Life at the Inn

This has been such a fun and interesting experience so far--travel nursing that is.  I will say, when I pull out some clothes I haven't worn in a while and they smell like Extended Stay America, I do dry heave a little bit.  Three months in hotels was plenty, thank you. And, Sacramento was a little lonely for the first three weeks, until my friends in the Bay would encourage me to meet them halfway or come hang out with them and their friends from home any time some were coming to the area and I finally felt like I had friends at work.  So, that helped take care of much of the loneliness and lack of social life in Sacramento.  On the positive side of things, I am blown away by all of the awe-inspiring and breathtaking sights there are to see here all within such close proximity.  I haven't gotten bored yet in the Bay--there's always somewhere we can go, something we can explore, something new and exciting to experience and that will take our breath away and fill us with child-like wonder.  It seems the interesting experiences will never cease.  The people in the area are very different from home and even from one another here.  It's extremely diverse; it's always interesting.  (I hope the diversity doesn't become monotonous.)

A new, interesting experience, in the two weeks I've been here, is living at my bed and breakfast inn.  It is owned by a middle-aged couple.  Theresa, my inn-keeper, grew up in London and spent her summers in Ireland.  Her husband is from Arizona, I think.  They restored this Victorian home and opened the inn in 1986.  Built in 1890, the house has six rooms: four on the first floor; two larger rooms in the basement (which is really the ground floor); we have a parlor and a sitting room adjacent with a fireplace.  There is a small dining area and a kitchen on the ground floor. Theresa has decorated the home with antique furniture and it has a rustic Old West feel in some areas and an English cottage feel in others.  We have a nice pool and jacuzzi in the backyard, with a lovely patio and BBQ firepit.  And (this may be the best part), Theresa bakes chocolate chip cookies and leaves the little bits of delight on the table just outside my door for the guests to eat!!!

Thursday nights, Theresa and Ralph (her husband) cook us wonderful dinners and we sit around the firepit, sharing dinner, wine, our stories and getting to know one another.  Dinner was delicious this week:  scallops wrapped in bacon with salad and asparagas (yes, mom, I liked it all!) and another rice, onion and cheese dish that I can't remember the name of.  We also enjoyed a nice dinner in the sitting room on Tuesday, around a robust, crackling fire, having great conversation.  We are now all studying wine since we have a budding sommelier in our midst!  I'm afraid I'm not a very good student and doubt I will remember the technicalities, but, it's a very fun topic and everybody enjoys discussing it (much more complex than I realized). : )

Currently,  five of us will be staying as guests for a few months:  one very pleasant man who has just started a new job at Yahoo and is in the "in between" making the move up here and selling his house at home;  a nice young couple about my age--the young woman a couple years younger than I is studying to be a  sommelier (a "wine steward") and her fiance is a small plane pilot looking to establish business in the area.

The neighborhood is interesting.  San Jose is an old city, with old beautiful Victorian homes dotting the streets, surrounded by some not-as-old, not-as-well-kept buildings from the years following ('60s, 70's, etc), so it's an interesting contrast that doesn't always seem to flow well.  But, the older buildings still maintain their classic Victorian charm, if you can disregard some of the stale "modern" buildings around them.

Some more pics of the place:

The parlor, to the right as you enter the house.

The parlor.

My little room . . . 

My desk with my little heater . . . 

I feel like I'm in a movie much of the time!  These lodging accommodations are indeed old-fashioned and I am sharing a house with five people!  But, it's very fun and everybody is very nice/interesting.  The scenery in the area is still wonderful, especially when the days are so clear you can see the outline of the branches of the trees on the mountains silhouetted against the blue sky and sunlight. Or when you stand on the edge of a 100 ft cliff and stare off over the Pacific with the waves crashing and roaring below. Or when 30 of you couldn't wrap your arms around a tree 2,000 years old!  I don't mean to over-romanticize it, but, I can't help it.  I am a romantic.  And, I see from His creation, my God is also a romantic.

I hope you are all being romanced as well!