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!

Lunch at the Funky Lost Coast Brewery!

One of our last stops before leaving my home town of Eureka, California was to have lunch at the Lost Coast Brewery near Old Town.  On of my daughter's husband's Coast Guard buddies was stationed in Eureka several years ago and gave him a Stout Lost Coast t-shirt, which is old and faded, but much loved.  Michele was able to purchase a new shirt of his upcoming birthday.  She was pretty stoked!  Below is the logo for the Stout Beer replicated in the t-shirt of choice.

Our meals were very good.  Mom got her traditional fish n' chips, but Michele and I decided to be a bit more adventuresome and tried the Wabi Wasabi Pita, which was delicious.  If you are ever in Eureka, I would recommend the Lost Coast Brewery as an excellent luncheon choice.  We took a few pictures, and I share them below.

    

     

Visiting My Roots in Northern California

While my daughter, Michele, and I were visiting my Mom, who is a spry 90-year old, we made a road-trip to the coast to Eureka, California to show my daughter our roots.  My Mom and I were both born in Eureka and both attended the same high school, Eureka Senior High, which was built in 1914 and demolished in 1981 due to earthquake damage.  Part of the present school structure is the original Eureka Jr. High, which sat right next door and was built in 1896.  Amazing that it survived these same earthquakes and was not damaged beyond repair!  Some of the other buildings on the high school campus were built after 1981.  Too bad, the original high school did not survived as it was a lovely building two-story building with a basement and pillars and gingerbread on the front facade!

Another lovely structure from our roots is St. Bernard's Catholic Church, which was first dedicated in 1886 and is known as the "Cathedral of the Northwest."  It was nice to see how beautifully it has been preserved.  Though it is now painted a soft cream with taupe trim, whereas as a little girl I remember it being white.  Whatever its color it is still very beautiful and looks just as I remembered it.  Here are some pictures of our visit. . .you will note Mom and I on the front steps in picture #3.

 

     

 

We were happy to see there was a 12:15 p.m. Mass on Monday afternoon during our visit, thus we were able to attend and actually get into the inside of the church for a visit!  It is such a lovely church. . .and bring back wonderful memories!

A Wonderful Musical . . . Mary Poppins!

A few days after my daughter's arrival and mine, Mom (aka Grandma) treated Michele and I to a night out at their lovely Cascade Theatre.  This historic theatre was built in 1935 and has been beautifully restored in its original Art Deco style.

Our event tickets were for the musical Mary Poppins, which was very well done, great voices and acting.  The costumes were authentic.  One of my favorite acts was the old beggar woman singing Feed the Birds.

The finale where Mary Poppins leaves, flying through the air with her umbrella was really well done.  All in all, I'd say we had a fun evening . . . we thoroughly enjoyed the play and the company with Mom, my sister, daughter, and me!  Thanks Mom!

Family Dinner Out!

Our first adventure after arriving in northern California to visit my wonderfully spry 90-year old mother and my sister was a dinner out with family at our favorite restaurant. . .Kobe's Steak & Seafood.  There were three generations present:  Mom, my sister and I, and my daughter, who flew down to stay a week with Grandma too!

We love the Teppanyaki grilled food and watching our own personal chef in action.  I had a delicious meal of filet mignon and salmon. . .their Yum Yum sauce is absolutely delicious.  I always need seconds because I love to add a little bit. . .maybe, to be honest, that's a lot on everything!