The winery that is most worth mentioning was Benzinger - a biodynamic (one step above organic) vineyard in the Sonoma valley. We went on a tour of the vineyards, their winery and the cellar. The wines were amazing, and we were pleased to see this sort of family owned and operated vineyard doing so well in a competitive market. They use insectariums to bring in natural pest killers, and use parts of their large property to farm other animals to fertilize the land. Very inspiring and we were so pleased to visit here. We bought a couple of their wines to take along on our journey.
We said our goodbyes on Monday morning, and set out for San Francisco. We treated ourselves to a fantastic boutique hotel in the centre of Fisherman’s Wharf, just steps away from Ghiradelli’s Chocolate Factory, called the Argonaut. From there, we set out on what the kids claim to be their number one experience so far on this trip - the DUCK bus/boat tour of San Francisco. It is a converted amphibious vehicle from WWII that is now used for a land and water tour of San Francisco. The tour guide was really the highlight for Matt and I, with his ridiculous Corrine-like jokes and a song to go with every punchline. He kept us laughing all the way, and made sure to embarrass everyone on the street he caught looking his way. It was a lot of fun, that’s for sure.
San Francisco was jam-packed with activity, and we made it to Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 to see the sea lions and ride carousel #1, a ride on the cable car, Ghirardelli’s Chocolate Factory, the Exploratorium (Children’s museum), carousel #2, the Rainforest Cafe... and we even found time to watch the Canucks beat Nashville in overtime! The United States are a bit more advanced with their liquor laws, allowing children to come into a bar as long as they are not seated at the bar itself... we sat in a booth watching the game, and the kids coloured away happily. Very refreshing, actually. :) I would also like to add that we haven’t had one day of rain or cloud since entering California. Amazing weather; not even fog in San Francisco!
From San Francisco, we wound our way down to Monterey where we enjoyed two more days of incredible sunshine! We spent our time looking for shells at the beach, visiting the aquarium, playing at the park, and spelling each off while we made use of the rooftop hot tub area at the beautiful hotel. Matt worked his magic with the hotel staff by complaining about our parking lot view in the “garden room” that we had asked for... so they upgraded us to an oceanview room for no extra charge. Gotta love that! The ocean breeze, the waves crashing against the rocks... it was such a treat. We turned off the A/C and slept with the windows open. Not many hotels offer that these days... Matt says that I am making things sounds too idyllic, so let me mention last night’s dinner... in an effort to avoid an excessive room service charge, Matt found a local take-out place. We ended up feasting on coagulated fettucine alfredo with breaded chicken. The kids were spoiled with macaroni salad that was filled with chunks of mushroom and horrid looking chicken with far too much bbq sauce. The whole thing was topped off with the addition of WonderBread garlic bread. Lovely. At least he recognized the error and we won’t have to deal with THAT again!
We left sunny Monterey behind, made a quick stop at Trader Joe’s for some supplies (thanks for the tip, Peg!), and then made our way to the Big Sur area. We stopped at several state parks along the way, enjoying the rather barren, yet spectacular, mountainous coastline. We ate an incredible little cafe set on a bluff overlooking the ocean, with nothing in view but rugged coastline and open sea. Stunning. It was a hippy place, with a fire blazing outside, place to recline on cushions, and lots of room for dancing. Perfect for our little ones. We then went back to our little cabin in the woods where we made our own fire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. Yum. It was the perfect end to a great day.
We woke early, made some breakfast and hit the road by 10am. We had a long drive ahead of us to reach Santa Monica by 6pm. We took a bit of a scenic route, which ended up being a bit more twisty then we had hoped, but we all made it out to the 101 unscathed and were there before we knew it. We stayed with Katy and Juan Pablo and their two boys - Abe and Gabe - friends from Bogota. They generously offered up their home to us for the night, and the kids were able to run around while we visited, ate and even got some laundry done. What a treat! The highlights of this 24 hour visit were hitting the Santa Monica pier late at night for a ferris wheel ride with the kids, and hiking up above Santa Monica to get an incredible view of the entire beach and city skyline. Incredible!
After the hike, we said our goodbyes and made one last stop before leaving LA - The American Girl Doll Store. Emily and I went for high tea while Matt and Zach did a bit of shopping. What an experience. Emily and her little doll Emily were in girl heaven, of course, and I enjoyed every minute of it as well. We had her little doll's hair done, bought some matching clothes, and the high tea was unforgettable. What a racket! But I figure she'll grow out of it sooner than I can imagine, so I may as well enjoy every minute of it while I can.
After this we hit the road again and are now at our hotel, just outside of Disneyland. A whole other world in itself, I understand... I guess we'll find out tomorrow! We are going to spend two days here, and let the kids go wild... should be fun!
All in all, the road trip has gone better than expected... we have really found our space. Somewhere along the way, we noticed that the kids had stopped asking when we would be arriving in Disneyland, and how many more days it would be until we got there. They don’t even complain about getting in the car anymore. The stories have been a great help. But now we are finally here and they are sleeping soundly at last. The excitement is almost too much to bear. I think I might need a blog post for Disneyland all on its own.
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