As I stated previously, this was the first time we left the kids on their own for a couple of nights, but in spite of some slight nervousness I knew that they were ready. We met Greg and Mona at 6 am at Morning Thunder Cafe for breakfast. Then it was time to hit the road for the long trip over the coastal range to their beautiful cliffside home in Mendocino. It was very foggy in the valley, but once we climbed the mountains we found ourselves above the fog and were greeted with wonderful sunshine. We arrived at their home somewhere around 12:30 pm. After settling in we heated up the soup that I brought from our Christmas Eve celebration as well as Great Harvest Breads. Then, without saying a word, Mona and I found ourselves sitting in our favorite spot, right in front of the roaring fire in the brick fireplace with books in hand.
We both love to read and see our time at the coast as a wonderful opportunity to get caught up on our reading. Unfortunately we also got caught up on way too much unnecessary eating and drinking. The eating was, of course, rationalized by our resolve to get back on diets on Monday.
Have I ever said how much I love my friend Mona? Well I do. She's the best friend a girl could ask for. We, as usual had great "girl talk" while Dan and Greg catered to our every wish and whim. We were both so tired after all of the Christmas celebration that all we wanted to do was sit around, read, cozy up in front of the fire, eat a little something, drink a little something, all the while reading and talking. It was the best New Year's Eve I've had in a while. We were supposed to fix a nice dinner, but when it came time all of us agreed that we didn't much feel like eating a big dinner and opted to continue grazing on high calorie, high fat foods.
Mona and Greg's sweet dog, Casey, was also part of the fun. Receiving lots of love from Mona and I, with Dan and Greg including him in on their walks and wood gathering expeditions. Finally, the guys decided that they wanted to watch The Prestige and took off for a video store in Fort Bragg. They also picked up a few items at the grocery store so that Mona and I didn't have to disturb our reading/girl talk session in front of the fire.
Upon arriving home and before beginning the movie, the guys opened a bottle of port (their favorite) to enjoy while they popped corn for the movie. Dan and I have seen The Prestige before and Dan couldn't resist "explaining" the movie to Greg and Mona with me constanting shushing him or ploring him to not ruin it for him. As is typical of Greg, about 1/2 hour into the movie we began to hear a soft snoring coming from his vicinity. We had to keep arousing him so that he wouldn't miss the movie. Like the old farts we are fast becoming, we all ended up going to bed after the movie was over, before it was midnight!!!! Here's the sad part. No one protested. We all happily went to bed and fell asleep before the stroke of midnight.The next morning we decided to go to The Little River Inn for breakfast. It is set in the most idyllic location. I simply had to take our pics from the porch in front of the restaurant with the coast line in the background.
Mona was the one who suggested we go to The Little River Inn because she said they had the best pancakes ever. She hates pancakes, so if she likes theirs, they had to be good. It turns out that they were Swedish Pancakes and were as yummy as she said they would be.
We then drove up to Fort Bragg to see if there were any shops open, but there was only one, so we decided to head back home for round 2 of sitting by the fire and reading. The guys continued to cater to our every wish and whim. The guys also rented, Don't Mess with the Zohan, which Mona and I simply could not sit through, but the laughter coming from the living room clearly indicated the guys were loving The Zohan.
When the guys were at the video store they purchased chocolate Neccos. So, Greg took the wonderful french bread that we had been snacking on all afternoon, put a little butter on it and then place a Necco on it. Here is his latest creation.
Here's his reaction to his latest creation. He clearly is quite pleased with the result. Dan tried it and, of course, said it was wonderful. I refused to eat it and Mona just kept on cooking.
And cooking, and cooking, while I sat there drinking and eating.
While Mona was cooking the guys, without any prompting from us, decided to set the table. They put all manner of candles on the table and set to lighting them. Note the can of whipped cream on the table. This, of course, is for the asparagus. I did try this combination. Let's just say it wasn't bad. I think I'll stick with mayonaise.
As Mona put the finishing touches on her Honey Dijon Mustard Chicken, Casey waited patiently because he knew that he too would get some chicken. He knows his mother so well and she is definitely into spoiling him.
Here's the final result. That's pineapple that she topped the chicken dish off with. It was one of the best chicken dishes that I've tasted.
We finished off our day with a little more reading by the fire, while the guys did all the dishes. I didn't even clear my dish! They treated Mona and I like we were queens the entire time. We are so lucky to be married to such wonderful and thoughtful ment! Then it was off to be because we had to get up early in order to make Dan's 1pm flight to Oklahoma City, so it was with much reluctance that we bade our dear friends good-bye and headed for the airport. Based on these first few days, 2009 is looking pretty darn good.
Mona was the one who suggested we go to The Little River Inn because she said they had the best pancakes ever. She hates pancakes, so if she likes theirs, they had to be good. It turns out that they were Swedish Pancakes and were as yummy as she said they would be.
We then drove up to Fort Bragg to see if there were any shops open, but there was only one, so we decided to head back home for round 2 of sitting by the fire and reading. The guys continued to cater to our every wish and whim. The guys also rented, Don't Mess with the Zohan, which Mona and I simply could not sit through, but the laughter coming from the living room clearly indicated the guys were loving The Zohan.We decided that we would make the big dinner we had planned to make on New Years Eve that night. I use the term "we" very loosely because I didn't do very much to help. I washed the asparagus and cut the ends off. That's about it. Mona commenced to make her famous Honey Dijon Mustard Chicken.
Greg is famous for making very strange food combination. I don't know if he does it because he likes the attention or if he really just likes weird taste combinations. I'm leaning toward the later. Greg is the kind of guy that, more often then not, thinks outside the box. In fact, it is unusual for him to think inside the box. Anyway, he was telling us about his latest discovery; asparagus and whipped cream. We reacted with our usual, What???!!!! This only eggs Greg on, so he commenced to concoct his latest weird taste combination.
When the guys were at the video store they purchased chocolate Neccos. So, Greg took the wonderful french bread that we had been snacking on all afternoon, put a little butter on it and then place a Necco on it. Here is his latest creation.
Here's his reaction to his latest creation. He clearly is quite pleased with the result. Dan tried it and, of course, said it was wonderful. I refused to eat it and Mona just kept on cooking.
And cooking, and cooking, while I sat there drinking and eating.
While Mona was cooking the guys, without any prompting from us, decided to set the table. They put all manner of candles on the table and set to lighting them. Note the can of whipped cream on the table. This, of course, is for the asparagus. I did try this combination. Let's just say it wasn't bad. I think I'll stick with mayonaise.
As Mona put the finishing touches on her Honey Dijon Mustard Chicken, Casey waited patiently because he knew that he too would get some chicken. He knows his mother so well and she is definitely into spoiling him.
Here's the final result. That's pineapple that she topped the chicken dish off with. It was one of the best chicken dishes that I've tasted.
We finished off our day with a little more reading by the fire, while the guys did all the dishes. I didn't even clear my dish! They treated Mona and I like we were queens the entire time. We are so lucky to be married to such wonderful and thoughtful ment! Then it was off to be because we had to get up early in order to make Dan's 1pm flight to Oklahoma City, so it was with much reluctance that we bade our dear friends good-bye and headed for the airport. Based on these first few days, 2009 is looking pretty darn good.
1 comment:
Come back to our porch any time, Cindy. Thanks for your WONderful report on your Mendocino Coast visit. We wish you a happy happy New Year.
Cammie Conlon
Little River Inn
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