“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.” – Jack Kerouac

I booked my flight to Europe today! I am going back again!

After my trip this past April, I officially caught the travel bug. I’m obsessed and in love with Europe.

I am leaving in March. I know, I know…it will be cold. But with the conflicts at work and the amazing flight prices, March was the perfect time to go. I’m kind of excited to break out some cold-weather clothes again too. I am from the Mid-West (no stranger to winters there) but have lived in sunny California for the last 5 1/2 years, so I am yearning for that other style of clothes.

We will be flying into Dublin, Ireland on March 3 and 21 days later I will leave from Frankfurt, Germany. Most of the in between stuff is undecided, but I have plenty of time. I am going with two other people for the first 10 days, but will then be on my own. This will be my first time traveling solo and I’m kind of excited about it!

Is it March yet?!

“Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.”- Ansel Adams

(July 30, 2009)

Today is Yosemite! After a couple of relaxing days at the pool, at the lake, barbecuing, and quality family time, we are ready to see Yosemite.

Climbing the hills, into the dense trees, we arrive. It is difficult to describe the utter beauty that is Yosemite. As we drive past the entrance into gigantic national park, we pass stunning scene after stunning scene. Towering redwoods surround us, as we pass intermittent canyons. The view before us sprawls into what seems like eternity. There are valleys of redwood groves, giant cliffs of granite, waterfalls, and streams. This is some of the most gorgeous countryside I’ve ever seen. We spend our time hiking to a couple waterfalls and then proceed to the south end of the valley to see the giant redwoods. These trees are massive!!

Regarding our day at Yosemite, there are only so many ways I can say “beautiful” or “stunning” and these words don’t even do it justice at all. I shall just post a few photos instead.

Yosemite National Park is an absolute must see.

The next day we departed…back to Southern California. What a great road trip it was!

El Capitan

Redwood on it's side

Redwood Tree

Yosemite Valley

“The charming landscape which I saw this morning is indubitably made up of some 20 or 30 farms. Miller owns this field, Locke that, and Manning the woodland beyond. But none of them owns the landscape. There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet.” – Emerson

(July 28, 2009)

We’ve left wine country and are heading to redwood country, with a plan to visit Yosemite during our stay. Back in the car, We pass tiny small towns, more vineyards, and the occasional farm as we make the three hour drive to Angel’s Camp… Mark Twain country. This region is where Twain’s collection of short stories, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, is set. I feel more like I am in the hills of Colorado, than California. This is so completely different from Southern California.

Calaveras County

We stop at a local grocery store, or market I should say, collect the food for the next four days and check-in to another time share. They’ve decorated it appropriately for the area…and I feel like I’m in a cabin. Across the street is nothing but nature; groves of trees, a couple moving herds of cows, the sporadic fox, and a couple deer sightings at night. It is so peaceful up here…and SO quiet. What a great getaway.

The first day, we head into an adorable old gold-mining town, not far from the giant sequoia park, called Murphy. This town still looks like I imagine it did back when the gold-miners settled, only with newer store fronts of course. There is one “Main Street” with not a single commercial business to be found…only local stores. We wander a bit admiring the history. I learn that the Murphy’s hotel is one of the oldest continually operating hotels in California and both Ulysses S. Grant and Mark Twain spent times staying there. We enjoyed some ice-cream in a 1950’s malt-shop, browsed an old book store, an old-school toy store and proceeded to the famous caves on the edge of town.

Murphy Hotel

While waiting for the guide to take us down into the caves of Mercer Caverns, the kids enjoyed practicing gold mining. Finally a mini-group was assembled and we ventured down into the dark, damp caves. The guide was full of interesting facts about the man who discovered them, Mercer, and how the stalactites and stalagmites develop over hundreds of years. Down at the bottom, the lamp was put out and we experience true darkness. I can see how someone could go blind after a significant time in that kind of darkness. Now even a hint of light for your eyes to find. It was crazy. I really enjoyed our hike down into the depths of the caves and learned all kinds of stuff. If you find herself in this area…you should definitely check it out.

Mercer Caverns

“One not only drinks the wine, one smells it, observes it, tastes it, sips it and–one talks about it.” – King Edward VII

(July 27, 2009)

Leaving San Francisco, we drove north through more beautifully contrasted golden hills with bright green trees. Soon we were passing vineyard after vineyard… we have finally arrived in wine country. Ahhh, wine. I have been wanting to go wine tasting in Sonoma and Napa Valley since I moved to California and am surprised it’s taken me so long. I love California wine.

