!!

Yay aurelia! (What's the show? Can you say? Should we get tickets to see it?)

Coincidentally, I started compiling data some months ago, and here is fact dumping of the info gleaned from friends whom I asked for referrals for lodge – retreat – rental spaces that can accommodate a group that doesn’t want to camp (necessarily, but possible for some!) from the Pacific Northwest down to the Calif. Bay Area.

Okay, I added comments at the beginning and at the end, and the middle is raw data from friends. Too tired to do more now.

Heh. Breitenbush was mentioned by three different people.

Spreading this out over a few posts...

OREGON --

Brietenbush Hot Springs (you've been right?) Not sure it is for ALL but lovely healthy food. This is a 1-2 hour drive from Portland airport, up in the foothills. It's sort of like Harbin, except with smaller hot pools. [link] www.breitenbush.com [link] The clothing-optional aspect might eliminate it. (That reminds me: at a clothing optional hot spring last month, a guy in a Utilikilt flashed me and my friend as we were all loading stuff in our cars to leave. I thought of ND for some reason :)

Camp Angelos, which is about a 30 minute drive from Portland airport. No hot springs, but yes a cold river. Beautiful lodge: [link] Commercial kitchen The lodge is beautiful. Strictly bunkbeds in cabins and nice locker-room type bathhouse.

Cool place where friend of friend got married: Anderson Lodge. [link] This Scandinavian resort, nestled in the forest is near Mt. St. Helens, 1 hour north of Portland and 23 miles east of I-5. The website irritates the heck out of me because it’s hard to see what the various lodges look like. An advantage of this is that there is a large house with a bunch of bedrooms to rent, some smaller houses for rental, a hostel-type dorm/communal kitchen spot, and camping (RV and tent) for people who really want to save $$ on lodging or enjoy camping.

[all raw data here. I don't work with a tribe.]

WASHINGTON -- Port Townsend/Fort Worden (30 min. walk from downtown) & 2.5 hrs from SeaTac airport (or a 20 min. scenic flight from SeaTac to PT for ~$100) Michael's family (we) have rented the 11 room (23 person) bldg ~$400/night that is funky but was perfect for a gathering (two stoves, two fridges, etc) and beaches, woods, town, etc. This location has just committed, fully, to locally grown, organic foods & the chef is magnificent! So tasty meals could be included in the accommodation & not a headache for anyone. [link]

Olympic Park Institute Rustic, on the magical Lake Cresent ~3 hrs from Seattle & flights to Port Angeles ~$50-70 each + ~30 min. flight It’s really hard to see what the buildings look like, gov’t website. Has wireless Internet. [link] [link] [link]

Sol Duc Hot springs & Klaloch again about 3+ hours from Seattle but more hiking, check details for group meals, etc both of these have restaurants, so catered meals? [link]

Quileute Tribe has cabins (2-4 person) and amazing WA coast, but much pricier & only the coast & 4+ hours to SeaTac [link] There is a BEACH HOUSE that could be for gathering but not sure easy to accommodate 50+ eating together... but possible to work out if you want my help, I've been working with Quileute for 5 years

Likely Orcas or other San Juan Islands are available but might be too far. Let me know and I can try to look

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Check out Padmasambhava Peace Institute aka Black Mountain Preserve. It's about 5 miles along Fort Ross Road from Cazadero. [link] . And I'll think about some more places.

How about ClareTappan lodge owned by the Sierra Club off of 80 near Tahoe - rustic but with bunks and private rooms large main room. I think in Soda Springs? I stayed there once or twice and loved it. [link]

Chaminade in Santa Cruz area? [link]

There’s a new retreat center at Baker Beach in Marin, literally under the Golden Gate Bridge, called Cavallo Point - The Lodge at Golden Gate. But it’s really expensive. [link]

Marin Headlands [link] Rodeo Beach is quite close to San Francisco yet right on the ocean. You drive through a tunnel from the first exit after the GG Bridge, then go west until you get there.

Marin/Sonoma coastal - Marconi Center [link] [link] Owned by the state parks system since 1984, the 62-acre retreat has just finished a $1.95 million renovation project in efforts to become a lower-key version of the Monterey Peninsula's Asilomar Conference Grounds. This is about a 2 hour drive from SFO, maybe 3 hours, depending on how scenic the route taken.

Speaking of which, here’s the local gold standard: Monterey, CA peninsula – Asilomar [link] This place is spectacular, and you can’t beat the price for the Monterey/Carmel Valley. It’s not exactly near a major airport though for those who are averse to driving from either San Jose or SFO, there is a Monterey airport.

What's the show? Can you say? Should we get tickets to see it?

It's this. I'm handling the remount for the original designer. I haven't actually seen anything yet, so I can't make any judgment about the show itself.

DC area peeps:

I'm going to be in your town on Halloween and a few days after. I'll have family stuff Halloween day/night itself, and on Saturday the 1st I'm going to head up to Baltimore with Sparky, but I was hoping I might be able to arrange a group dinner on either Sunday the 2nd or Monday the 3rd. Would anyone be around?

I should be ... although our conference is that week, so I may get called in to work over the weekend ... sigh.

We should be in town. Sundays usually work better for us.

Ms Havisham and I will be around...