Fifty hours off the grid. No cell phone, no email, no internet, no television, no radio. You might wonder how we survived.
We prepared and ate lots of delicious food. Grilled chicken three ways: on a kabob, in a pita and on a salad. Grilled veggies, noodle salad, watermelon, shrimp tacos with crispy fried taco shells. Ice cream. Yummy yum yum.
We played Pictionary and gossiped and shared parenting tips. We swam, then dried off, then swam some more. Several naps were had by all. And then I took some pictures.
I had a lot of fun playing with my Canon Rebel that Mitch gave me a couple of years ago. I’m taking a photography class now and I’m re-learning how to shoot with manual setting. I didn’t take any shots of the landscape. Being that it is high summer, everything is kind of dead looking. I’ll focus on landscapes next time we’re up there. It will be so beautiful in the fall when all the leaves on the oak trees turn colors.
I wanted to do some night photography, using a technique I learned in my photo class, but we happened to have a full moon that weekend, and the sky was too bright. Hopefully, next time I’ll have a little less light so I can play around.
I did portraits, both posed and candid. I’m really happy with how everything turned out. It also helped that I had beautiful subjects to shoot. I’m really getting the depth of field thing down, but still need some practice.
On Sunday, we woke to an overcast sky and a break in the heat. After breakfast, we decided to take advantage of the cooler weather and go for a walk on the property. As we were walking back to the house, there was a loud crack and then the sky lit up with lightening. It was awesome. Izzy didn’t think so though. She ran back to me and hugged my leg because she was scared. She wanted me to pick her up, but just then, the rain started. The drops were huge and I had my camera with me. I had to protect the camera from the rain, so I shoved it down the front of my dress and covered it with my arms. Mas was so sweet; he came running out with a plastic bag for the camera, but didn’t find us on the lower trail.
Izzy definitely didn’t like the thunder and lightening, and I was getting a little nervous about being in the forest while lightening was striking, so we high-tailed it back to the house. While I protected the camera, Sarah comforted Izzy and helped her walk back home. On our way back, a couple of young bucks crossed our path. It was so great to see them that close up!
We saw lots of wild life while we were there: a flock of turkeys, a doe and her fawn, quail, vultures, lizards, spiders. And we heard lots and lots of braying hound dogs.
I think one of the best parts about being in Placerville was the freedom the kids had to come and go from the house. Izzy went to the front yard, came back in the house and then headed out to the back yard, playing her little made up games or sitting in the dirt having her daily dust bath. It was the first time I’ve ever allowed her to be out of my sight. It felt really weird at first, but Sarah assured me that everything would be allright. It also helped knowing that there were three other adults and Bella helping to keep an eye on the kids. It was so nice to sit down, drink my coffee and have a conversation without being on constant alert. The country life ain’t so bad afterall.
Sarah, Mas, Ethan and Bella make a beautiful family and are a wonderful set of friends. They bring out the best in all who know them. We are so grateful to know them and have them in our lives. It was a magical weekend and I’m looking forward to our next trip up to their house.
