California Trip: Muir Woods

Continuing on in the California trip recap...

Wednesday afternoon we left Napa Valley to drive back into San Francisco with a stop at Muir Woods National Monument.  We were so glad that things had opened back up after the government shutdown.  If our trip had been a week earlier we would have missed out on Muir Woods, Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.  The road to the woods was terribly curvy with steep drop-offs and no guard rails, but it was worth the drive!  It was really amazing!

I think the main trail that we took was about 2 miles. It was great!  It wasn't crowded at all.  We just took our time and enjoyed the peaceful walk and scenery.  

Showing the tree's age--wow!

We could barely see the bridge because of the fog (which was also the case on Monday when we drove north).  I was thinking we might not get to see any more of it that this, but luckily on Thursday the fog lifted and we had a good view as we walked out onto the bridge.

We stayed near Fisherman's Wharf and ate at a seafood restaurant there that night (Fog Harbor Fish House).  The food was good, and there was a great view of the bay.  We walked around the pier a little bit before dinner, but it was very windy and cold so we didn't want to stay long!  

California Trip: Napa Valley

I'm behind (again) with blogging!  

A few weeks ago Lane and I were able to take a fun trip to California.  We had such a wonderful time away, and are so grateful to L's parents for spending the week here with the kids!

We flew into San Francisco on Monday 10/21 and drove north to Napa Valley for the first two nights of the trip.  It was absolutely beautiful!  The weather was perfect, and the whole area was peaceful and quiet and everyone was so friendly.  I had never been there, so I didn't really know what to expect, but it was one of my favorite places ever!  Had we not already paid for the hotel in San Francisco for the last two nights of the trip, I think we would have just decided to stay in Napa--we didn't want to leave!

We stopped by the sign to take our picture on auto timer...

...and right after we snapped the first picture another couple stopped for a photo.  The man offered to take our picture, but told me to take off my sunglasses and move over to the side so we didn't block the sign!  Ha!  He said, "Sorry to be bossy!" 

This was all new to me...and I found it so interesting!  Here's a map of the region.  We stayed at Embassy Suites in the city of Napa, but the vineyards that we toured were up north in Calistoga (about a 30 minute drive).  It was all very very pretty, but in our opinion, the landscape became even more beautiful as we drove north.  Yountville and St. Helena were both really neat little towns, but if we have the opportunity to go back someday (and I hope that we do!) I think we would choose to stay in Calistoga. 

Monday was a long day of travel, but we were so happy to be there--and to gain two hours back in changing to Pacific Time.  The hotel offered complimentary drinks and appetizers at 5:00 each night, so we stopped by there on our way to the front desk to ask about restaurants.  We ate at a place called Fish Story which was really good, and we enjoyed the atmosphere/weather of a table on the patio with a heater.  

The person at the airport rental car desk convinced Lane that he should rent a convertible.  That was a great call!  Once we finally figured out that the top wouldn't work with our gigantic suitcase in the trunk, it was so fun! 

On Tuesday morning we had a tour booked at Castello di Amorosa, a recommendation from my friend Courtney.  We loved it!

Look at this dining room!

Our tour guide had a big personality--he made it really fun.

There were chickens, sheep, goats, etc. roaming around on the grounds outside the castle and the landscaping was so pretty.  The grape harvest was almost completely over, so we didn't actually get to see any grapes on the vines.  I think they told us that the harvest started at the end of August and went through early November, depending on the grape variety.  It would have been neat to be there a few weeks earlier to see all of that in process.

The view leaving the castle driving back down to the main road:

This is Sterling Vineyards off in the distance--we toured it the following day.

A friend of a friend suggested solbar for lunch--it was great!!    

I keep thinking about these lettuce wraps--they were SO GOOD.  

That night we ate at Celadon (okay, but not our favorite).

Halloween decor near the restaurant

We had originally planned to drive back to San Francisco Wednesday morning, but as I mentioned, we weren't ready to leave!  The same friend that suggested solbar also mentioned that Sterling Vineyards does a great tour, so we decided to go there.  I loved the tree-lined road leading up to the building.  The leaves were beginning to change and it looked like a postcard.

The winery was on top of the mountain, so to get there from the parking lot we rode in an aerial tram.  I'm surprised this didn't scare me, but it was too pretty to even worry about it. 

The self-paced tour gave detailed explanations (on TVs placed along the way) of how things worked, which was really neat to learn about.  

The next four photos are on/from the South View Terrace--I would have been happy sitting there all day long.

Feeling so thankful and blessed to have this time away with Lane!
(and looking nerdy with our tour passes-ha!)

Wine tasting and cheese tray for lunch at their beautiful restaurant:

We finally decided that we'd better leave if we were going to make it to Muir Woods with time to walk through it before dark.  We stopped in Yountville for dessert and coffee at Bouchon Bakery.

Y-U-M:

lemon tart

apple tart

vanilla macaron

Such a memorable two days!

Last-Minute Pumpkin Carving

Wow, the month of October really got away from me!  I think this is the first year that we haven't made it out to a pumpkin patch.  Which is sad to me because it's one of my favorite things to do!  But since Halloween is on Thursday and we have something going on after school Monday through Wednesday we were running out of time for carving Jack-O-Lanterns.  We decided to make a quick trip to purchase pumpkins from a local stand on Sunday afternoon.  When we got there and saw that their carving-size pumpkins were $15-$22 each and everyone wanted their own, we quickly moved to Plan C...buying them from the huge box in front of Kroger.  (Not exactly the fall photo setting I had in mind, but oh well!) :) 

One quick pic by the pricey pumpkins

(Crosby thought I'd grabbed his shoes, and I thought he already had them on, so he shopped in socks.)

Yay for $3.99 pumpkins at Kroger!

It was rainy, so we carved them in the garage.  

Crosby wanted a happy face pumpkin, and Alexee and Rhett wanted to make vampire pumpkins.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

School Carnival & Zoo Visit

Thursday evening was the fall math and literacy carnival at our school.  Costumes were optional, but Crosby decided to go as Spider-Man.

Alexee's kindergarten teacher was working at the face painting table.  It was fun to see her (and her little girl who was also helping!).  They painted a rainbow on A's cheek.  Alexee and Crosby had fun playing games and going to the jump house with their friends while Rhett helped with the EAST club's station.

One of Rhett's classmates was the school mascot for the night, so R walked around with him part of the time.

We love our friends!

*****

The kids were out of school on Friday for staff development, and Lane was off work so we all went to lunch at Panera then ran some errands and went to the zoo for a while.  It was such a pretty day and fun to get to do something all together.