Wild Woods Retreat

05/30/2025

The antidote to fake?

This week, we hosted our first-ever "strangers from the internet" guests at Otter Beach. And they were wonderful.

They arrived during a week when the online world felt extra surreal—feeds flooded with AI-generated people doing things that never happened. Faces too perfect. Voices too smooth. Entire moments… fabricated from text prompts.

Meanwhile, here?

Rain fell on the tin roof of our treehouse gazebo. Real rain. The kind you smell. The kind that makes you lean in closer and slow down.

We’re not hosting digital avatars. We’re hosting humans. People who still think crackling firewood is better than a reel. People who trade Wi-Fi for whippoorwills and wake up with the sun instead of a screen.

It’s not nostalgia. It’s necessity.

Because as the world spins faster toward the artificial, it’s the simple, the sacred, the grounded that will stand out.

And Otter Beach—at least for now—is where real still lives.

05/11/2025

Hey friends! Wanted to let you know that Idyllwild Woods is now... Wild Woods Retreat.

The marketing team shared a hard truth with me last week... Nobody can say or spell 'Idyllwild' - and that's a problem!

This fixes that!

We'll be making that change as we go. But those of you who've been here since the beginning will have just a bit more of the lore of the land :D

Thank you for being here from the start.

I also just realized that very few of our weekly updates have made it here to the page! They're all on my personal profile (Sue). Will see what's going on with that ;)

Send a message to learn more

02/27/2025

You and I both know that grinding harder isn’t the answer—but breaking away, creating space, and aligning with natural rhythms is.

That’s exactly why we’re building Idyllwild Woods Retreat Center—an off-grid sanctuary designed for entrepreneurs, creators, and leaders who do their best thinking outside.

🌲 Be One of Our First 20 Founding Guests (75% Off Presale!)
We’re offering an exclusive presale for our first 20 guests—the ones who see the vision before it becomes reality.

🔹 $125 per night (normally $500!) – 2-night minimum
🔹 Full payment secures your spot
🔹 Valid for stays within the first 12 months of opening
🔹 29 private acres – no distractions, just clarity

Plus: We’ll plant a tree in your honor AND add your name to the Founding Friends Honor Garden.

🌱 Why Step Away?
You already know the truth: The biggest breakthroughs don’t happen behind a screen.

They happen when you create space. When you allow yourself to think, breathe, and reset.

If you’re craving time to think deeply, create boldly, and reconnect with the vision that started it all—this is for you.

Claim your presale spot before they’re gone.
🔗 Reserve Your Stay Now - https://entrepreneurretreatcenter.com

Can’t wait to welcome you to the woods,
Sue

Get early, exclusive access to Idyllwild Woods Retreat Center

01/12/2025

Would you do me a solid?

Please enter this contest on behalf of Idyllwild Woods.

Just use your own email. You don’t need to do anything else. I’ve got a friend who does sales for this company. These little cabins might work here, though we’d need to build bathroom additions.

If your entry wins us a Bunkie, how about you get 25% of the revenue until you hit $22k? Hmm 🤔

01/01/2025

We certainly won’t aim for anything quite so big as this, but a mixed pasture sounds like a great way to go. Continuing our education before bringing livestock to the property.

Why even have these animals? (After all, I’ve got no desire to eat them!)

A few reasons.

1. Just one more way to lure guests into time in nature. Watching animals do their thing and helping care for them (if you want to!) may become one of the highlights of your stay.

2. Our indoors lifestyle has disconnected us from a big part of real life. Even though ours won’t be food, it’s still a good thing to be able to draw the connection between farm and table.

3. It may someday be important for us to have some of these skills that nowadays very few people have.

4. Having livestock can really boost the productivity of an organic farm. We DO plan to eat and serve what we grow!

This will be an adventure!

Will you want to learn here, too?

12/31/2024

One more reason we’re going to have livestock. Cuteness, a lure to entice us all outside, and an immunity boost all in one? Yes, please!

10/17/2024

Are you struggling to find time for your business while juggling family life? You're not alone. Many entrepreneurs feel trapped by the "time scarcity" myth.

I interviewed Jackson Calame inside Entrepreneurs Gone Wild recently, and he shared this game-changing tip...

Stop saying, "I don't have time," and start owning your choices.

As entrepreneurs, we often fall into the trap of believing we're too busy. But here's the truth: We all have the same 24 hours. It's how we use them that matters.

Try this exercise from Peter Drucker's "The Effective Executive":

Log every minute of your day for a week. If possible, have someone else track it to ensure honesty. Then, review where your time actually goes.

You might be surprised at how much time you're wasting without realizing it.

