"I think that we're all mentally ill. Those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better - and maybe not all that much better after all." -- Stephen King
food
Lori L. Lake’s 2014 Autumn Women’s Writing Retreat (At Colonyhouse – Rockaway Beach, OR) Lori L. Lake's Autumn Women's Writing Retreat (Colonyhouse—Rockaway Beach, OR)
10/06/2014 13:50
Day 1 (October 5)— The White Zone is for loading and unloading of passengers, only. Well, okay, so that’s just the robotic voice in my head. Lori picked MB and me up at the Portland airport just before 11 a.m. (Pacific time). We loaded luggage into the van and immediately hit the road heading for Rockaway Beach (approx. 98 miles from the airport). We chatted about various topics and before we knew it we hit Tillamook where we needed to stop at Fred Meyer (grocery store). We managed to get some lunch and other shizzle and drove the few remaining miles to Rockaway Beach.
We hauled luggage, pillows, tables and other random stuff up the never-ending stairs from the road up to Colonyhouse. Whew! What a workout! Everyone dumped their stuff in their assigned rooms, made their beds and unpacked. As others arrived we all met our roommates. (Mine brought her own camper van, so I’m actually rooming alone in the basement “Bonnie Graham” room).
Around 4 p.m. all ten of us gathered in the dining room and Lori and Luca laid out the plans for the week. Meal schedules and menus, kitchen duty, and daily quiet time for writing as well as appointments with Lori for our individual session. Lori then handed each of us our own three ring binder with numerous helpful articles to assist us with areas we expressed the need for assistance…or maybe even assurance…on. As usual, Lori is the ever attentive, organized and amazing teacher!
Luca whipped up a fabulous Indian meal for us, along with salad and a variety of fruit, veggie, cheese and cracker snacks. Well fed and chatty we helped clean up and then moved the party to the living room. Lori initiated a group ‘go around’ to introduce ourselves, explain where we are in our writing journey and just for shits and giggles—something weird about ourselves. For those of us from Minnesota (we refer to ourselves as the Minnesota Minions),time both dragged and flew because although EVERYONE’s story was interesting, amusing and captivating, it was almost midnight back home. We agreed to call it a night and the group filed off to our respective rooms to crash…or maybe read for a bit to wind down (this was what I did).
We hauled luggage, pillows, tables and other random stuff up the never-ending stairs from the road up to Colonyhouse. Whew! What a workout! Everyone dumped their stuff in their assigned rooms, made their beds and unpacked. As others arrived we all met our roommates. (Mine brought her own camper van, so I’m actually rooming alone in the basement “Bonnie Graham” room).
Around 4 p.m. all ten of us gathered in the dining room and Lori and Luca laid out the plans for the week. Meal schedules and menus, kitchen duty, and daily quiet time for writing as well as appointments with Lori for our individual session. Lori then handed each of us our own three ring binder with numerous helpful articles to assist us with areas we expressed the need for assistance…or maybe even assurance…on. As usual, Lori is the ever attentive, organized and amazing teacher!
Luca whipped up a fabulous Indian meal for us, along with salad and a variety of fruit, veggie, cheese and cracker snacks. Well fed and chatty we helped clean up and then moved the party to the living room. Lori initiated a group ‘go around’ to introduce ourselves, explain where we are in our writing journey and just for shits and giggles—something weird about ourselves. For those of us from Minnesota (we refer to ourselves as the Minnesota Minions),time both dragged and flew because although EVERYONE’s story was interesting, amusing and captivating, it was almost midnight back home. We agreed to call it a night and the group filed off to our respective rooms to crash…or maybe read for a bit to wind down (this was what I did).