Susan Cousineau

Thank you Anne! I really appreciate your sharing those questions onward.

Have a great week,
Susan

Curiosity questions as I'm designing around the idea of a practical skills-based lab/makerspace.... I have Qs:

What skills do you wish you'd had coming out of a PDC?

What did you expect to learn, and didn't?

If you're a few years post-PDC... did you dive into workshops? internship or training? Going it on your own? What do you now feel you wasted time on?

I took my PDC in 2012 with Geoff Lawton in Jordan and feel like I got a great overview of the field but as in any 72-hour course, there's very limited space and opportunity to learn widely practical skills - how (and when) to use different types of levels, for instance. Since then I've taken workshops in mycology, earthworks, grazing, holistic management, food forestry, more PDCs, and others, and have applied knowledge from all of those to our site and different places I've lived.

If you're a farm/site owner, what skills do you first and foremost wish people came to you already knowing?

TIA

Re: Couchsurfing... I've got a good number of great references, have hosted and been hosted, and contacted about 12 people, with so far no word back... so went for the house option. It's definitely my general mode of travel but if after a week and a half I haven't heard a peep back I have to assume there's not much of a CS community in Temecula.

Anyone else have better luck?

I used VRBO.com, FlipKey.com, AirBnB, and a couple of others to find a place. There probably won't be much left, and certainly very little at any kind of a budget price, but it may be worth a look in case there have been cancellations.

Some options I considered were:
VRBO:
#348472 Mark, minutes away from Pechanga 4 bedroom/3 bath (1King,3Queen,3 full baths) 8 max capacity (I asked him, and absolutely no more) 5 nights (12-17) = $1545 Deposit: $500
#480724 "Panoramic Views/3 Acres/Walk to Wineries! Ave. $240 Nightly, Weekly $1300"; 20 min drive to Pechanga
4 Bed/2bath 8 person capacity Nightly rate $210-275 5 nights (12-17)= $1545.50 Deposit $200
#365547 Anza House 4/2 (1K,2Q,2twin,1portable) capacity 10 nightly $265-295 11 min drive 5 nights (12-17)= $1709 Deposit: $300 guests >8 $15+tax ea, extra BR $40+tax
#319632 "Beautiful Estate Overlooking Vineyards - Special Rate" 4bed/3bath capacity 11 Nightly $345 17 min 5 nights (12-17)$1895 Deposit: $500

Air BnB
https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/403170 "Avocado house" 1bed/1bath capacity 2 22 min drive 5 nights (12-17) = $499

FlipKey
#p436341 Seclusive pool getaway 3bed/3bath capacity 6 5 nights (12-17) =$1371 deposit: $383

No idea if these are still available but if it saves anyone legwork that's already been done, all the better!

Good luck.

For anyone still looking for housing, there is another thread where someone is looking for housing for 2: https://permies.com/t/32914/southwest-usa/Auxiliary-Permie-Houses

I used VRBO.com, FlipKey.com, AirBnB, and a couple of others to find a place. There probably won't be much left, and certainly very little at any kind of a budget price, but it may be worth a look in case there have been cancellations.

Some options I considered were:
VRBO:
#348472 Mark, minutes away from Pechanga 4 bedroom/3 bath (1King,3Queen,3 full baths) 8 max capacity (I asked him, and absolutely no more) 5 nights (12-17) = $1545 Deposit: $500
#480724 "Panoramic Views/3 Acres/Walk to Wineries! Ave. $240 Nightly, Weekly $1300"; 20 min drive to Pechanga
4 Bed/2bath 8 person capacity Nightly rate $210-275 5 nights (12-17)= $1545.50 Deposit $200
#365547 Anza House 4/2 (1K,2Q,2twin,1portable) capacity 10 nightly $265-295 11 min drive 5 nights (12-17)= $1709 Deposit: $300 guests >8 $15+tax ea, extra BR $40+tax
#319632 "Beautiful Estate Overlooking Vineyards - Special Rate" 4bed/3bath capacity 11 Nightly $345 17 min 5 nights (12-17)$1895 Deposit: $500

Air BnB
https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/403170 "Avocado house" 1bed/1bath capacity 2 22 min drive 5 nights (12-17) = $499

FlipKey
#p436341 Seclusive pool getaway 3bed/3bath capacity 6 5 nights (12-17) =$1371 deposit: $383

No idea if these are still available but if it saves anyone legwork that's already been done, all the better!

Good luck.

Hi all

It looks like there have been multiple additional houses organized in the last week or so. It would be good to know where others are for carpooling, networking, visiting, whatever, or if anyone ends up still looking for a place last-minute.

To start - we'll be at Casa del Oro:
http://www.flipkey.com/temecula-vacation-rentals/p539130/
It's on Avenida del Oro, just east of the Crosscreek Golf Course. About 15 min NW of Temecula/Pechanga.

I'll have a car rented from Oceanside on Wed 12th, and to/from the conference be carpooling with at least one. There may be another vehicle for ridesharing.

Hi guys

A couple of us booked an apartment in Bosdall because it was simply getting too complicated and people weren't getting back to us about committing to a house. Now that there are $195 tickets up for grabs on the Nutiva deal, I think there may be enough to fill up another house. These two are is still available:

http://www.vrbo.com/153200#calendar

There are beds for 6-8 and it's $450/night. I talked to the owner last week and she sounded really nice but it's pricey.

This is a better bet but it's 10 people for about $300/night, so will be harder to fill...
http://www.vrbo.com/365547

There's really not much left at all (besides the Motel 6 in Temecula and the Dripping Springs campground, which is about a 15 min drive) so if you're looking for a house still, this might be it.
Also I'll be renting a car in Oceanside and so far have 1-2 seats still open to pick people up/drop off after the conference.

Good luck, hope that helps at all. There's also AirBnB but not much left...
Susan

Two things.

I will be arriving in LAX at 10:19 AM on Wednesday the 12th. I am thinking about renting a car from Oceanside after taking the train to Oceanside (it's about $30 USD) and if a couple of others chipped in a few dollars I could be a shuttle. M Kenty I would be willing to wait and meet in Oceanside if you're willing to take the train down. I've checked prices renting from LAX and it's prohibitive and I'd rather just take the train down to avoid the freeways around LA.

Also -- a few of us are talking about renting another house. Who else may be interested? It won't be exceptionally close (driving distance) but looks like about $40-50/night for a couple of places:
http://www.vrbo.com/365547#ownerprofile
http://www.vrbo.com/417074#rates

I am able to organize it but need firm commitments from people once I have a price quote. The second house (417074) claims a rate of $166.50/night if 4+ nights are booked, but it only sleeps 6 as opposed to 10 for the first listing.

Let me know ASAP if you're interested.

Just wondering how many others will be arriving by train... I thought it would be great to meet up en route, possibly share/rideshare from the Oceanside terminal. It arrives at nearly midnight so it would be much better to be there in good company. Anyone else? I'm going to be coming on the night of the 11th to have an extra day (the 12th) to get settled in.

Also if you're on the fence -- tickets have to be booked by the end of today (Jan 27th) to get the 20% off winter discount.

Looking forward to making some great connections!
Susan

Check out www.mamaroja.org

They're not *expressly* permaculturists but it looks like they have a great thing going on. They're near Obera, Missiones (NE) and they do lots of community work, building, etc.

Good luck!

Susan