California Adventure - The End

Our last day there we toured the west coast just Andrew and I. We stopped at Bodega and saw the church where the Alfred Hitchcock classic, The Birds, was filmed on our way to Bodega Bay. This church would be a good choice for our wedding, right? Destination wedding anyone??

It was seriously the most beautiful day ever. The sky was clear and sunny but it wasn't too hot. I was in jeans and was super comfortable. Here are some coast photos we took during our excursion.

Northern California beaches are weird to me because they aren't typical beaches. As you can see, there are a ton of rocks! And you have to be really careful with rip currents/tides if you decide to go surfing or swimming in the water. We just stayed on the land and in the sand and let the surfers enjoy the ocean.

How pretty is this photo though? I kind of want to frame it for a hallway or something. I really love the rock formation in the background, the wispy hint of the cloud, and the cresting wave. It just looks really pretty! I could stand and listen to an ocean forever.

What's really nice is you can drive the coast and then get out at overlooks where you can have some amazing views.

 Andrew took this photo. This is another one I'd be interested in framing and hanging up somewhere.

Lastly, just a few more photos of one of the vineyards we went to. These last two were taken a Chateau St. Jean. Is this not the proudest palm tree out there??

 And the final photo of us in the garden at Chateau St. Jean.

Seriously, if you have never been to California I highly recommend going! We had a blast and are so grateful that my family let us crash with them.

California Adventure - The Middle

We took a day trip to walk around some shopping places in cute little towns in Sonoma county. We also ended up going Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve in Guernesville to check out some super old (and super BIG) redwoods. To give you some perspective about the scale of these trees, here are a couple photos I took of Andrew. He looks like a tiny child next to the massive trees!

If you don't want to walk through the redwood grove you can drive up to the top of the hill and see some pretty cool views at the outlooks along the way. The road up the hill is a little terrifying since it's a one lane road with constant switchbacks but Andrew and I are pros at mountains since he lived in Colorado for six months.

Is this the first photo of me during this trip?! Andrew took it at the top of the hill and I actually really like the way it came out...

 And here is some of the view we were looking at:

It sort of reminded me of our one Jamaica photo actually. Maybe we just like standing on top of mountains?? There are more mountain photos in my Colorado recap. Of course I don't think we saw a sign like this in Jamaica or Colorado...

Enough for one post I think. I haven't bored you too much have I??

California Recap - The Beginning

A LONG time ago (lol, I know it's been a while already) Andrew and I visited my family in California. I already posted here on the blog about our wine tasting adventure but there are sooo many more photos and things to share about our visit.  Hmm, where do we start? At the beginning I guess... Andrew was in Silicon Valley for work the week before Memorial Day weekend so I joined him on that Friday. The sweetheart drove to San Francisco from Silicon Valley just to pick me up from the airport and drive back up to the Sonoma county area. This is bloggable moment #1 -- our trip across the Golden Gate Bridge. Apparently it was the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge in 2012...at least that's what a sign we passed said.

The last time I was in San Francisco was years ago and the last time I walked across the Golden Gate Bridge I was about 10-12 years old. Unfortunately, I was a clumsy kid (apparently) and I knocked into a bicyclist. He didn't completely fall off his bike but thank goodness they have those fence-like barricades to keep him from becoming roadkill!

Also, fun fact for you if you ever drive over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco: Apparently, during rush hour (which is between 9 am and 11 am as we found out) the Golden Gate Bridge is a cashless toll. That means that although it usually does accept cash payment for the toll, you have to use a FastPass (or whatever it is called in California -- it's EZ Pass on the east coast) to pay during the rush hour. As non-west coasters, neither of us knew about the cashless toll until I noticed the lighted sign flashing on the road. A little late to find out! Thank goodness the rental car we had one of the cashless toll things!  Sheesh, I'll have to keep that in mind when we plan to drive places we don't know.

We didn't do much that first day in California only because my flight got in the the afternoon and we didn't get up to Sonoma until early evening. We got settled into my cousin's room (pay back for when my sister would be booted when they came to visit us I guess, just kidding!) and then we all went to dinner.

