Sonoma Wine Country

     I didn't take my laptop on the road with me, and thus did not have accessibility to post!  I did a write up of every day on my ipad, so I will just copy and paste that.  BUT I will add my favorite part of traveling--the pictures!

   It was truly such an amazing trip and a great way to spend time with my family.  I am so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to create these memories and experiences with them.

San Francisco, then next stop.. Healdsburg, California (aka Sonoma Wine Country!).

Today was AMAZING!  I began the day by going for a run with my dad around town.  We found a paved trail that went through some nature before leading us straight into downtown.  It's such a cute little summery town.  We made a few pit-stops along the way, including one to ride a horse.

At 10:40 we got picked up and went on a wine tour around Sonoma Valley.  Our tour guide really knew his information so it was fun to just sit back and hear all about the history and different facts of the valley.  There was another couple with us.  They were from New Zealand and coincidentally, the wife had swam the 'Escape From Alcatraz' triathlon in San Francisco the day we were there!  During the swimming portion of the race they were boated out to Alcatraz then had to swim the 1.8 miles back to shore in the FREEZING and WAVY water.  That's definitely going on my bucket list.

Anyways, we visited four wineries.  We learned all about the tannins in the wine, how to properly "taste" wine, and where each different grape grows.  Our guide, Jerry, really knew his information about wine and wasn't snobby about sharing it with us!  For lunch, we stopped at the General Store and got sandwiches and salads.  I got the 'Stacker' which was the biggest sandwich on the menu (naturally) and we took it back to a vineyard and had our very own picnic outside!  It was so surreal looking around and realizing that there are people who actually wake up each day to such beautiful scenery.  Absolutely breathtaking.

After lunch, we visited one last winery (we visited four in all) and then headed back to the hotel.  Once we got to our hotel we decided to walk into town and check out a brewery one of the wine connoisseurs told us about.  It was called Bear Republic Brewing Company.  We spent the rest of the evening with dinner and drinks, just soaking in the California weather and enjoying each other's company.  I fell in love with one of their beers, Cher Ami, and would definitely recommend it to anybody visiting Healdsburg!

After Bear Republic, we headed back to the hotel and played a game of cribbage.

It was BREATHTAKING.  Here are some pics!