The key is to build your effectiveness gradually:

- Identify time-wasters.
- Make small, consistent improvements.
- Prioritize what truly matters in your business and life.

Remember, you can't become as efficient as a world-class athlete overnight. But with practice, you can dramatically increase your productivity.

By owning your time choices, you'll stop making excuses and start making progress. This shift in mindset is crucial for long-term success in both business and family life.

What's one small change you can make today to use your time more effectively? Share your thoughts below!

10/16/2024

This would make a great space for the outdoor kitchen and lounge, version 1!

Awesome Inspiration for a covered top outdoor recreational area! Could be made to size that fits your plan! Great for a picnic table area or kids' play space...even a night under the stars!

10/13/2024

Idyllwild Woods Update Week 28

Lots of progress on the dome deck, lots and lots of calls last week with entrepreneurs who also do their best thinking outdoors, and progress on the new business plan and investor pitch... plus, picked a few pumpkins. (The kids will get them - there were several casualties :( but I'll know better for next season.)

1. Caught the comet!

2. Hubby built a fort! The bugout barn was getting chilly. Zac and Spook will build a chimney for the new-to-us woodstove and get it installed before the nights dip into the 30s. (Please keep praying for the area and all the displaced people in the mountains - I can't imagine how terrible these nights must be for them. Days are still going to be 60-70s for a while, but nights will get cold.)

3. Zac is making great progress on the dome deck. Decking should be done next week. We planned the railings, two sets of steps, and a nice little porch area that'll be perfect for coffee.

4. My fashion sense continues to be top-notch. Of course, by noon, it's time for shorts and a tee. We used some birthday money to buy warmer clothes.

5. The farmer's markets are starting to have fewer vendors, but we found one who has pork sausage and backyard eggs. SO GOOD!!! (Can't wait to get our own layers again - guess it'll be spring - we need to build a chicken tractor first.)

6. Made the most delicious tomato soup today from our tomatoes, basil, and thyme. Forgot to get pics, but it was YUMMY! Especially with some sourdough from Bob the Baker at the farmer's market.

A little skimpy on pics this week, but maybe next week, the leaves will start turning enough to make them worth a drone flight.

Welcome to all the new folks following along. I'm really glad you're here!

If anyone else is an entrepreneur who does your best thinking outdoors, come make new friends over at Entrepreneurs Gone Wild!

05/05/2024

Week 5 Update from Idyllwild Woods

Argh! I've tried posting this twice now. Might need to add some of the media separately. My original posts were much funnier and better... you'll just have to trust me on that!

It's hard to believe we've been here over a month. In many ways, it feels like we've been here forever. Every single day, we're in grateful awe that we get to live here in this gorgeous place.

What's new:

1. Learned an important drone lesson. Bring a flat surface! Catching an active drone in your hand is not as safe or fun as it sounds. Managed to find the footage I took last week, too. Will try to post it. It's pretty good.

2. We have a blue heron in the creek.

3. Pickle and Mishka like going into the creek for a dip with us. We bring our camp seats and go sit in a shallow area. Instant AHH.

4. Going to need some actual work boots. My sneakers had tread when we first got here, I swear! Must be the mountain-goating up the slope to seed it with grass and clover. I've heard good things about 511s. Any other recs?

5. Straw bale garden part of the terraces are ready to plant! Holding off on veggies until 5/12 as advised by locals. But going to put some flower seeds in later today.

6. Should have electricity soon. That means WiFi! That'll be great. Though I've been very grateful to have the library and laundromat in the meantime.

7. Talking build plans with hubby for the first guest cottage. Excited that we might be able to get started on that pretty soon.

8. Put YouTube channel on hold until we've got WiFi. Files are too big for tethering.

9. Had flashbacks of the Scottish Highlands when I rounded a corner up the hollow and saw loose young cows in the road. They moved along... eventually :D

10. Doing nearly daily FB Lives here. It's been so great hearing from several folks who tune in. I get this huge smile when I hear how soothing, healing, and happy this beautiful, magical place is. Even better when you're here!

OK, posting before it disappears again! Will ad media later!

04/28/2024

So, had an interesting thought…

Considering running a sort of workshop here at Idyllwild Woods.

A small group of folks with a dream of homesteading or building a retreat of their own could come for a few days to learn practical skills like how to:

Become a chicken tender
Build a chicken tractor
Learn to run a bobcat or backhoe
Intro to permaculture
Straw bale gardening
Mill wood to make boards

These are all best learned by getting your hands dirty doing the thing.

I’d love to know… would you be interested if we held something like this? What else would you like to learn?

04/16/2024

Sweet dreams from Idyllwild Woods