Seattle Washington 2009 BellaOnline Gathering
Today is the first day of our gathering! I woke up at 8am, got a fruit cup and OJ from the little Starbucks shop downstairs in the lobby area as I just wasn't hungry enough for a full breakfast. I went back to the room and caught up more on mail. At about 9:30am I checked out and went to the front of the hotel. I asked the person there and he said they had taxis right there to take me. He called me over a taxi to take me to the house. It didn't look like a taxi - it looked like a regular black sedan. I asked the porter what a taxi would cost to Des Moines and he said $20.Cost: $30 for a 10 minute ride. Hmmmm. I got a receipt and figured I'd write the Marriott later.
The house owner Alia was there with a male friend. It turns out the house is three levels and they're connected by a TINY spiral staircase. The guy carried my heavy 49.5 pound main suitcase up those stairs - I wasn't sure how I'd get it down again!
Alia gave me the keys, a receipt, and they left. I was set! It's amazing how the internet works, that I found this place completely sight unseen and she just turns the keys over to me when I appear. There were a LOT of very nice things in the house - vases, sculptures, paintings, etc. I don't know if I'd be that trusting with my house with strangers, and I don't have many nice things in mine to steal :)
I went ALL over the house taking tons of photos. It is three levels, with four bedrooms. It's on a steep slope down to the water. So the front door is on "ground level" at the middle level of the house. However when you go down to the lower level, it has a walk out deck from that bedroom which is also ground level, on the stairs down to the water.
The front door leads into the kitchen on the right, and the living room on the left. To the hard left is one of the bedrooms with a queen bed and the modem and router for the free full-house wireless internet. In the living room there's a spiral staircase in the left corner that goes up and down, that is how you reach the other two levels.
The living room is large with two different seating areas, and large windows that overlook a triangular shaped deck that is high over the water. There are actually houses "below" you, and a very narrow path leads down from the house to the rocky beach.
I always bring lots of stuff ("swag") to gatherings to give to the participants and to show-and-tell.
The back deck is a strange perspective trick - it looks tiny but actually it's long. It is fairly high up off the sloping ground. There is another deck immediately beneath it.
I brought a bunch of instruments for us to play with. Including a cowbell!
This is the bedroom on this middle floor.
The spiral staircase up is narrow.
There's a desk immediately on the left of the upstairs level.
The bed faces the ocean.
There are actual "holes" in the floor of this level, that open up to the level below (the main living level) for air circulation. Then there is a front "sitting area" that lets you look out over the ocean.
Back down the stairs.
The downstairs floor has two bedrooms. One is facing the ocean and has its own private deck!
The back bedroom on the lower floor is two twin beds that are fold-out beds, with no window.
Time to go exploring down to the beach!
It's amazing, I saw later that the tide comes all the way in so the water is right up against the cement. It's not only right against the cement but several feet high there.
I was just coming up from my watery explorations when I saw Barbara / Stepparenting had arrived and was standing on the deck! Barbara and I spent several hours going in detail over how to use the forums, how to publish ebooks, and much more. Then in short order Al / Musician arrived, Rae / Body Art arrived, and Pam / Special Needs Children.
By now the main deck was in full sunlight and very hot, so we went down to the private deck below where it was cool and shady and it was perfect. A view of the ocean, a restful breeze. We began discussing a wide variety of topics.
It was 7pm before we knew it. Al and Barbara did a grocery run and Pam had already brought a ton of food with her for us - including a chicken! In short order we had potato salad, more chicken, beans, a veggie platter, cheese, fruits, drinks, and we were set. We started with some fresh grilled and fried chicken they'd brought along with beans.
We were still eating when we realized a gorgeous sunset was happening. We ran out with cameras, and moved up to my room's sitting room to look at it from there. We talked up there for a while, then moved out to the back deck. The stars began to come out.
It was near 11 before Barbara and Pam decided they needed to get back to their homes. Al, Rae and I made tea and moved back out onto the back deck, with a circle of battery-powered tea lights. Al played us some MP3s of beautiful emotion-related music he'd composed - "Bach Flower Music". It was great! Before we knew it it was 1am! Time to get some sleep.
Especially since the pencils I'd ordered for the gathering had arrived the day I flew out - so Bob packed a bunch up and two-nighted them to me here in the house! Unfortunately I now have to wake up at 8:45 to call the post office here, to make sure they deliver them properly. That gives me under 7 hours of sleep :) Time to get to bed!
Here are more photos that we took after Barbara arrived!
Home On the Sound official website
Seattle WA Main Page
Lisa's 2009 Travelogues Main Page
Lisa's Travelogues Main Page