LocationLocated on the owner's property, Getchell Cottage is a cute little place just minutes from the town of Gualala, California. The cottage has it's own walkway from where you can park your car (with a nice view of the ocean!), but everyone at Paula's house is really nice and you will probably see them on your way in or out, so do say hello! You'll pass the Sea Ranch Lodge, a boutique hotel with a spa and art gallery, about 12 miles or so before you reach the cottage. The town of Gualala took it's name from it's river when the Pomo Indians chose the name Gualala for it's meaning "water coming down place" according to www.gualala.com. There is some interesting historical information there as well as valuable traveler information and fun facts including famous movies and shows that were filmed in the area! Cute and tiny, I enjoyed driving through the main street of town, but did not have the opportunity to stop as we already had other things planned. There is a lot to do around here for the active and outdoorsy person who loves hiking, biking, kayaking, horse riding, fishing, and the like. A Few Of My Favorite Things!The airbnb listing offers so many photos that help you appreciate the layout of the cottage. I felt compelled to capture the personality and details that I loved. Let's start at the back of the house: BedroomThe bedroom was cozy with backdoor access, a closet and dresser, nightstand, and perfectly dressed bed. I loved the little wall fire place as well. And who wouldn't love that "Think Spring" pillow!? The smell of freshly cut lilacs had filled the house before we entered. Such a sweet touch. The basket of towels was also impossible to miss! I was 100% fascinated by the decoration on the window ledge behind the lilacs and bath towels. (Maybe this was my downfall in later checking out every window ledge and realizing they all hadn't seen the same love for a while?) Still, I think it was worth it because I just love these little things!!!! Through The DoorwayMoving through the bedroom doorway, you enter a little space which, to the left has a futon, to the right a bathroom, and in between a few cute things I need to mention! A little kids area boasted this hilarious lamb-in-a-chair as well as some children's books etc. Bring out your crafty side with a stack of artsy fartsy books to pass the time and help you feel accomplished ;) Or read a book from the neighboring shelf. Into The Kitchen!Head through the next doorway to the kitchen area. Immediately to your left you will find a shelf with reusable bags for the store or your day trips and a super cute S'mores supply tin for the bonfire your hosts are happy to stir up for you. You'll also be delighted to find beach towels which are a luxury when you pack in carry-on bags or less. Beneath the towels are nicely labeled recycling bins that let you contribute to a greener world! The fridge held a sweet welcome basket with delicious lemon scones, granola, local yogurt, a a jug of mint water. There was also a small bottle of California wine! <3 So thoughtful :) I did find a stowaway in a plant pot on the kitchen counter. Not sure if this was a treasure gifted by a past guest or the owner. Regardless, I was humored by it... clearly. Life Lesson: Let more things humor you. You'll be glad when you do! ;) Living Room LikesThe nest chair's sea life pillow seemed the perfect spot to prop my Swell Alani Sunglasses on. (More on them later). Unlike most sunglasses that die at sea, these babies float. They live for sea life. :p Shut the front door!When you do shut the front door, you'll see some great flowers and plants. Most of which are foreign to the east coast. Okay, that may not be true, but they were brand new and super cool to me! (Not all, but a lot of them!) The property is also 3 acres and includes horse(s) and fainting goats!! How did I not get to track them down?! #fail You can also see a ton of deer including bucks super close. We saw several the day we pulled in. Of course, my camera was packed away still. blah! The DownsideThere's not a lot of downside to this cottage, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out a couple of things. 1. The listing is accurate when it mentions no guarantee of internet or phone signal. We never could get the wifi to even come up, let alone connect to it. (The main house network showed up, but not the one on our information sheet for the cottage). The signal was really bad. Text messages would mostly go through.. eventually. Just keep it in mind if you need to be in touch with others for some obligation or other, it will be less convenient than normal. That being said, the lack of connectivity led to me going to bed earlier, getting more rest, and being generally more relaxed. So it's a bit of a pro and con at the same time. 2. I think we visited before "Spring Cleaning" ;). In all the house was well maintained and had darling details, but once we settled in we noticed some cleaning issues that have been overlooked. I am certain these will be taken care of before another guest arrives. Still, and a general airbnb rule, don't expect a spotless hotel room, expect a cozy home, which will always have some dust hanging about. The Clumsy Sum UpAs you can see, there are a lot of fabulous details about this little place and that's not even all of them. Seriously, if you forget anything, ANYTHING (shower stuff, razor, tooth brush, q tips..) it will be at the cottage for you. They have a great supply of amenities like that as well. The location is great for a chill few days, doing local outdoorsy things, enjoying the bonfire, and generally unwinding. It takes a while to drive to anything on highway 1 in this area, so in retrospect, I wish we would have stayed here just 1 night and stayed somewhere else each subsequent night. It can be annoying to relocate daily, but it's also annoying to drive 1-2 hours each way for each days' activity instead of just parking it overnight by each activity. If that makes sense? If you want to check out Getchell Cottage, search airbnb for 'Gualala'. Click any of the pictures in this article for a discount off your first airbnb stay. The amount always changes, but I think it's $20 at the time of this post. About this post
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6/21/2022 11:51:44 am
ks for sharing the article, and more importantly, your personal experience mindfully using our emotions as data about our inner state and knowing when it’s better to de-escalate by taking a time out are great tools. Appreciate you reading and sharing your story since I can certainly relate and I think others can to
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