We are striving to take at least a short trip for every anniversary. This year, year 1, we went out to California. We called this Northern California, but there sure was a whole lot of California left on top of us when we looked at the map!
We drove through San Francisco and across the Golden Gate bride to Stinson Beach and then on to Petaluma, CA (where American Graffiti was filmed). Day 2 we did some wine tasting in Sonoma County which we liked very much. I think our favorite there was Korbel (champagne of course) and Simi. There was a massive Harley Davidson gathering that weekend and it was so cute to see bikers clad in leather drinking their champagne with such enthusiasm and sophistication. A good reminder not to stereotype, alas, when 100 riders left the parking lot, I was reminded of why I don't like Harley's - can you say noise pollution?
We drove the curving highway 1 up to Fort Ross. It took a long time to get there due to the severity of bends along the highway. David and I were glad we didn't plan to stay farther north. We stayed at the Fort Ross Lodge. It had received mixed reviews, but we had a lovely time. It was very private and had a restaurant, the Timber Cove Lodge, nearby.
The next day we saw seals sunning themselves on rocks near Jenner and Bodega Bay (lots of funky shops there and also where Hitchcock's "The Birds" was filmed, but no time to stop). We then drove over to Napa County. We did two days of tastings in Napa and found that they got old pretty quickly. We grew a bit tired of wine and ended up just craving beer after a while!
Our favorites were Rombauer and William Hill for the vinos. We again liked having some champagne at Mumm.
We took the Sky tram at Sterling and tried to educate ourselves as well as possible.
During this trip it seemed we saw all sorts of topography - places that reminded us of Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and of course, there were all the magnificent Redwood trees. The flora and general lay of the land was shocking in it's contrast from one county to the next. Lovely!
All in all, a perfect first anniversary trip and David spoiled me with a convertible for our rental car. Ahhh to be decadent.
On the way back, Al Gore sneaked onto our flight at the last moment and was seated on the front row. This was a Southwest flight by the way, no first class, no preferred treatment. We were proud to see a Vice President walking the walk! My photos aren't too good, but it's Al. 100 percent sure.
All the news for now.
Julie (and David)
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