Starting My Third Chapter...

Trip Start Feb 24, 2010

136

Trip End Ongoing

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Where I stayed

Couch surfed in east Fresno near Clovis

(Fresno hotels)

Flag of United States Fresno, California
Saturday, March 20, 2010

At 8:45 I woke up for the last time in the living room this morning. I am such an attached person. How is it a place can feel like home so soon? Nicole and I were both leaving so we were up first, packing up. I was still quite tired and sad about leaving. Holly made pancakes. Jen, Matthew and Dana didn't come in until right before we ate and Eric not until picture time. Leaving at 9:30 didn't work and neither did our loose wine tasting plan. We wanted to get another car to drive down Napa with me but in reality it didn't work. I hate goodbyes and here I had many. I tend to find it hard to speak in these situations. We finally, but barely, got some pictures of all of us. Eric and Holly's friend Tom took them. He had come over to get the guys to help him bring in the pregnant wild hog he had just killed. They were going to do a pig roast tonight. I hugged the guys and then they were off. Then it was hugs all around and I teared up with Jen, Mercedes and Anne. Jen and Anne went off to The Inn and Eric was showing Mercedes how to clean the pool when Nicole and I headed out

It was a Muscle Discussion

. Eric said that Le Vin gives most WWOOFers a bottle each of wine and olive oil when they leave so we went down to the wine bar to pick them up and say "bye" to Eric and Holly. I was really having to hold it in as I drove away from that gorgeous vineyard. Will it always be this hard? There is talk of a reunion during harvest in the fall...

I drove down Napa Valley. I missed it on 101 and had to backtrack a ways but it was worth it. I stopped outside the Calistoga library for some internet and lunch of kiwi, chips and salsa. I realized I would never make it to Sheila's, my host's, house in time for board game night at 6:00 if I went to Sonoma as well, so I had to skip it. But I finally saw what a destination Napa Valley is. Where do all the people come from? I didn't really have time to stop and wine tasting is not fun by myself so I just drove through and marveled at all the fancy cars, limos, grills, vineyard signs, castles, tour buses and wine trains.

I would not have made it to Fresno without my GPS. California drivers are crazy and so is I-80. Also, if I hadn't plotted out my course on my atlas, the GPS would have taken me through San Fran or something. So thanks, Dad. It didn't lead me wrong. I am not a fan of long solitary drives after leaving a place and people I have come to love so it was not a terribly fun day for me

Anne, Mercedes, Jen, Dana, Toby, Nicole, Matt...

Comments!

. I called home, which helped. I have joined the group that constantly compares gas prices and I can now smoothly pump my own gas. I got half a tank in Madera, just north of Fresno.

My GPS took my straight out Ashlan to the Clovis area of Fresno and straight to my couch surfing hosts house. I got there right after 6:00 and met Sheila, her husband Sean (Shawn?) and son Jamie. She is from England and he is from America where they have raised three children. They let me relax a bit and asked me about WWOOFing then us girls left for game night. It's MeetUp group that rotates hosts every month. It was a potluck with pretty good food, though different than I was used to at Le Vin. 13 of us played three newfangled games: Quilf (?), Such and Such and Catch Phrase. I was exhausted and I really missed our evenings at Le Vin but I did my best to be cheerful. The stark contrast in people was very startling though. I mean, international, twentysomething WWOOFers at a mountain vineyard to mostly middle-age, middle-American suburbanites. Don't get me wrong they were all nice and I had some fun.

We left at 9:30 and I pretty much retired and spent two hours online working on trip stuff, correspondence and pictures. Sheila knew I couldn't keep my eyes open. Her 19-year-old daughter is at the coast for the weekend so I slept in her Parisian themed bedroom. I looked forward to a bit of a lie-in. (I miss you Mercedes!)

Slideshow