Leaving Paradise - Goodbye Sonoma

January 18, 2000 was one of the worst/best/worst-again days of my life.  

My beloved Bob Newman and I fled DeWitt, IA, in the middle of a horrific blizzard, with about six hours notice, and I think something like $250 in the bank.  We narrowly escaped satan, slavery, and a lifetime of misery shackled to a monster mansion B&B in Galena, IL.  Boy were we smart/lucky!  

Running for freedom, and what remained of our lives, we headed "home" to our Bay Area.  City life had grown tiresome, and we were the custodians of two very well developed Pot Bellied pigs, so renting a flat was no longer an option.  We were starting over - from scratch. Considering our slim options for rentals (two pigs and a dog) we chose the country near to San Francisco.  

"Napa or Sonoma?" Bob asked.  We tried to remember from our few weekend drives which town we liked better.  We recalled Sonoma's topography was lush, green, and prettier than neighboring brown, flat Napa.  We recalled a trip to the quaint historic Sonoma Plaza, the site of an overnight vacation several Thanksgivings earlier.  So just like that, like putting a finger on a page, or throwing a dart on a pin-tacked map on the wall - we had made our choice.

We'd lost our investment, had no friends, and no job leads, but as we pulled through the sleepy little town in our Jeep with U-haul wagon in tow, relief. 

Without wasting a second, I came up with a plan B.  The Bed & Breakfast dream was dead.  And born from that death was the idea of a lodging reservations service, Stay Sonoma.  I thought I was a genius.  I knew I'd be the town hero.  I'd be saving the day - matching visitors to unique one-of-a-kind lodging options that they would never find on their own.  A vacation match-maker guru so to speak.  And while I was happy to be in Sonoma, I learned Sonoma wasn't all that happy to have ME.  

The next few were the David & Goliath years.  I took on the town, and steadily won the hearts (and business) of many, one at a time.  (Thanks Andrea Raymond, Cathie Sperring, Brenda McNeill and the rest of you early adopters - you know who you are!)

Moving our beloved Bob back to San Francisco, working the start-up business, and making a go of living in a small retirement community as a single, middle-aged overweight woman was tricky at best, and mostly overwhelming.  Then one day ....

I got the break I'd been looking for.  The luckiest ever!  The payoff.  My Sonoma Grand Prize, The Gerbode family.  They saved me, and I love them for that.  I've lived a beautiful Sonoma life in Gerbodeland for about four years, and I'm heartbroken to see it end.  The house on the market, the rooms being "staged" and the buzz of change spinning all around us.  We walk around in a bit of a daze, looking like we're going to break out in tears at any given moment.  I speak for myself when I say I'm a bit needy/clingy with them at the moment.  

They will be my close friends forever, and Eloise and I will miss them dearly (when we're not sleeping hand-to-paw in their new guest room somewhere in Sonoma).  But tonight our beloved Bob Newman arrives with that same trusty Jeep to once again pull us to our new destination.

The next adventure?  Marin.  I know, I know, 30 minutes away.  But 30 minutes or 30,000 miles, the beauty, love, connectedness, safety and perfection of this leg of the journey will never be duplicated.  For those of you who didn't visit in person, here are photos of my home in Gerbodeland.  It will be missed.