The next day we stopped for some snacks at Whole Foods (did I mention my California family is SUPER healthy) and then went to watch my cousin play baseball. He's on some serious little league team and he's really good! It was one of the games leading up to playoffs and I'm happy to report that his team is going to the playoffs now. I'm sure he enjoyed having some extra people in his cheering section and we enjoyed being able to munch on snacks while watching other people be active. I snapped this photo of him while he was at bat. He hit a double!

The next day, Andrew went with my Uncle to a car show nearby the house. It was really cool because my Uncle owns a really amazing classic/antique/old/vintage/awesome car. It's one of the ones below but I'm not telling you which!! Lol. I hung out at the house with my cousins (watching the Kids Baking Championship on Food Network). Obviously we all share the love of Food Network in my family. Remember this post where I talk about Food Network??

Then Andrew came back and we hung out and learned more about our cousins' hobbies. One of their favorite activities was playing with a contraption called a "Diablo", a plastic thing that you spin and do tricks with. We tried to learn (as evidenced by the photo below) but let's just say we'll keep our day jobs and leave the Diablos to them!

I think I'll cut it off there for now. I'll pick up with our trip to the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.

Have you been to California?? What did you do?

101 in 1001: #82 - Wine Tasting in California Wine Country

It's been a while since we had a 101 in 1001 post here on the blog and potentially that's because I haven't been doing anything am an awful blogger. Finally though, I get to check something off my list: Wine Tasting. And better yet, it was in Sonoma County aka California Wine Country. Andrew and I are...interesting...when it comes to wine: #1 He prefers beer. #2 I only drink reeeeeally sweet dessert-type wine. So, clearly we should go wine tasting in an area that is responsible for some of the most amazing wines ever, right? We went to Chateau St. Jean Winery and Ledson Winery and Vineyard. Ledson seriously looked like a castle!

 

My favorite wine is definitely a moscato or riesling (I know, some people don't even think that's real wine). What's your favorite wine? Have you ever been wine tasting?

California Adventure

Happy June everyone! I can't believe it's June already, can you? What's 2016's rush??

This past weekend, Andrew and I were in California. In truth, Andrew had been in California since May 22nd because he had a really fun vendor work thing that made me super jelly work in Silicon Valley and I joined him on Friday for the long holiday weekend. I have family in California wine country so it was perfect--we got to stay with them, celebrate our engagement, and catch up with what's going on with them in their world. The last time I went out there was 2006 so it had been a while! I flew early Friday morning (apologies to my May billable hours!!) and Andrew picked me up from the airport. Then we were off to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins in our rental car until the following Tuesday.

Can I just say, I really enjoy traveling with Andrew. He's a really good travel buddy! You know how everyone has their own particular vacation-style and I"m glad to say ours is both "go where the wind takes you" instead of "every minute and activity must be planned!" We like to just see where the day takes us and go from there. More on the trip later but here's a quick overview of our vacation:

Friday: Travel day and meeting up with family. Everyone loves the airport, right? The baggage drop, the long security lines, watching the planes take off and land, guarding your personal belongings, what isn't fun about that?! Honestly, I really do enjoy going to the airport--that's why I get there so early! I love finding a spot in my terminal and then just people-watching until it's boarding time. Does anyone else do this??

Saturday: Andrew and my uncle went to a car show. show off m uncle's sweet car (he has a classic Ferrari!). We also went to Whole Foods to pick up some snacks and then went to watch my cousin's baseball game. He's SO talented -- he's in the minor leagues and everything!

Sunday: Spent the day walking around a couple of the cutest towns in Sonoma county. Andrew and I also went wine tasting! Can't wait to blog about this!

Sunday: Visited my aunt's shop and then also my uncle's jewelry store. My aunt's shop is brand new so I had never been physically there before and it was adorable! It's a "modern craft shop" store selling yarn, projects, craft supplies, and teaching classes I couldn't resist picking something up for my mom! (Of course then I forgot it in California!) We also explored the Armstrong State National Reserve (a state park in Guerneville) to see the super tall redwoods. I went there with my family about 15 years ago but Andrew had never been.

Monday: Explored the West Coast....literally. We took a drive along the coast but stopped at a couple places, beaches, and overlooks along the way, And since it was Memorial Day the family did a barbecue for dinner!

Tuesday: Travel day. Coming home always is such a relief because, no lie, I miss my bed!