Let's start with setting the scene

I'm back from a fantastic week of fiber fun at the Golden Gate Fiber Institute. I have come home with close to 30 skeins of yarn I dyed myself, a lovely scarf for one of my sisters, and over 100 photos. I've been pondering all week how I would present these all to you such that you might consider attending yourself next year. Truly, it's worth doing! For this post, I'll start by setting the scene - where were we? My next post will focus on the people, and then we'll get in to the cool things and the magic we made with color.

The Golden Gate Fiber Institute was held at the Point Bonita YMCA, an old converted military facility just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. The rooms are all shared and we slept on old metal-and-wire bunk beds. The accommodations were no Ritz-Carlton, but the view around us and the information we were learning was worth every bit of it.


The week was mostly foggy and cool, but I was prepared with extra layers and that awesome purple shawl I wove last month. And when I got to take pictures like this, I hardly noticed the weather.

That last photo is of the Golden Gate Bridge, with the fog slowly rising above it. A seagull flew by to cameo in the picture. The other pictures are of the view on the walk out to the lighthouse. Quiet and wonderful.

I did not have a chance to go out to the lighthouse itself, tho' I did find the door through the rock outcrop pretty neat.
Being a mostly suburb-raised chick, I have to admit the proximity of critters was particularly thrilling.
Sometimes, a bit too thrilling - this gent surprised me while I was taking pictures of the cliffs across the little bay:

No harm done - I got to take photos of him, and he sniffed around and pretty much ignored me. All was safe in the world.

On our last day (figures!) the sun finally came out, and the views which were intriguing in the mist became spectacular.

Landscapes weren't the only interesting things to see. The military installation at Point Bonita dates back to WWII, and is now mostly overgrown.
It was truly wonderful and a step away from the Real World. The food was also quite good - the cooks were very sweet about making special meals for me given my food allergies. Nice cooks, we loved them.

So, in the next day or two, we'll focus on the people that made my vacation wonderful! In particular, the awesome roomies of room 9! I love you guys!