Capping Off The Summer

Or, who’s the passenger now?

We had a great plan to ride to Colorado this month, in fact, right now we would be in Durango, CO. Instead, we are in Dillon Beach, CA.

Why? Because Tom broke his patella in a fall while backpacking with our son and grandkids.

He was on crutches and in a brace several weeks. The doctor told us that we could consider planning our next trip after Halloween. We cancelled all our plans including two motorcycle trips Tom had planned with his friends.

Anyone who knows Tom, knows that he’s project-driven. He was going stir crazy! The whole family pitched in to help him bide his time during recovery. His sister got him a book of Wordles, Cathy got him a clock kit, his stepkids gave him a cherry tree Lego kit and he blew through these in the first couple of weeks.

Tom needed a change of scenery. We took a short getaway to Santa Rosa and stayed at our kids house and went to the Australian Pink Floyd show. He did okay – crutches and all and it improved his outlook.

He’s now off of crutches, out of the brace and has started physical therapy. We’re even taking short walks so we felt we could get away for some sort of substitute vacation.

We found a vacation rental right on the edge of the Pacific that was one story and only a few hours away by car. Cathy has been doing the bulk of the driving and Tom is not a great passenger and needs to move his knee often so Dillon Beach was perfect.

This is a beautiful place but very isolated. There is a campground and a general store. Knowing this, we brought all of our evening meals and have gone to lunch while exploring the small towns to the north, south and east. Today we went to Bodega Bay and had lunch at one of our favorite places – Fishetarium.

The best things about this place are the wildlife, the birdwatching and the sunsets. The weather has been great. Today was first foggy day. You expect that on the north coast – June Gloom, Grey Sky July and Faugust.

We could not get the TV working so there have been many naps and well-earned relaxation.

This was a good rest for both of us and we will try another getaway closer to our anniversary in November and will begin planning our next Monkeybutt ride. Maybe spring?

Cathy is looking forward to being a passenger again and giving Tom a healthy dose of driving advice to repay him for all the helpful tips he’s shared on this trip. Stay tuned for the next chapter.