Overall, I think we both had a great time on what Scott had (originally) unhappily dubbed as our “vegan yoga retreat,” which to his surprise, was not at all what it was! Maybe now he will learn to trust me. Like I tried to explain before the trip, I’m not gonna spend a boatload of money and time on a vacation that he’s going to hate!  And of course it ended up just like his first sushi experience a decade ago back when we were dating – he loved it.  Basically we both agreed that if we had to pick one word to describe the trip, it would be “beautiful.”

By far the worst part was just getting there and back. Mendocino is pretty remote and although it’s a ridiculously gorgeous drive, it is slow and dangerous with many steep and winding roads and takes several hours (4-ish?) from where we flew into (San Francisco).  So the 14 hour travel time each way was definitely a huge downside, especially when you are only there for two days. That’s my biggest regret.  When we landed in SF, we had a TON of traffic getting out of the city (super frustrating) and Scott landed a few notable quotes. As you might imagine, most are too inappropriate for this venue, however here are a couple that cracked me up.  Upon seeing someone with different fashion sense than him, Scott exclaimed, “That guy needs to kick his own a$$!” And then towards the little boy at the bus stop, “It’s sad that any kid would have to grow up here.”  Ah, clearly, Scott is not what one would define as “city folk.”

Anyhow, the foliage pretty much everywhere you go is amazing. It is so varied and unique looking. And gorgeous flowers all over, even despite the chilly temperatures (mid 30’s at night and 50-60’s during the day).

And I liked the positive messages that I saw around town:

Here are a couple of photos of the inn and organic garden where we stayed (the Stanford Inn):

We also did quite a bit of hiking and jogging, even covering about 12 miles one day according to my GPS watch!  We hiked Big River some, and saw where it meets the sea at the beach, hiked to a pretty waterfall in the Russian Gulch State Park through a redwood forest, hiked around Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, and just around the Mendocino area.  Here are a coupe of pics from those adventures (and keep scrolling below because there’s more, including what Scott had to say about the trip):

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Scott Says….

M: Which yoga class did you like best and why?
S: I didn’t like any of them.
M: How about the one with 7 dudes and only 4 girls?
S: I liked the other one better. They didn’t have any weird om’ing $hit.
M: So you base your entire view of the 75 min of class on 30 seconds of oms at the end?
S: Yes.
M: Why don’t you like om’ing?
S: It’s weird.
M: Why?
S: It’s just weird.
M: It’s really not any different than the stuff you probably tell your players before games and all. Don’t you guys chant things?
S: No, we don’t.

M: Why didn’t you have more wine with all the local vineyards nearby?
S: I don’t really like wine.
M: Why do you always drink mine when I have it then?
S: I like a sip.

M: What was the weirdest thing you saw this trip?
S: The medical marihuana dispensaries.
M: What did you think about that?
S: Weird.
M: Can you elaborate more?
S: No.

M: What was the funniest part of the trip?
S: I don’t know.
M: I personally think that the funniest moment was watching you, the former, former collegiate athlete get your a$$ kicked in the great outdoors by the super pregnant lady.
S: Ha ha.

M: What was the scariest part of the trip?
S: The drive there/back and the people in the hot tub at the resort.

M: What do you wish you could have done that you didn’t get to do?
S: Bow hunted for blacktail.
M: Seriously? You wouldn’t have liked to hike additional nearby state parks?
S: Sure.

M: What was the most surprising? What weren’t you expecting?
S: I wasn’t expecting how rural everything is.
M: You like that thought?
S: Yeah.
M: I thought you’d be more surprised about the size of the trees.

M: What was the best part?
S: The hikes.

M: What was the worst part?
S: The yoga.
M: What? How about the 14 hours of travel?
S: Yeah, that.

M: What was your favorite meal/dish?
S: The crab chowder.
M: Of course. It has meat. How about best vegan dish?
S: The waffles. The French toast was good too.
M: What about the banana split?
S: It was alright.
M: You seemed to think it was more than “alright” when you plowed through all of it.
S: It was good. The best part about it was the banana which is usually the worst part.

M: What was your favorite sight?
S: Glass beach is pretty cool. I also liked where Big River meets the ocean – you don’t ever see that in Texas.

M: What were your expectations for this trip and how did it measure up to those expectations?
S: I really didn’t have any so I guess it exceeded them.
M: That’s good so I guess it’s not a total failure?
S: No.
M: I thought you had bad expectations
S: No.
M: But you were complaining about the “vegan yoga retreat” I was dragging you on.
S: Yeah, I wouldn’t call it that now.
M: So would trust me to plan another trip?
S: Yeah.

Below is a slideshow of some of the food we ate.  The vegan food at the resort (www.StanfordInn.com) was excellent.  Of course Scott didn’t make it a single day without meat (he would get it in town outside the resort), which honestly I was a little bummed about because I think that he has been unable to see how good he could really feel without it, or without as much as he eats.  So again, overall a great trip: relaxing, fun, adventurous, and healthy (food and exercise)!  It really hit everything on my list.  The only thing that could have made it better would be to have enjoyed some of those local wines.  Next time!  If you ever want to go to Mendocino, let me know and I can share some more in depth info with you!

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