Anne & Don in California: Napa & the GGB

Disclaimer: Some of the following photos were taken by Anne.

Today Anne & Don and I headed up to the Napa Valley and wine country. It was again a lovely day for sight-seeing. We stopped off first at the Visitors Center to pick up some ideas of where to go.

We decided to start at a big name so drove up the road to the Robert Mondavi Winery. The tours were a bit pricey for our taste so we just looked around. It's a beautiful place. As you enter, a statue of St. Francis welcomes you.

(detail of statue)


The parking lots are surrounded by fields of vines.


Colorful flowers...

...and a lively fountain beckon you inside.


We strolled around (some of us hand in hand) enjoying the sun and manicured vineyard.




Since I'm not a fan of wine I was hoping to find somewhere to taste some local olive oil. Just up the road from Mondavi we saw a blackboard sign advertising "Local Olive Oil Tasting". How lucky were we? Soooo lucky. The fun, off-beat store of the St. Helena Olive Oil Co. was offering tastes of not just olive oils but balsamic vinegars, fig compote, barbeque sauce, honey, pesto, and mustards. The flavor of olive oil that caught my fancy was lemon. It was so fresh tasting I just had to buy a bottle. I also got some Italian pesto and some local barbeque sauce. It was great place.


Anne & Don aren't big wine people either but they've had some and they knew they liked one from Sutter Home so we stopped at their store after seeing the sign for "Complimentary Tastings". As I was browsing I saw these funny flip flops that seemed to be sized for small round feet. Turns out they are coasters for wine glasses. I'm not sure why they need to wear crazy looking flip flops.

We then crossed the valley to a less-travelled road where Anne spotted a field with some grapes left on the vines.




Then I spotted a bunny.


We were not anticipating just how many wineries are in Napa Valley and just how concentrated they are. We drove by one after the other after the other after the other.



We were going to go to the geyser at Calistoga but I had read online that it costs $8 so we decided to skip it. We also choose to forego the petrified forest, so sorry, you'll have to wait for pics for a couple weeks until Mom & Dad and I visit it. We crossed over the hills to the west then drove south through the Sonoma Valley and landed in Sonoma for a late lunch at the awfully, unbearably cute and tasty Black Bear Diner (pot roast for me, ham steak for Don, chicken avocado club for Anne).

As we drove south on the 101, we spied the Marin County Civic Center which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. (better photos)


We paused at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge...


...crossed over it...


then paused on the south side and walked out on it for a bit.


It was getting darkish and I still had to drive back home so we headed over to Fisherman's Wharf and Anne & Don's hotel where they checked in, I used the facilities and we parted. I started home only to be stopped by a jam of cars trying to go home the same way as me.


I eventually made it across the bridge and home.

Next: Anne & Don visit San Fran without me (sniffle) then Yosemite with me (yea!)

Anne & Don in California: Berkeley Pier

On our drive north after lunch I mentioned (as we passed through Berkeley) that it had been a really long time since I had been to the pier at the Berkeley marina. It's quite long and from it you can see many of the famous bridges and sights of the SF Bay. It was just about sunset on our way back south so I suggested we stop and walk out on the pier.

The view to the northwest of the pier.


Don and Anne (left of frame) walk off into the sunset.


The Golden Gate Bridge shares the golden spotlight with the sinking sun.


Mt. Tamalpais and other Marin hills where we had just been a short while ago.


Sailors head home in the soft light of dusk. Can you spot the Richmond Bridge in the background?


The San Francisco skyline behind the sister islands of Yerba Buena and Treasure Island.


One last view of the GGB spanning the Golden Gate -- entrance to the SF Bay.


Next time: A&D visit Napa Valley, Calistoga, and the Petrified Forest (oh my)

Anne & Don in California: Muir Woods

My sister Anne and brother-in-law Don are spending 10 days here in my neck of the woods. Just as I was putting on my shoes this morning I got the call from Anne that they had arrived. She said there was no rush so I made a quick stop at Starbucks on the way. Once I got to the airport, I paused at the curb just long enough for them to pop the hatch, toss in their bags and climb aboard. We exchanged hellos then Anne said, "What do you think about going up to Muir Woods today?"

I had no problem with that though I worried their day would get long (their flight from St. Louis left before 6am!). Once we were on the road, it was too early (and out of the way) to check them into their hotel so we came back to my place to find maps and consider our route. By that time we were hungry so grabbed lunch at a local family restaurant (rib-eye with shrimp for me, chicken burrito for Don, breakfast burrito for Anne). It was a gorgeous day for tripping around the Bay Area so Anne and I enjoyed the weather and scenery on our drive north while Don caught a few winks in the backseat (sorry, no photo).

We arrived at Muir Woods to find the typical weekend parking hassle. They have two parking lots but if they're full you're supposed to park on the side of the narrow road. We drove to the end of the long, long line of parked cars but decided we'd rather spend our time waiting for a parking spot to open up than walk that far from -- and back to -- the car. We circled the main lot a couple times then shifted to the auxiliary lot where we got lucky and snagged a spot after only 15 total minutes of stalking.

If I had a color design for my life, Muir Woods at this time of year would be it.
(Click on the photos to see a larger size.)


Wouldn't you like to just hang out in this living room?


There was just a slight sense of fall in the woods with a few yellow leaves...




and just a trickle of water in the creek.




