Back to Sonoma County California for a special Birthday Surprise! 🎉🎂😘
- Rhonda Tell Me Your Story
- Apr 6, 2023
- 7 min read
There she is..... the birthday girl!! I surprised her a week early. She had no clue.
The first morning I was in town, I got up at 5 am and snuck into my old gym to workout. 💪 They charge $15 for a day pass so during my time, I saved myself $90. I got to see a bunch of my old friends and enjoyed the sauna and hot tub too.
I was able to have lunch with this handsome guy. My brother James has been back at work for two months now. Last year he spent 5 months in the hospital but now he's doing great. I was super happy to spend time with him. Plus he bought my meal. That's love!❤️
This is Bud, Sharon's dog. Sharon is my extra mom and I stayed with her during my visit.
Sharon was nice enough to loan me a car to drive. So much fun!
I had two visits with Heidi. We even went to see a movie. We saw 'Everything everywhere all at once'. We both enjoyed it.
my airplane fix. This is my friend Scotty's garage full of remote control planes.
Here's where I got my airplane fix. My friend Scotty has a garage full of radio controlled planes. So cool!
Everything was green and there were so many flowers blooming. It made me happy on my walks. Some days I walked almost 10 miles.
I went to Redwood Cafe https://redwoodcafecotati.com/ and had coffee with my friend Michelle. For more about Michelle read this: https://www.tellrhondayourstory.com/post/we-are-still-alive
Sharon made me one of favorite meals. Pasta with pesto and yummy salad . It's fabulous being taking care of so well.💕❤️
I spent a fair amount of time here at the gas station.....price was $4.89
Mom and I did some errands together. Look they wrote a book about me. 🤣
A reminder that I am Loved.... I was feeling it too.
Spring has sprung in Sonoma County 🌸
💕
This was one of my favorite yards on Burton Avenue.
Bowling!!!!! Yes we did.🎳🎳
We didn't even try to dress like twins. I loved Geno's long locks.
The bowling team: My little buddy, Jordann, me, Johnny and Geno. I had two great games, 144 and 132. I was able to maintain good sportsmanship too.
Look! We took the beautiful vette to Armstrong grove after church. https://santarosa.baysideonline.com/ I love Armstrong woods.
We had a little excitement when we were getting ready to hike. I locked the doors and was packing the backpack with water when I realized I didn't have the keys. I climbed through the trunk and unlocked the doors. The alarm went off and I still hadn't found the keys. Beep! Beep! Beep! Jordann unpacked our pack and found the keys and the noise finally stopped!
We hiked as much as we could as they still have many trails closed since the fire in August 2020.
It's still one of my happy places!💕
It fills my heart and soul.
Jordann was having fun too.
Wildflowers
I loved all the green
Lots of mini waterfalls and the creeks were flowing good.
Photo credit: Jordann Carley
I tried to do a pull-up and the folks behind me were amused by my antics.
How cool is Jordann??!!
We took the vette to see the ocean... it's was a chilly but beautiful day.
I made a donation to a thrift store and found this amazing painting of a Cessna. When I found out I qualified for a senior discount, I bought it! 50% off. I knew getting old would pay off.
I spent time with my favorite 'spin instructor' from my gym, Pat. He's a great guy and can always make me feel good about myself.
This makes me so happy! 🌼
Pretty flowers are everywhere.
There was one day that it rained most of the day. I had tons of energy but no where to go. I ended up at Target and walked around for a few hours. I was entertained by the toys of my youth.
These were absolutely glowing.
Sonoma County was bursting with color and beauty.
Lovely rhododendron.
I had a fantastic visit with my Uncle Jim and Jan. I missed seeing them on my trip last April. It was great to catch up and see how gray his hair has gotten in two years. I love it!💕
I made a stop at the blood bank to donate. In the past few years of traveling especially in mosquito areas in Mexico, I haven't been able to donate. Great news! This year they took my blood. It was a good and bad experience. I love donating but I had a brand new girl....... ouch!! I hope she improves quickly!🥲
Mainly, I do it for the snacks. Yum!
And they suggest having a good meal afterwards. I had a yummy vegetarian burrito at Los Gallos. It's one of my favorite places. They have warm tortillas chips and a salsa bar. https://www.losgallostaq.com/
This is my home away from home. 🏡
A garage filled with fun cars.
I took a walk to Sonoma State University with a mission to find Corey my book builder. Ha ha ha
It was a quick trip and I was hoping to get back again to see folks and the grounds but unfortunately I ran out of time. 🥲
Daffodils in bloom make me happy.
