The Wesley Diaries : July 2017

last week we all went to "family camp" at the bishop's ranch, a retreat center owned by the episcopal diocese of california. we'd been there once before for our parish retreat with other folks from st. mary the virgin. we enjoyed ourselves so immensely that we immediately signed up for "camp" without really knowing much about it.

family camp was a bit different than we'd imagined. we had thought it would be a week of lounging about and splashing in the pool. when we arrived, we realized there would be a bit more structure. although it wasn't the free-for-all we had thought it would be, there was still plenty of free time. after breakfast each morning, olivia and i went for bike rides around the russian river valley. our free time was made possible by montse, who was as always eager to help.

with our pescaditos

flores!

while the accommodations are sparse, the ranch itself is spectacularly beautiful. the ranch encompass esmore than 300 acres, so wessy had plenty of room to run around. it sits on a bluff overlooking the russian river valley, surrounded by meadows and vineyards. the grounds around the buildings contain a dizzying array of ornamental flowers, fruit trees, and herbs. i think wessy's favorite activity was picking plums from the ground and shoving them into his mouth. (or better yet, ripping unripe fruit directly off the tree!) "arancando fruta mama!" we made a good faith effort to remove the stones before wessy swallowed them, but to mom's chagrin, he was able to sneak a few into his mouth whole. smelling the flowerers was also a hit.

a rarely-enjoyed treat: orange juice

mom and dad were very grateful to have our meals prepared, served and cleaned by people other than ourselves. not to mention that the food itself was quite tasty. there was always a good vegetarian option, and a good bit of the food was grown on the grounds of the ranch.

just lounging

in the afternoons, we did enjoy some splashing around in the pool. as expected, the weather was pleasantly warm in healdsburg. the dry creek and russian river valleys are protected from the cooling marine layer by the the outer coast range, resulting in daytime high temperatures typically 20-35 degrees warmer than san francisco in the summer. while it can reach temperatures into the 90s during the day, our friend the marine layer finds its way to healdsburg in the evening, making the night temperatures refreshingly cool, typically dipping into the 50s. for us city folks, the warmth was a blessed relief from the cold of the san francisco summer.

guitar dada

helping tune the guitar

ciruelas, mama!

on thursday, we took a field trip to the beach. wessy immediately declared "sandbox grande!" it was a gorgeous day and warm enough to swim in the pacific!