We have been taking a September trip every year since 2014 when Mike asked me what I wanted to do for my 60th birthday, and I told him, "anything except be at work!" 2014-2015 was to be my final year of teaching and I had a really difficult class. That year we went on a long weekend trip to California and had a great time. And so it became a tradition, and we've enjoyed every September trip since then!
This year we went back to the same area of California that we visited back in 2014, called the Russian River Valley. This is north of San Francisco and was easy for us to get to by flying into Sacramento and staying over in Santa Rosa.
Three activities stand out as favorites, and they really filled up the whole week. There are several redwood parks that we spent time in. Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve, Hendy Woods State Park, and Navarro River Redwoods State Park gave us experiences like these:
Look up!
Way, way up!
Cool, quiet, so peaceful.
Our days over at the beach were really foggy! But that just makes it all so other-worldly - especially for people from Colorado. A favorite place is Bodega Bay, where we hiked up and around Bodega Head.
We do enjoy wine tasting, and this is the place to do it! As you drive through the area, there are just fields upon fields of grapevines, up and down the hills, everywhere. It is quite a sight! Something different that we did this year was a champagne tasting, and that was fun! I can't say that I've ever had much (if any) champagne, and if I have, it was the cheap grocery store variety. This was so different, and we really enjoyed it.
Cheers!
I'm always torn after a week away - not ready for the vacation to be over, really, but still ready to be home again. And, very thankful to have had the chance to go! Now, if I could just get caught up on the laundry, lol!
11 comments:
Wow, what a great tradition! The area certainly lovely. Luckily, being retired means you can take your time in getting chores done. On the other hand, it’s always prudent to have clean clothes to wear! 😉
Good morning, Diann. It sounds like you had a wonderful vacation. The photos were amazing. I would like to visit some of the areas that you went to someday. Was it chilly at Bodega Head? The view is stunning. And Wow on the redwoods!!! I hope you catch up on all of those "back home chores" . Have a great rest of the week. Hugs.
Traditionen sind etwas sehr schönes. Ich freue mich für euch, dass ihr eine schöne Zeit hattet und bedanke mich für die tollen Bilder.
Ein schönes Nachhausekommen wünscht dir Petra
We loved the redwood forests too, looks like a great trip.
I dream of going to the Redwood Forest some day, so thank you for posting those! But really you captured a whole bunch of great photos. Happy Birthday!
I love your tradition! September is a great time for a trip - not too hot and not too cold. Those redwood photos are spectacular. The champagne tasting sounds like fun!
I would love to see the redwoods!
Looks as though you had a grand time!
I love a road trip! Sounds like you had a terrific vacation! I have been to the redwoods many times and never tire of them! So beautiful, as is the foggy coastline! :)
Looks like a fun trip. Great photos - I loved the ones of the trees!
I've beeen to CA 3 times (for library conferences) in San Francisco, Anaheim and San Diego. We did take a side trip in San Francisco to Napa and saw some redwoods, although I don't recall where. It was misty and cool the whole time and I remember having to buy a sweat shirt to keep warm. Looks like you had a wonderful trip.
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