California Dreamin

At 3:30 this morning, Garrett and I finally made it home from California. It was a LONG day; but other than the multiple problems with American Airlines, a great vacation.

The main event was Brendan and Dawn’s wedding on Saturday, and a chance to see almost the whole family.


After the wedding, we hung out at Julie’s for awhile and then had a fantastic dinner at the Santorini Grille in Auburn, complete with belly dancing.


On Monday, Mitch, Garrett, and I visited the Malakoff Diggins, where the land was stripped in the search for gold back in the 1800s.


After that, we headed for Lake Tahoe. We stayed in Tahoe City at the vacation home of our friends, Greg and Irene. The place was huge… plenty of room for the whole family so it was a shame no one else could make it. The weather was gorgeous… cool nights and warm days. We rented bikes one day and rode along the lake for a couple of hours; then went out to dinner at Gar Woods Restaurant, where two of us had wonderful dinners (Garrett’s was just so-so) and watched the sun go down over the lake.


I was hoping to kayak in Emerald Bay the next day but it turned out you needed to make reservations ahead of time, which I hadn’t done. So we decided to hike down to Emerald Bay. What would, for most people, be a fairly easy 1.7 mile hike (each way) took us a long time as it was a hot day and we had to stop frequently to cool off in the shade. But it was very pretty.


Thursday found us heading to the Sierra Foothills for some wine tasting. Our hosts, Sandy and Chuck at the Eureka Street Inn in Sutter Creek, said that we had just missed the beautiful weather. Instead, we endured 100+ degree days, which meant that we did a lot of driving in an air conditioned car and then bee-lined for air conditioned tasting rooms.


Zinfandels predominate in that part of California and we had some great ones, as well as a few excellent Sangioveses, Barberas, Syrahs, and Sauvignon Blancs. Among our favorites were the wines at Karly, Vino Noceto, and Renwood. We’re hoping that the case-and-a-half that we shipped home will make it and we will be able to share them with our friends here. Next time we go to Sutter Creek will not be in July, but we would definitely go back to Eureka Street for Chuck’s delicious breakfasts and the pleasure of sitting around chatting with Sandy and Chuck.

We were wined out by the time we left Sutter Creek for the Bay Area, where we visited with my old high-school friend, Carol.


But, of course, we managed to quaff a few more wines with her before heading home. It was a great way to end a fantastic vacation, but we’re happy to be home again with Ellie and Patches.