Hello All,
The Ahwahnee turned out to be a lovely spot to gather in November, so we decided to meet up here again. Thanks to Molly who prepared a prompt for us to work on using our words. I’m still noodling away on the poem those suggestions inspired.
December Gathering Details:
Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Time: 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Location: Inside The Ahwahnee hotel by the fireplaces – either in front of the Dining Room or in the Great Lounge depending on what is open.
**Note: Due to ongoing construction projects, parking at The Ahwahnee is temporarily limited to valet parking only. If you’re not interested in valet parking, read the section below on parking.
As always, beginners are welcome. I hope to see you there!
What to Expect:
Last month we were able to spend a brief time outside noticing and observing things before heading inside to finish up poems and share what we’d seen. With the even earlier sunset (4:39 pm) this time around, we elected to move our observations indoors where it is light and warm.
Bring:
- Something to write with and on. I’ll try to have some extra stuff if you forget, but a bit of printer paper and a free pen from your favorite hotel/store is perfectly adequate.
- Something fun to observe.
- Pictures are OK too, but having a 3-D thing to peer at is extra fun. Please be conscious of Leave No Trace and don’t, you know, rip plants out of the ground to bring them, but if you have an interesting found item that would be great. Rocks, leaves, plant parts, small houseplants? Unfortunately, The Ahwahnee doesn’t allow pets.
- If you don’t want to bring something we can also find nature/natural things inside the hotel. There are often seasonal displays, and of course, plenty of human nature to wonder at. And with luck, they will have the fires going.
- I’m planning to bring a piece of wood with bird’s nest fungus on it for your discovery and enjoyment too. It’s amazing.
Parking/Driving Considerations:
The Ahwahnee is in the midst of a few different renovation projects including rebuilding the kitchen and seismic improvements. Because of those construction projects, hotel parking is temporarily limited to valet parking only.
Day-use valet parking is $10 with validation and $15 without.
Church Bowl Picnic Area Parking
The Church Bowl Picnic Area is located on Ahwahnee Drive on your way to The Ahwahnee. Given the time of year and day, I expect that there will be plenty of parking available here.
Google says this is about 0.5 miles from The Ahwahnee and should take 9 minutes to walk.
North Side Drive Pullout Parking
Another option if you want a slightly shorter walk are the pullouts along Northside Drive that are across the Ahwahnee Lawn from the hotel itself. These pullouts only hold a few cars, but given the time of year, I suspect these will also be an option. One thing to note is that you will have to walk back across the Ahwahnee lawn in the dark. The last time I did this, it was less obvious than I thought it would be, but maybe I am just used to having the old tennis court there??
I can’t get Google to estimate the walking time for me, but it’s quite a bit shorter than the half-mile to Church Bowl. Say – 5 minutes?
Car-pooling
I’m not going to post the link in public, but remember that we have a contact list that we can use to organize car-pooling. If you don’t have the link or want me to resend it to you, let me know at simplytheresa(at)gmail(dot)com.