Girls' Crafting Get-Away Fun. . .Mt. Shasta CA

My mom, sister, and I planned a little girls' crafting get-away. . .a little crop retreat. . .to a wonderful vacation abode called the Angel House.  What a delight, just an hour's drive north of Redding, CA to the Mt. Shasta area.  We were thrilled with our accommodations. . .a vacation home that won the Best of 2015 Mt. Shasta Vacation Homes, and it surely lived up to that award.  We have rented a total of four different locations over the last six years and found this to now be our #1 location for future get-aways!  The front of the house with its cream-colored picket fence, its pond, and trees surely creates a truly relaxing atmosphere, and the cute little fenced backyard patio and BBQ area in the are very inviting!

    

Our delightful host, Shantam, made a stop several hours after we arrived to be sure everything was in order and that we did not need anything.  We also saw that he stopped by and did some yard and pond work, but did not interrupt our crafting mojo!  In my opinion, his house will always be top-notch, because you can tell that he really cares about it and its presentation to his guests.  The decorations were delightful with unusual quality knickknacks here and there throughout the house, and the kitchen was well stocked with everything you might need.  I would suggest you bring a few refrigerator dishes if you are cooking and might have leftovers and some "baggies".  Another suggestion, if you can't do without a salad spinner to swirl your lettuce dry, throw that in for good measure. . .I personally can not due without it!

On the main floor downstairs, the house has an open and airy living area, a nice big kitchen, and an inviting dining area.  The kitchen and dining areas not only look out on the cozy, fenced patio but also majestic Mt. Shasta as well.  We used the dining area for crafting, and were able to seat three comfortably using my 24" x 60" fold-up craft table perpendiular to the wood house table.  It would really be pretty tight for more than three, but if you brought more fold-up craft tables and chairs, you could probably seat at least three more in the living room by moving the small coffee table.  Below I will share pictures of the downstairs area.

Upstairs we found an inviting hallway area, three very large bedrooms, which were extremely comfortable and fitted with Tempurapedic matteress (my back was in aww!), plus two large double-sink bathrooms, and a laundry closet.  The largest bedroom, which we called the purple room, has a Murphy Bed that can be fold up against wall, which opens up this bedroom for group gathering.  It would make a nice crafting area if one brought all portable tables and chairs, except then you have eliminated a bedroom for sleeping.  Take a peek at these accomodations:

The Mt. Shasta area has absolutely beautiful scenery all around, walking trails, a park in town, snow skiing golfing, and boating and swimming on Lake Siskiyou' if you are into that.  The town is small and quaint with several restaurants, shopping boutiques offerning lovely clothes, trinkets, jewelry, books, holistic supplies, etc.) plus a bakery, a small movie theatre, a good size grocery store, and drug store.  Really everything to make your visit away from home interesting and conventient.  We had a spectacular view right at the base of the mountain outside our kitchen and dining room with an entry to a walking trail throuh the Sisson Wetlands.  I'll share just a few pictures of the scenery. 

 On the drive up

On the drive through Mt. Shasta City
to the Angel House

Our kitchen view

Look what we saw returning from dinner!

Walking Trail - Sisson Wetlands

 Mt. Shasta City Park

 Mt. Shasta City Park

 Lake Siskiyou view of Mt. Shasta

Brown Bear Diner for breakfast

Casa Ramos for dinner

As you can tell, we loved our house, we loved the scenery, and we thoroughly enjoyed our girls' get-away.  There were only two problems!  The first problem was. . .six days/ five nights was just not long enough.  We would have been glad to stay another three or four days!  The second problem was. . .we chose to go see two movies while away. . .they were both duds.  Now, whose fault was that!

Family Scrapping Retreat #2

If you follow my blog, you know that I make two long trips to California to visit my mother and my sister in Redding, California.  Of course since I am a "wuss" when it comes to hot weather (over 80 degrees), I try to make my trips in the early spring and fall each year!  My purpose is not only to catch up and have fun doing "girl" stuff, but to spend time making papercrafts with my two favorite ladies.  

I think that we have established a family tradition, in that we like to take a trip away together to do all of the above.  With that in mind, we decided the Mt. Shasta area would be our destination and picked "Cold Creek Cabin" for our lodging.  Everything about the house was perfect, except I would have like to be out a little further out in the "country," as we only 4 blocks from the downtown area.  The woodsy pictures were a bit deceiving with its little creek in the backyard.  I included a few pictures of our little house, which I'd like to pick up and move to the actual woods a mile or so outside Mt. Shasta City (a little town of about 3,400 people).

But, we did have a week full of fun cropping, staying up all hours, sleeping in, shopping at local boutiques, going to the movies, playing Mexican Train, laughing, and just plain gabbing!  We even enjoyed some eventful weather with heavy winds stirring the old-growth cedars surrounding the house and a day or two of light snow that didn't really have a chance to stick with the sun peeping in and out!

Fun in 2012 - A Family Scrapping Retreat

We had the very best time!  Ladies in the family took a week-long papercrafting retreat to a wonderful vacation rental in northern California.  The house to aptly named, "Trout House!"  All of the furnishings and decor are a fishing motif, right down to the wicker fishing basket on the back of the toilet with the bear peeking out in the midst of lotions and shampoos!  Here is a look at what is becoming a ladies favorite for a little rest and relaxation while we indulge in our favorite hobby...cardmaking!   Of course, we have to move a bit of furniture to set up our cropping tables, but it doesn't take away from the cute decor, the rushing river sounds below the backyard embankment, the train whistles across the river bed below, the chirping birds, or pitter-patter of squirrels moving about in the trees!