I love being in amongst the super tall trees with their orangey-brown trunks on display.


The fallen logs and branches of shorter non-redwoods strike a counterpoint of mossy green.




I was headed back down the main path when I spotted a deer several yards away. It was crouching low to the ground acting almost like it was injured or ill. Then all of a sudden others were there and two of them were fighting. They were close enough that we could hear the crack of their antlers crashing together. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to catch it with my camera and the shots I did get of the deer were too far away and blurry (as you can see).




Of course, we had to take the traditional "there are people inside a tree!" shot.


The angle of sunlight in the late afternoon provided some dramatic views of these amazing trees.


Next time: A&D visit the Berkeley Marina fishing pier

Midwest Vacation: #10

On Monday I slept in and missed going to do baggie books at Zoe's class. Zander had stayed home from school sick but was allowed to watch movies with me so we started our Harry Potter marathon. We watched the first one then made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and discussed our theories about the seventh book. We watched the second one then he had to take a nap before Zoe got home from school.

Uncle Fitz was playing in a hockey game that evening so John and the kids and I went to watch him. Zoe seemed more interested in the vending machines but we had fun cheering for Fitz. We were the only ones there for awhile until a couple other fans showed up. His team won a very high scoring game. Good job, Number 0!



The kids took off school on Tuesday so the whole family could spend the day in Chicago with me before dropping me off at O'Hare to catch my evening flight back home. We arrived in time to take their uncle Bryan out for a delicious pizza lunch near his downtown office then we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Here's a baby mongoose. They were so cute and really fast. They wouldn't stay still enough to get many good shots.



These penguins kept teasing us that they were getting in the water but they never did.



The kitties seemed to be enjoying the cool day.




Was this giraffe trying to hide behind the rock and his neck was just too long?



The pygmy hippos were highly interesting until one pooped in his own tank. We got out of there fast.



I loved this display.


John was on call and had to get back before too long so we said our sad goodbyes at the airport with plenty of time for me to make it through security and grab some orange chicken at the food court before going to my gate. I surprisingly slept most of the flight to Oakland. We landed a little late and I was concerned I'd miss the last BART train but I needn't have worried and got home just fine.

Midwest Vacation: #9

Sunday was going to be hot. And we were going to a baseball game. I hadn't packed for hot weather so I decided to transform the older pair of jeans I had brought into shorts. They needed patched where my legs rub togther anyway so it was a good solution. I could use what I cut off the bottoms to patch the holes. Joanna got out her sewing machine and I spent the morning cutting, pinning and sewing while everyone else was at church.

My folks were going to be in the area attending church nearby so we invited them to join us at the game. Zoe was spending the day with friends so it was Zander's day out at the ballpark. Even though he was feeling rather ill he went anyway and even got to go down onto the field to get his hat autographed and to play a bit of catch with his dad.





We had chosen our seats so my dad wouldn't have to navigate too many stairs and lucky for us they ended up being in the shade the entire game. I had forgotten to apply sunscreen on Saturday so I needed to stay out of the sun. There was a nice breeze so we weren't too hot either. It was just a beautiful day for being at the yard.

This matching pair of ladies must've thought so as well. Though something tells me they're die-hard fans and would be there no matter what. Joanna and I thought they were rather cute.

Midwest Vacation: #8

I love tulips. They are my favorite flower by far. I like their simplicity. They're not too busy. Not a lot is going on in each bloom. I think yellow tulips are my favorites but, really, I love them all. The area John and Joanna live in was settled by the Dutch and there's even a town called Holland. They grow lots of tulips and celebrate a tulip festival in May. I thought I'd take advantage of being there in the spring and go in search of tulips so on Saturday we headed over to Holland.



It was a gorgeous sunny day but the town wasn't crowded with tourists. It was a bit early in the year for tulip season. We found a parking place downtown and settled on the Windmill Restaurant for lunch. I was in the mood for a burger so got the $2.85 quarter pounder with a side of onion rings instead of fries. I was so glad I got the rings. They were the best onion rings I've had in a long long time. I'd go back there just for those.

After lunch we walked around the downtown area. The street banners are reproductions of famous paintings with tulips inserted in them in funny, creative ways. We stopped in a shop that had a "Pickle Tasting Today" sign in the window. I mean, really, who could resist that? They not only had pickles to taste but all kinds of other things including some hickory potato chips that were awesome so we bought some but then forgot to eat them while I was there. I hope you enjoy them, John.

We also saw some fun street sculptures including Ben Franklin sitting on a park bench and these musicians. Which one doesn't belong?



After stopping in a candy shop (what small tourist town is complete without one?), we were deciding what to do next when I saw a calendar of events posted on a informational board. It was Community Day out at the tulip farm so we made a note of the address and headed that way.

Not only is Veldheer's a tulip farm but they also have bison. And it was free that day. A good combo. They had an area of formal, laid-out gardens that didn't have many flowers yet but there were a few sections of blooms out in the fields.





I loved these pale yellow flowers.



I was amazed to get this shot of a bee in amongst the blooms. They were so speedy it was hard to catch them in the frame.



Can you believe how close we got to the bison? These were fairly docile but another one kept snorting at people. It was kinda funny.



We stopped for ice cream on the way home. A perfect end to a perfect day.