On the Road Again!
by Pamelagrace Beatty
I usually do a personal retreat in the fall and spring. I find a small town (has to be small, if it’s a big city, I might as well stay home! Too much energy!) and stay in a nice hotel and just chill. Yep, being a recovering Type-A (one who must be doing and achieving all the time), I also take several books to read, my laptop, my traveling journal for notes on my experience and my miniature art kit. Although this is a lot of stuff to take for a weekend retreat, I like to have choices, but I know I won’t get to it all.
I haven’t done a retreat since the pandemic. I figured all the shops and restaurants I like in the small towns would be closed and I read too many stories about people getting COVID after staying at a hotel. Since I had the good fortune to be vaccinated recently, I decided it was time to hit the road again. So off I went to La Conner, Washington, one of my favorite small towns to hang out in. I still thought restaurants would be closed. I thought there would be few if any visitors. I doubted my favorite shops would be open. But I knew my favorite inn would be. To my surprise there were tons of people! After I got off the freeway, the highway to La Conner was backed up. There was some sort of something going on in one of the fields and people were parked along the road and walking through the fields to somewhere. There was a long line at the cute little stand that sells jams, wine, ice cream cones, smoked salmon, fancy mustards and more. I have never seen the stand that busy. When I got into town, the streets were filled with visitors. There was no parking in the streets, only parking in the lots slightly beyond the town. I attributed the crowds to the first sunny day we were having. Most of the restaurants were open for take-out and many allowed in door dining at 25% capacity. Reservations were advised. I guess I wasn’t the only one experiencing severe cabin fever!
It strikes some folks as strange that I go places by myself and have a good time. I have traveled to New Zealand, Ireland, Greece, England, Italy, Spain, Israel and other places alone. Some of the destinations were work-related. Some were vacation – or holiday – as the Europeans say (I like that term, “holiday” for vacation). I have no problem getting out and seeing the city by myself. Well, that’s not completely true…I have had problems when I didn’t speak the language and the people there didn’t speak English. I had a terrible time getting around in Athens one year until a I met a nice guy who spoke English fluently. I was riding the bus and thought because I knew the Greek alphabet I could figure out where I was going. By the time I deciphered the letters and turned them into English in my head, we were long past the sign. So, the man I met was quite helpful. Traveling alone locally is pretty easy and there’s lots to do in La Conner if you get there at the right time. There are flower festivals, music festivals, a special Luthier music festival (for people who play, love and build guitars!!) and more, plus those restaurants, shops and galleries.
I’ve been going there several times a year for years. I love it. I like the drive. I like seeing all the farmland growing I-don’t-what but I like looking at the fields. Once I hit the daffodil season and there were huge fields of flowers. Several times I’ve gone when these lovely white geese were flocking to the fields and there were hundreds of them covering the land. Last time I went it was cold and all the horses were wearing coats which I thought was quite cute.
My favorite hotel is The La Conner Country Inn which has fireplaces in each room. I love watching the flames flicker and feeling the gentle warmth that comes from the fire. The Inn is right downtown. There is a nice restaurant attached to it and there are also plenty of restaurant choices in the town. The beds have soft white comforters. I love comforters. When I first saw them many years ago in Europe, I wondered what happened to the blankets?! I found sleeping under a comforter like sleeping under a giant soft pillow. I loved that. Once I returned home, I purchased a comforter and have slept under them ever since. The feather ones are best because they lightly hold the heat in by molding around your body shape.
In the past few years, I have gotten to know some of the shop owners. I am somewhat shy so getting the nerve up to talk to them took me awhile. Now I know the mayor of La Conner, Ramon Hayes, who recognized me even with my hair color change and a mask on! He is a rather beautiful man who owns a high-end jewelry store and has a lovely wife and daughter, both of whom he is quite fond of. He is also a musician (as is his daughter) and wishes to get back to music one day. He’s been the mayor for 14 years!! Can you imagine? I bought a lovely piece of jewelry from his store 6 years ago. A turquoise necklace made by two different Native American craftsmen from different tribes. On one of my visits to the town, he asked me if I wore the necklace and I said not often because it was so noticeable it made me uncomfortable. He said, “WEAR IT!” So now I do.
I seldom touch all of the things I have brought with me to do. When I retreat for week, I do more reading, art making – I have this lovely leather-bound book of handmade paper just perfect for watercolor and pastels drawings – and of course journaling and finally working if I feel the need. I don’t watch T.V. nor listen to the radio. I do listen to music. The most fun is exploring whatever town I am in and slowly getting to know the shop owners. Once I know the folks in the town, it feels more comfortable, and I want to come back there.
Personal retreats are necessary to me for a number of reasons. When I am at home, it is difficult to do a “time out” and just sit quietly and see what comes to me. The house chores call to me, the projects call to me, I’m always thinking, “Gotta do this, gotta do that”. No peace. Even though I meditate and journal, I still am thinking, “And when I finish this, I have to……”. When I go to La Conner or anyplace to retreat, there are no “gottas”. I just have to eat and leave on time. That’s it. Everything else is up for grabs. Although I took my laptop on my last retreat, I never opened up. I took two books. Never read ‘em. I did journal. I was wondering if I would enjoy it like I usually do because my recent trip down the coast of Oregon with my last boyfriend was so amazing. I wasn’t sure being by myself would be as good as it has been in the past. But it was. The beauty of doing a personal retreat is I have uncluttered space and time to think about my life. My mind is open to new ideas, directions, ways to solve or resolve problems. My shoulders relax. I give myself permission to just be in the present; to breathe, to enjoy the moment. The side benefit is meeting new people and having delicious dinners I didn’t cook and climbing into lovely clean sheets I didn’t have to wash and place on the bed. It is a delightful, voluntary “time out” and encourages my creativity and relieves stress. What’s not to love?
