Anwen's Hen Weekend

     Good morning, viewers.

     The date of the wedding is exactly one week away.  I can scarcely believe that time has gone by so quickly. 

     Last weekend was Anwen's hen weekend, and I'd say it was quite a smash.

     On Friday afternoon, Anwen, Wren, Gia and I went out for frozen yogurt with the groom, before heading out on a weekend getaway to Lake Siskiyou near Mount Shasta.

     It was an amusing car ride; I brought along my mix-CD's, and we sang along quite loudly.

     At around dinner time, we arrived at the beautiful little Bed & Breakfast.  Here's a few pictures of the main building.

     We sat by the piano both mornings for breakfast.  Do you like the deer candelabra?  There were two of them.  The girls were prodigiously fond of them.

     Our little house was separate from the main building.  On the first evening, we went to a local market and bought pasta and garlic bread, and cooked it in our tiny little kitchen.  It was a beautiful little house, and had a lovely view of the mountains.  We ate our dinner outside on a picnic table, with a full view of Mount Shasta.

     Later that night, Anwen opened her gifts, and we watched The Princess Bride, and Moonrise Kingdom. 

     Wren put together gifts for us bridesmaids as well.  Our bridal entourage "uniform" consisted of white visors painted with purple fabric paint.  Each had "Bridesmaid" printed on it, and Anwen's said "Bride."  On the side of each was painted a word of Anwen's choosing.  Anwen's said "Butterfly;" Wren's said "Quirky;" Gia's said "Brave," and mine said "Whimsical."

     Besides the visors, we each got a hand-painted wine glass filled with tiny bottles of sunblock and hand sanitizer, character Band-Aids, a nail polish, and a pair of sunglasses.  My nail polish was called "Thimbleberry."

     After the opening of gifts, we ate cake, played some very amusing games, and put on face masks.  I have pictures of this, but I'll not show them to you.

     After the girls went to bed, I cleaned the little house and washed dishes, and then wrote in my journal, and read.  I didn't get to sleep that night, but I enjoyed the peace and quiet.

     The next morning at 8:00, we went to the dining hall, where we were served strawberry crepes, sausage, orange juice and coffee.

     After a leisurely breakfast, we went hiking around a lake.  The view was amazing, and I took ever so many pictures.  Here's my favourite.

We hiked for a little over an hour, and then we went to a high-end spa and the three of us treated Anwen to an hour-long, full-body massage.  It was lovely.

     Afterwards, we went to Lake Siskiyou, where we rented standing-kayaks (they're like huge plastic surf boards that you row yourself about on with an oar).  It was a bit strenuous for me, and Gia was kind enough to assist me on the way back.  After we returned the boards, we swam for a bit, and then we headed back to the B&B, where we snacked on crackers and fancy cheeses.

     After cleaning up and getting all dressed up in our "on-the-town" outfits, we went out for Thai food.  We had planned on going right from there into town, but we were all so exhausted, that we decided to go back to the B&B again and nap for a couple of hours.

     After our much-needed siesta, we went out on the town.  Anwen, of course, being a bride, received her share of special attention and free drinks.  At one place that we stopped at, one of the waitresses, as it happened, was a bride-to-be as well, and was very kind to us, and allowed us to stay and chat after-hours while she cleaned up.

          The little town was quite adorable, even in the dark, and even though the shops were shut, we enjoyed exploring it.  The weather was lovely, and the walk was very pleasant.

     When we got back to the B&B, we played scrabble.  After the girls turned in, I stayed up and cleaned again before retiring.  I do think I managed to doze a little that night.

     The next morning when we went to breakfast, we were greeted with fruit salad in martini glasses along with the usual orange juice and coffee, which was, we assumed, the extent of our breakfast that morning.  We were wrong, however; as soon as we'd finished our fruit, they served us fried potato wedges, a square of Spanish-style crust-less quiche with cheese and mild green chilies, topped with salsa and a sliver of avocado, as well as a large fluffy croissant with berry preserves.  It was pretty amazing.  It was much more than I'm used to eating, but it was too delicious to waste.

     Before heading home, we stopped and tasted the famously pure water of the Mount Shasta spring, and walked some trails in the woods.  One trail was composed almost entirely of different sorts of foot-bridges.  Here's a picture of Anwen crossing an especially wobbly one.  I must say, we all kept our balance very well.

After that, we drove a little ways, and then hiked down to a small waterfall, which falls in front of a cave, allowing one to stand directly behind it, or directly in it, for that matter.  Here's a picture of me almost in it.

     And then, it was time to depart.  On the way home, we amused ourselves by playing "Who Am I?" 

     It had been a long, but very nice getaway, and, I venture to say, a very successful hen weekend.  I think Anwen enjoyed it.