Start: 0700 - South Lake Tahoe (Jennifer and Daniel's house)
End: 2100 - South Lake Tahoe (Jennifer and Daniel's house)
Miles (today): 0
Miles (cumulative): 1128 (982 PCT, 91.5 alternate, 54.5 off)
Today has been extremely relaxing and wonderful. Jennifer and Daniel are amazing people (and so are all their friends). I am so very grateful we met. :)
We slept well - the guest bed is so very comfortable! After enjoying a delicious breakfast of eggs, vegetables, and toast, Jennifer and Daniel asked if we wanted to stay another night. Nick and I were blown away by their generosity! My leg could definitely use the rest but, better than that, knowing I would be sleeping in their guest bed again made me so very happy.
Nick and I helped them do dishes (it's the least we could do) while they got their AirBnB room ready for the guests arriving later today. If anyone ever wants to spend time in South Lake Tahoe, I HIGHLY recommend staying in their private guest suite on the side of the house (formerly the garage). We took a tour of it and it's amazing. So for real - look up their rental on AirBnB and stay here! (Private Studio - Great Neighborhood, Jennifer and Daniel - 4483049 - www.Airbnb/room/4483049)
After the tour of the guest suite, Nick and I tagged along with them to the "Y" area, making stops at CVS (I bought earplugs and a wrap for my leg), the grocery store (we bought food for tonight's neighborhood gathering and Nick got Pringles for the trail), and Lake of the Sky Outfitter (I bought new socks, Nick bought some new food storage sacks, and we said hello to hikers we saw there, like Shotgun and Sing Song (Gerry is Sing Song, not Music Show! Oops!)
By noon we were back at the house. We ate tacos for lunch and just hung out in their front yard, relaxing and talking. It was so nice! Jennifer even let me use some facial products- including a hydrating mask and Argon oil - which made me feel almost human again. They really do live in a great community - their neighbors Keith and Carrie stopped over to say hello and so did Gayle and everyone made us feel right at home.
Gayle offered to give me a massage to help with my leg, so I took her up on the offer. She is the most amazing massage therapist ever - very intuitive and sensitive and just... Awesome. Knowing she wouldn't accept money for her time, I left some in the room (or tried to - she returned it when I saw her at the neighborhood gathering later). Sure enough, when I asked if I could give her something for her time she emphatically said no. However, she did accept one of the figurines Maddie and Theresa made (the butterfly). She also told me some things she felt directed to say - she didn't know exactly what it meant but it sure meant something to me (it was so profound I actually teared up). Gayle definitely has a gift for healing - her skill as a massage therapist heals the body; her calm presence and intuition heals the mind.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of more relaxing - I FaceTimed with Heather (and got to see my dear cat Charlie), I called K and we discussed his reasons for getting off trail (they make sense but damn), and I caught up on emails (being unconnected for almost three weeks leads to a lot of missed emails).
The neighborhood gathering this evening was so fun - as I said, they really do have a great community here. All of their friends were so wonderful - they made us feel as if we had known them for years. Anne and Dave, Delia and Dave, Carrie and Keith, Gayle, Dennis and Sandy (there were more that I'm forgetting, forgive me!) ... even the AirBnB renters stopped over (and they agree that the rental is amazing so it's not just me). It was a great day - exactly what I needed.