidarity for the loss of the pinkie, which was how we hiked in 2021, haha. But I do wonder if we can get back up to the redwoods without anyone injured next time. It would be nice.

While they continued down the trail another couple miles, I searched for mushrooms along the trail back to the car.

And found plenty to keep me happy.

This is my favorite hiking season in coastal CA.

And it worked really well for me to find mushrooms. Lot easier to spot them when you have to watch the ground carefully and walk slowly.

(But it was also nice to stop and look up once in a while because these trees are tall!)

Redwood forests are my favorite, for sure.

So many mushrooms. 

Once I made it back to the car (and took a couple pictures of the meadow by the parking lot--so pretty in the mist!), I drove the couple miles up the road to the tall tree parking lot where I met the rest of the fam (who had arrived quite a bit before me because once I wasn't with them, they picked up the pace apparently.) They were only mildly worried that I had somehow hurt myself and not made it back to the car. They should have known I was just taking pictures;).

We drove over to another trail that the ranger had recommended as being good even with all the rain, the Cal Barrel Rd Trailhead.

There, the male side of the family came up with a new game--follow the raindrops dripping from the treetops and try to catch them as they fall. It was actually surprisingly possible.

Tiny mushrooms growing on lichen.

More beautiful forest. I didn't go far on this trail because while mostly root free and easy to walk in, it was also uphill, which is fine, but the downhill coming back hurt my ankle a little, so I didn't want to have to do much of it. Everyone else went on and ended up doing a loop through the forest that they really liked. It's fun after all these years that we can still find new places to explore. 

And then, I got to rest my ankle with a book and a cup of tea. My throat and ears are still hurting a little, but the relaxation is pretty great.

 

Heading for Our Home Away From Home

We don't usually travel during the Christmas holidays, but thought we'd try something different this year. Since we didn't make it up to the redwoods earlier in the year, I booked our favorite Redwood Cottage and figured we could spend a few nights it our favorite place on earth. 

Of course, this was all before I broke my ankle, and Bean and I ended up with a nasty virus that by this time had caused ear infections in both of us, and some mild pink eye for her. I think that I might have reconsidered, but we were all looking forward to it and by the time we were sick, our cancellation window was past, so off we went. 

We also decided that in the future, traveling on Dec. 26th should be avoided if possible. When I planned this, I knew it wasn't the best idea, but I was trying to fit a trip in between Christmas and New Years' Eve, so that seemed like the best bet. But I think everyone agreed they'd prefer to be gone on New Years instead, so there you go.

What it all meant was that we got away a couple hours later than hoped for and forgot several (non-essential) items. Mama being sick is not good for vacation prep.

By the time we got to the Avenue of the Giants, where we usually make 2 or 3 stops to do short hikes on the way, it was already getting dark. We stopped the first chance we had and did a very short hike into the wet woods. I got to test out my ankle with my new boots and hiking poles, and decided that in daylight where I could see the path better, I was probably going to be able to do a little hiking. Yay!

Also found our first mushrooms. While visiting in the winter means fewer daylight hours and a higher chance of serious rain, it also means more fungi, so I was really looking forward to this trip!

Venetian Islands

When we woke up the next morning, there was a market a block from our apartment. It was a nice sight after the rough start to our morning. Peanut was still not feeling well, but didn't want to be left behind (and we didn't feel great about leaving him with no way to contact us if he needed to.) We eventually convinced him to come along with promises to carry him as much as needed. 

They have a lot of seafood, along with all of the fruits and veggies.

And then we wandered.

It is so fun to see all of the bridges and canals, everywhere you go.

Peanut and I had listened to the book, The Thief Lord, recently and it was fun to see the lions that come up in the book which is set in Venice.

Our first glimpse of the Basilica San Marco. We had plans to come back the next day to tour it.

It was pretty busy--Venice would be a great place to visit off season because the crowds can be a lot.

Peanut just wanted to lie down whenever he could.

He was not a happy camper. But what a location to take a rest.

We didn't ride a gondola, but got to see a lot of them.

The bridge of sighs.

We caught a vaporetto to take us to the islands of Murano and Burano. Unfortunately, we got on the wrong boat at first,

and got off at the wrong stop on our way to Burano. Don't let the smiles fool you--people were not very happy at this point. I had tried to warn everyone that getting lost in any new city, but especially Venice, was probably a given. They didn't really believe me.

Gelato went a long way to make up for it, though. Glad we found some as soon as we got off the ferry--and had to try some new flavors. I think some members of our family are hoping to try them all.

And then . . . the magic of Burano. This island is known for their lace making, and the colorful houses along the canals.

The island lives up to the hype. I fell in love with these islands when I first visited in 1999.

And another photo to record just how not happy this kid was all day. He's not feeling well, for sure, but also just doesn't handle things being different, so it's hard to know how much of this is illness and how much is just Peanut being Peanut.

Luckily, our other two kids were loving all of it.

We explored Burano for a awhile and then grabbed a ferry to Murano, the glass blowing island. Unfortunately, because of all the delays (All. Day. Long.), we didn't make it there in time to see any of the demonstrations--they were all closing up right as we arrived--but we snuck into a gift shop in time to buy a couple of ornaments and little trinkets.

And we had fun just exploring a little.

And then, we took another ferry to the mainland where we found a beach to swim at. 

The Adriatic Sea is so warm--it was the perfect place to take a dip before dinner. Daddy-o opted to go check out the menu for the restaurant on the beach, which we ended up eating at once we were done in the water. It was just what we needed after a somewhat stressful day.

When we came back to the Piazza San Marco that night, it was lit up and full of people, eating at the outdoor restaurants, listening to live music, and enjoying the beautiful weather. We made our way through the square slowly, tired from the long day, but also wanting to soak it all in.

And we had to stop for one more cup of gelato from the stand right by our apartment. It made for a good end to the day.