Much of our travelling this year was in connection with the many Aikido seminars we attended. In April, Danielle was invited to teach at Northcoast Aikido in Arcata, and we took the opportunity to again drive the Miata, top-down whenever we could, through the beautiful redwoods and coastline of Northern California. On the return trip we celebrated my birthday by taking the coastal route and staying 2 nights at the MacCallum House Inn in Mendocino. Below: road from Leggett to the coast (left); Mendocino (center); Breakfast on the MacCallum House porch (below)
Following the Mt. Baldy Aikido retreat at the end of May we drove to Las Vegas, accompanied by two Aikido friends, and spent 3 nights in the Spa Tower at our favorite resort, the Bellagio, in a fountains-view room. Below: view from our room at the Bellagio (left); Danielle in a new outfit I bought for her at the Great Put-On store in Mendocino (middle). Bellagio poolside breakfast with our friends, Cyndy and Keith, after our morning swim (right).
In August we drove to Nevada for an Aikido seminar in Reno, where our friend Linda Holiday, chief instructor at Aikido of Santa Cruz, was the guest instructor. We spent 2 nights in Gardnerville with my sister, Sharon, and her husband, Kent, and then drove up to Kitt Carson Lodge at Silver Lake where we spent 3 nights relaxing and hiking. Below: hiking the trail to Winnemucca Lake (left); a refreshing swim in Silver Lake (middle); RoundTop Lake - elev 9400' (left)
A few weeks later Michael drove the Miata up to Petrolia for an Aikibojitsu retreat. This was his first trip to the "Lost Coast", a sparsely populated area of California that is rarely visited. The narrow, rough road is indeed challenging, but the solitude and scenery were worth the slow-going. Below: Avenue of the Giants (left); one-lane bridge, Mattole Rd (top-middle), leading to the tiny community of Honeydew (top-right); view from my room (middle-middle) at the only accomodations for 30 miles, the Petrolia "Lost Inn" one-room guest house (middle-right); Aikibojitsu training at the Wheeler ranch (bottom-middle); the "Lost" coast (bottom-right)