September 20th

This morning we went to the Armstrong Redwood Reserve in Guerneville. It is a state park with a 4 mile road through the huge Redwoods. A random hiker offered to take this picture for us. It was amazing to see how big these trees were we had seen some along the road but they were nothing compared to these. I could only imagin how many wine racks I could make out of one of these trees!
Excited to see you all soon
Brian and Elisabeth

September 19th

We made it to the Rock! We were supposed to take the 9:30 tour however we sat it traffic for 3 1/2 hours to travel only 50 miles so we ended up taking the 11:00. Traffic here makes NYC seem like a breeze! The tour was awesome, it seemed surreal to be in a prison especially this one. We took a 45 minute audio walking tour were we had our own headphones and were each able to explore at our own pace. What I thought was amazing was that on average there was only 260 inmate at a time on the island. That seems pretty small to me.
After the rock we ate a the Fog City Dinner which turned out to be the fancist dinner we have ever seen. We then went to the SF Ferry Terminal which is this awesome building that was redone and has all types of gourmet stores throughout. You can definitly see the chinese influence in many of the buildings. Some of the detailed plaster work is unbelievable.
We had dinner at Le Colonal which is a Vietnamese and French fusion restaurant which was amazing. We couldn't believe how busy it was for a Wednesday.
During the day we saw hundreds of coffee shops so after dinner we figured that we would get coffee before heading home. Well that was a mistake the entire city of SF rolls up the sides walks at 8:00 on weekdays. There was absolutly nothing open. We ended up getting coffee across the GG Bridge from McDonalds!
I used to think that people were being snuddy in the way they talked about NYC being the best; well I think I am finding myself in that camp. I have yet to find a city that compares to New York.

September 18th

This morning we went to the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean factory in Fairfield. We went on a 45 minute tour which was quite an experience. We saw how they make all 50 flavors from start to finish. We had to wear special Jelly Belly hats which were quite a site (pictures to follow).
After lunch we went to the Olive mill to see how olive oil is made and then to do sample testing. They offered 3 different oils and two red wine vinegars. We had to drink the olive oil straight which in our opinion was pretty disgusting! Eventually they brought out vegetables from their garden as well as cheese and bread. It was much better on the food. The tomatoes here are out of this world. Generally I don't like tomatoes but these are better than we have ever had by a long shot.
We then visited Silverado Winery which was much better then the ones yesterday. We then took a tour of Rutherford Hill winery (pictured above) underground cave system. The caves were huge at 44,000 sq ft. We also purchased a 3L bottle aslo called a Jerabum of 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon for the rehearsal dinner.
Tomorrow we head to San Fransico and Alcatraz!
Brian and Elisabeth

September 17th

Well we decided it was time to explore some touristy things and I would say that we batted 500. First we went to the Pertrified Forest which I though going into it was going to be interesting as Elisabeth described her experience in Arizon as really cool. Well this one was not. It was just a path in the woods were you looked at a pile of gray Petrified trees that were really unimpressive.
Moving on from the Petrified forest we went to the Old Faithful Geyser on Californian in Calistoga. When we arrived the geyser had already erupted 10 minutes before and it ususall erupts in 30-40 minute intervals but we were lucky as it erupted only minutes after we got there. That was pretty cool it lasted for quite a time and was pretty impressive.
We then had lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Calistoga that was really good.
Seeing that this was our first day in Napa Valley we deciede to visit some wineries that are pretty well know and the experience overall was sorta disappointing. The tasting rooms are huge mansions which are really cool but everyone was pretty rude in general so we are going to stick to the smaller places going forward.
Tomorrow we are going to the Jelly Belly Factory and an Olive Mill so that should be exciting
Brian and Elisabeth

September 16th Morning

This mornings weather was quite different then yesterdays. There was no fog and it was pretty warm. We went to another farmers market this morning in Windsor to get a few more things for us to cook tonight. At dinner last night we had this awesome wine so we found out where it was located and went to that first thing this morning. The picture is of Bella winery and the entrance to the 7000 sq ft cave that houses the tasting room and storage facility. The grapes vines shown are the ones that are in the wine that we bought. We then went to this winery that was up on a hill that was closed to visitors unless you made a reservation 24hrs in advance. We did a wine and cheese pairing which was excellent. All the cheeses were farmstead cheeses which means that the cheese is produced from only one farm usually by the farmer. All of the cheeses came from Sonoma County which was pretty cool.

September 16th Afternoon

After lunch we decided that we would explore the coast along rt 101. In between us and the coast were some amazing stands of Redwoods but once we got to the coast the landscape resembled the one around our condo. The wind was amazingly strong and the temperature was probably 15 degrees cooler than inland. We hope to explore the coast to the north where the redwoods are right along the ocean. That will probably be pretty cool.

We spent the rest of the even in as we cooked dinner from the stuff we have collected from the local farmers markets over the past two days.

Brian and Elisabeth

September 15th

Well when they talk about the fog they are not kidding. It wasn’t until 11:00 that the sun was even out until then it was only 55 degrees. The fog was so thick we needed the windshield wipers. Layers are definitely going to be key as this afternoon it was 80+ degrees.

We went to the Healdsburg Farmers market today and got some really awesome produce from the hippies.

In the afternoon we visited the Dry Creek Appellation which is a sub region of the Russian River Valley which is a sub region of Sonoma County.

We visited Preston Vineyard and then returned to Windsor to meet up with Dani. After that we visited Quivera and Lambert Bridge.

Overall the quality of the wine has been excellent and the scenery has been awesome. We have seen everything from Olive trees to Pomegranate trees.

Tonight we eat at Zin’s restaurant in Healdsburg which was excellent. The name is derived from Zinfandel which is the signature grape of the Russian River Valley.

Brian and Elisabeth