Sonoma Valley vineyards

With three nights of relaxation ahead of us, we hunkered down into our timeshare in Windsor, California. The time share was great for a family vacation. There was a pool for down time,  it had a full kitchen, the kids had their own bedroom, and was large enough to settle in and the kids had their own bedroom. No more hotels! I was pleasantly surprised to see a small farm across the street from our balcony reminding me of back home! Sitting out on that balcony at night was so peaceful.

The first morning, I met up with a book club friend for breakfast in Santa Ana. It was nice to finally meet her in person (being an online book club) and we spent a pleasant morning together at a local cafe. After breakfast, I picked up the family and we all headed wine tasting. I heard that Sonoma is more accommodating with kids than Napa, so the kids came along. They enjoyed their time in the gardens while we sampled some delicious wines. One of the most gorgeous properties belonged to the Ferrari-Carano winery. Their gardens were beautiful…and the wine was tasty too! After a few wine-tasting stops, we went to Korbel for a tour. We were given the history of Korbel’s origination in 1882 and then taken down into the champagne cellars, followed by samples of the bubbly.

I couldn’t get over the scenery along the way between the wineries; it is just stunning. Northern California is so lush with trees and vineyards…I just stared out the window. It is so beautiful.

Ending the day with a nice buzz, I was happy.

“San Francisco itself is art, above all literary art. Every block is a short story, every hill a novel.” – William Saroyan

Continuing with our summer road trip travels… (July 26, 2009)

With only one day in San Francisco this go round, we decided to hit the highlights on our way to wine country. Besides me, it was everyone’s first time there. Grabbing a tasty breakfast in San Jose, we finished the driving into the city. As we descended around a bend, into the downtown area, we were greeted with a fantastic view of the city. I immediately noticed how tightly built everything was in comparison to San Diego and Los Angeles. San Francisco is a culturally unique city, with their colorful houses, easily walkable neighborhoods, and cable cars.

We spent some time down at Fisherman’s Wharf. On the way, there was a homeless man, hiding behind a couple bushy branches on the side of the boardwalk. I thought it was strange and then noticed as unsuspecting tourists walked by, he would jump out, scaring the bejesus out of them! Not surprising, because if you are strolling from the opposite side…all you see at first is a bush. Amused, I watched for a bit, cracking up. I don’t know why it is so funny to see people get startled like that, especially considering how much I hate it when I’m startled. The bystanders and “victims” were all amused in hindsight, so it was good fun; and I must admit a unique way to panhandle.

Community of seals.

After fighting through the crowds to get across the boardwalk, snapping a couple pictures of Alcatraz in the distance, and watching the community of seals living on Pier 39 of the Wharf, we jumped back in the car to head to Golden Gate Park.

On the way, the kids wanted to drive down “America’s Crookedest Street,” so we headed to Lombard Street. Getting to the top of Lombard was a mini-adventure in itself. Cruising up and down the majorly inclined streets that San Francisco is known for, we ended up on one so steep it should definitely not have a stop sign at the top! Here I am, parked at what felt like a 95 degree incline praying my brakes don’t fail, thus plummeting me backwards through the San Francisco streets. There was a chain of cars, so we waited for ages. Everytime I had to remove my foot from the brake, it was a game to see how fast I could hit the gas, again to avoid slipping backwards into the car behind me. Kiyah was clutching the seat incase she “flew out the back window.” To say the least… I hated that hill. Finally we reached the top and made the winding drive down Lombard and proceed through Ghiradelli Square and on to the Golden Gate Bridge.

"America's Crookedest Street"

As we were driving over the famous bridge, I noticed this ominous fog descending over the city. It was so thick you couldn’t even see across the harbor anymore. The odd thing is it was only settled over the bridge and the Financial District. It was quite strange and added a major chill to the air. I wish I had a good picture of it.

Onto the Golden Gate Park, San Francisco’s answer to Central Park in New York City (it’s actually bigger than Central Park). This gigantic, lush, urban park is a pleasant little getaway on the edge of the city… facing the ocean on the west side. There are all kinds of attractions in this park; we stopped at the windmill where the kids raced around the tulip garden, we snapped a couple pictures of a buffalo, and wandered to the beach.

By now, it was time for lunch, so we stopped at the Beach Chalet across from the ocean. They have this adorable backyard seating area on the grass. It’s a perfect Sunday brunch spot, complete with wooden lounge chairs, a live band, and the lush trees of the park behind. After enjoying our meal, while sitting across from a young group of heavily intoxicated 20-somethings, we took a spin through the park, passed through the notorious Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. (the hub of the 1960’s “Summer of Love”) at my mom’s request and it was about time to leave. We wanted to get to our time-share in Sonoma Valley wine country by early evening.

San Francisco is a great city. I need to make a point of heading up there more often.

Homes at Haight & Ashbury