A Retreat for the New Year

It was a last-minute idea that just came to mind while I was driving home on the 30th of December, and just as quickly, it turned into solid travel plans for the next day. Instead of seeking out a fancy New Year’s Eve celebration or watching fireworks, I booked a stay at a farm off the grid in Mendocino County.  I’d be solo roadtripping three hours north and ringing in the new year in absolute silence, exploring the coast along the way and for the first day of the new year. It turned out to be the perfect way to say farewell to 2018 and to welcome a fresh new 2019. I purposely didn’t share much of the trip while I was experiencing it, but of course I documented it all and can share a bit of it now!

The drive up to Point Arena had me going up Highway 1 through Sea Ranch, so of course I stopped by the lodge where I’ve shot many a wedding, and I took a quick stretch break. There’s a new exhibit now at SFMOMA all about Sea Ranch which I’ve yet to go visit, but I look forward to learning more about this idyllic community.

 

Such a familiar sight and a lovely feeling to be back here. Actually it turned out that when I booked my airbnb for the night, the woman running the farm recognized my name. They also grow flowers at the farm and sometimes do wedding florals… we had worked together on a Sea Ranch wedding back in 2011 and she still remembered me from the images I shared from that wedding. Shoutout to Magali and Sam— sweet serendipity!

I was reminded earlier in the year when I did a quick stay in Tahoe of how much I love a solo roadtrip, and that certainly remains true. I can spend as little or as much time as I like in each place, (stay and do a painting while at lunch), I can pack my itinerary and see as many points of interest as I like, and I also don’t feel that pull of other things I “should” be doing. It also helps to be an introvert and love podcasts.

My next stop was an interesting Bowling Ball Beach (you’ll see why it’s called that) at Schooner’s Gulch State Beach in Point Arena. I found some fun things on the beach.

A couple groups of people and friendly dogs were on the beach, but it was relatively empty.

I went at low tide to be able to see the bowling balls… and these tide pools.

Aha, bowling balls as promised!

And then walking back over to the entrance… and a terrifying pile of driftwood and washed up kelp that looks like rotting snakes.

Lovely!

Then it was time to head over to my home for the night at Windy Hollow Farm. Here’s the drive up to the farm.

Here’s my adorable yellow cottage for the night. The farm is truly off the grid for both power and water. The yellow cottage does not have either, but the neighboring kitchen cabin does have well water and power from their solar panels. If you look to the left of the cottage you’ll see my little outhouse, which was surprisingly nice for an outhouse, and I’m not really a roughing-it kind of person, but this was all lovely.

Feeling very hygge in this space.

Note the little lofted sleeping area up in the back corner. It was fun to climb up there and look back down over the cabin.

 

Here are the neighboring kitchen cabin and the red cabin, where some other travelers were staying.

After checking in and getting oriented to my new home, I headed back out for sunset on the coast in Point Arena.

I am in this photo. Do you see me?

Ok, now you can see me.

Ten years of living in California now, and no, I still never tire of the coast. It’s infinitely, endlessly beautiful.

And there goes the last bit of sun for the year.

Goodbye, 2018.

Dusk.

There’s a little lighthouse all the way down there. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to visit it in the morning.

After it was dark, I headed to a pizza place that was still open on NYE to pick up a pie to take home. This photo was taken in the dark by putting the camera on a rock with a long shutter and brightened after the fact.

Also this one.

Back at the yellow cottage, my hosts had kindly asked beforehand if I was comfortable starting the fire in the wood stove and I had said nope, so they started it for me before they left for the night. What a warm and welcoming delight to come back to. And here is a not very good photo of the cabin at night with the stars, but it was too cold to stay out retaking this photo and you get the idea.

One more look at the stars.

The scene inside, with my pizza and the mini bottle of bubbly I got at the local store.

Agenda for the night: be cozy, read, go to sleep. Perfect.

The best thing about that lofted sleeping area is this skylight overhead. You get to sleep under the stars while being indoors. Here’s another not great photo since it was actually pitch black in real life. But perhaps you get the sense. Occasionally there were some dogs barking in the distance, but otherwise, without the humming of electricity or nearby neighbors, it really was just stars and silence.

Here’s where I started 2019.

I said good morning to the chickens on the farm, took a little look around at the gardens, and tidied up and got ready to head out for the day.

My first stop was back at the lighthouse that I had briefly seen from afar the day before. Actually, when I plan trips, I am fairly diligent about looking up possible points of interest ahead of time, taking into consideration their hours (especially since this was a holiday) and their location and arranging them accordingly with how much I want to see them and the order that makes sense to see them all. It’s all laid out on google maps and in my calendar, but then I afford a great deal of flexibility in the execution of my plan in case I want to add or take away things, stay longer or shorter, and so forth. So even in the case of these ‘spontaneous’ trips, a great deal is planned.

Having a little Richard Serra-like moment in the entrance.

The lighthouse had a really nice gift shop and little museum. Here was some embroidery inspiration for our upcoming embroidery at my birthday party!

A fresnel lens up close! The lighthouse is now lit by just one very strong LED light that’s replaced this whole contraption.

Okay, time to continue up the coast. You always see so many cows, some horses, and some sheep along the hills of California on these drives. I stopped for a quick photo of this one by the side of the road.

Random pullovers for scenic views.

The next scenic stop: Russian Gulch.

And over to the next lighthouse! This one is quite different from the last. Point Cabrillo Lighthouse. Very cute with its little red roof.

Near the lighthouse are all the lightkeepers’ houses, and you can tour inside the museum of one of them. The others are available as vacation rentals.

And finally, I squeezed in a very quick visit to Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, which has long been on my list but I’ve just never had the occasion to travel up this far on the 1. I do have a whole company named after sea glass, after all. (Seaglass Cinema).

This beach used to be a garbage dump, which is what resulted in all the glass that became sea glass here. Reviews lament the fact that most of the good glass is gone, having been taken by all the beachcombing tourists over the years. But there is still a lot of tiny glass left. They’re just blended in with all the regular rocks.

It’s quite interesting even without the glass.

And then I was on a deadline, because I had to drive the three hours back to the Bay to meet my family for New Year’s dinner in Berkeley! The drive back was beautiful, climbing in elevation into a large redwood preserve and then coming back out through Hopland and down through wine country. And I made it perfectly on time.

So, this was my treat to myself. A beautiful way to close out one year and start another. And a nice reminder to revel in the moment, go out in nature, explore something new, and spend time with myself. All very wonderful ways to recharge.

Wishing you all a very happy and salubrious 2019.

Anna Wu is a Bay Area wedding and portrait photographer. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.