I found Corey and Josh my electrician friend too.
Remember- You are Loved ❤️
Can you see the pretty yellow bird. It looks like a gold finch.
See the hummingbird posing for me?
Sharon and Bud walk nearly everyday is Sonoma Mountain Village. I was lucky to go one day.
We stopped to see some of the sculptures around the village.
A giant quail
This super cool place is hardcore coffee in sebastopol. https://m.yelp.com/biz/hardcore-espresso-sebastopol-2
This is the place that my son Cameron hangs out a lot at and he invited me there. It was our first visit in over 7 years. I was excited and a bit nervous. It turned out to be a wonderful reunion. I returned a few days later to take pictures of the unique gardens people gather in.
I was impressed with how they incorporated old bathtubs.
This place is always hopping . The parking lot was full.
One of my favorite visits was with my sister Kerry. She is my ex husband's youngest sister and I've known her since she was 2 years old. She says she doesn't ever remember her life without me in it. That just melts my heart. We met after she was off work at Hop Monk. https://www.hopmonk.com/sebastopol
This place holds so many great memories from bike rides with friends, birthday celebrations and just meeting with friends and family. Cameron plays his sax here on occasions too.
This is Kerry with her new horse, Hobo. She is on an amazing journey of rediscovering her passion and loving her life to the fullest. I was so happy to be able to spend time with her. Plus she paid for my meal. I like being treated special.💕
I got up early one morning to take myself on one of my favorite drives.
I drove over crane canyon road to sugarloaf state park.🌲
It's such a beautiful drive. I could feel my heart filling up with so much love and joy the more I drove. 💕
Sugarloaf was my first job during the summer of 1981. I worked for the youth conservation corp (YCC). Me and about 60 other teenagers from poor families built a trail from Sugarloaf ridge to hood mountain. It was a great job and I made a lot of money. Our group named our trail, " The Goodspeed trail". It's 41 Years old.
The corvette was happy to drive in the beautiful trees.
Me and My Goodspeed Trail!
I even followed the signs.....mostly.
These are new to help when the water washes out the trail.
Happy hiker!
Do you see it? A broken heart 💔
Pretty pretty pretty! I bet you wish you were here.
My favorite house a long the creek.
Can you see all the mustard grass?
After my awesome hike, I drove to Berkeley to see my awesome cousin Amanda. I visited her twice. This time, I got to see Inga her wife too!
We went to the marina for a lovely walk.
There is the Golden Gate Bridge. 🌉
The Bay Bridge
These cuties were everywhere. I should have brought two home for Sharon!
Amanda was so accommodating when I asked to photograph her.😘
She was my fabulous model of the day.
This is Cesar Chavez park and we visited it on March 31, Cesar Chavez day!
Don't you just Love these?
The Jaded Toad bar and Grill..... I had to stop. I just had too!🍺
Just like I remember 😊
Photo credit: Jordann Carley
I took Jordann on my favorite drive to sugarloaf.
Then we parked the Vette in the garage and went out to the "Cotati crawl". We started at the Jaded Toad.
Next we hit the Tradewinds and played a game of pool. Jordann was so serious. I guess it helped, she whipped my ass.
See the dollar bills on the ceiling? I had to do it.
Another hike! This time it was Taylor mountain with Johnny and Jordyn.
Johnny was lost....the whole hike. Lol
Art along our bike ride.
I borrowed a road bike, jacket and helmet from my friend Michael. We did our usual ride from Santa Rosa to Sebastopol. It felt great to be on a bike again.
Dakota, Michael's sweet old dog.
Another coffee and pumpkin chocolate chip cake at Redwood cafe. So good!
I walked around Coddington shopping mall for an hour to get some miLes on my body. I spent a lot of time on my butt visiting my last day in town. I went to have lunch with my cop friend Maggie from Sonoma State University and a quick visit with my mom. Lots of hugs and plans to see one another soon.
Then I ended my day with the highlight of my trip. I got to spend time with Cam again. He picked Fogbelt brewery.
He brought me a gift from his work. He's some kind of fancy and important coordinator at Snoopy's Ice Area.
We had an awesome visit and a good meal. Their ordering system had a glitch and they brought us two burgers by mistake and only charged for one. Cam really lucked out. Dinner and then lunch the next day. The best part of my time with Cam was the two Big hugs I got, our picture together and that he even walked me out to the car. I am enjoying getting to know him as an adult.
Up before the sun rose........
That's my plane taking me to my next adventure!✈️
Looks like a great trip!