Magical Wine Country weekend

There are a number of cute little town such as Bodega Bay, Jenner, Gualala, Guerneville, and Healdsburg along the Russian River. Just a couple of hours north of San Francisco all along one of the most scenic routes in the world, these towns are ideal for a weekend getaway. This is the perfect vacation for wine and nature lovers.

We stopped at Bodega Bay (pictured in Alfred Hickok’s movie –‘Birds’) on the way to Healdsburg where were we stayed. 

We were planning to drive up to Jenner to see the sunset. On the way, we found this beautiful beach:

In Healdsburg we had an amazing seafood dinner at Willis restaurant.  The ambience is great and the food is fresh and delicious. The fish was buttery and the lobster roll was out of this world.

At night we had fun playing Monopoly. Of course it ended in a mini war over who won, and after no consensus was reached, we went to bed!

The next day we headed to Guerneville, and loved the brunch at Boon Eat and Drink.  Restaurants here take their food very seriously, and the ingredients are very fresh and organic. I am still dreaming of the flash fried brussel spouts and the beet & goat cheese salad!

We headed out to the Russian Gulch State Park where we strolled for a few minutes and returned because Yam was scared of the many dogs that were running around and playing.

We were driving back to the bay area, and stopped at a vista point. From here we could see Blind Beach and Goat Rock. It is very easy to miss these as they are not visible from Hwy1. We decided to turn around as we saw a lot of cars in that area.

Blind beach is one of the most amazing beaches I have seen. Here, the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean and the different shades of green and blue water looked so beautiful on this sunny day. There are beautiful rock formations in the water as well as on the coast. This is part of Sonoma Coast State Beach – a 13 mile coastline stretching from Russian River to Bodega Bay. It is easy to miss these beaches that are tucked away in rocky coves, and hidden by steep bluffs. The ocean is very rough, and there is a rip current that is generated due to a steep gradient along the shore. It is extremely dangerous to enter the water. However, we did see some daredevil surfers.

We stood on the coast and watched the huge waves crashing on the shore and the rocks. The beach is a regular nesting ground for seagulls, otters, sea lions, and elephant seals. It was so nice to watch them in their natural habitat.

After spending a few wonderful hours sinking in all this beauty we left with some pictures and lots of amazing memories. Happy Travels Everyone!!

-Dee

Rocky Mountain National Park

We went to Rocky Mountain National Park for K's Birthday in 2011. Other than not being able to wake up in time to catch our 5am flight, the trip was pretty amazing. Dee was trying out her photography skills with her new DSLR, and the pics came out awesome for a novice.

Our hotel was right next to a river and had a beautiful lawn with chairs and swings:

We hiked the Nymph lake and Dream lake trails. These hikes were of moderate level and very beautiful. We saw a lot of wildlife all over the park.

Most of the lodging is in an area called Estes Park, which is very close to the national park. Get an ice-cream or other sweet treats from Laura's Fudge shop before your hike. They are awesome!

Here is a picture of the Stanley hotel where all of the rooms have had out-of-the-ordinary experiences reported, including having items moved from place to place, as well as lights turning on and off. The movie "The shining" was inspired by the events that occurred in this hotel.

- Yam

What Happens in Vegas...

We went to Vegas for my Birthday! It was a last minute decision. We booked our tickets Friday evening for a Saturday morning flight. It was an absolutely wonderful trip.

We stayed at the Palazzo and loved it. Stay in one of the hotels on the strip. You can walk on Las Vegas Boulevard to the other Hotels and Casinos. Our favorite places to stay are Venetian, Palazzo, Paris, MGM Grand, and Mandalay Bay. On the list of places to try are Bellagio, Aria, and Wynn. Do not rent a car if you are planning to stay only in Vegas. You will be spending most of your time on the Strip (Las Vegas Blvd) where the traffic is always bad. It is best to walk or take a cab.

Walk around the various Casinos on the strip each of which has a theme of a particular city. If it’s your first time in Vegas it is fun to see the Dancing musical fountains outside Bellagio, take the Gondola ride in Venetian, check out the white tigers/dolphins at Mirage and the Shark reef aquarium at Mandalay bay.

Next let’s talk about FOOD. For a special celebration or a romantic dinner there is no better place than the Paris restaurant on the Eiffel tower. The food is just amazing, and the service is great. Bellagio buffet is one of our favorites. It has lots of veggie options, and the desserts are decadent. The Bacchanal Buffet is a new buffet that opened at Cesar’s palace.  It took $17 million to build, has some of the best chefs, and has a super chic interior. However, none of these could justify a 3 hour wait for us. Seriously, I cannot understand how people can stand in line for so long for food, no matter how good it is. I like some of the Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, and Bobby Flay restaurants on the Strip. Do read yelp reviews as some are better than the others! Some of the restaurants in the Venetian/ Palazzo by the canal are also good. For a late night snack try “Earl of Sandwich” at Planet Hollywood. It is a great sandwich place to grab a quick bite.

 Birthday buffet at Bellagio:

Catch one of the Cirque de Soleil shows when in Vegas. Each show has its own theme.

-      Mystere – This is still our favorite one, probably because it is the first one we saw.

-       “ O” - The water theme show at Bellagio is also great

-       Ka – This show at MGM grand is based on Fire. We absolutely loved it the first time in around 2006. However, we were underwhelmed when we went back in 2012. The quality has really gone down.

The troop has many travelling shows and some of them that we have seen in San Jose and San Francisco have been really good. I would highly recommend this troop, the music is awesome and they put on an amazing show.

When we have nothing planned for a long weekend, we fly to Las Vegas! At one point we had become Poker addicts and would be out all night, and return to the hotel room only when we realize that we were making stupid decisions due to lack of sleep. These days we do gamble, but Vegas has become a hub to go to many more interesting places. On our last trip we went to a State Park called Valley of Fire. We had never heard about it, and are go grateful to the security person at our hotel who suggested that we go there. Our plan was to get up early and go to the Grand Canyon. As usual, we woke up around noon and were told that starting a day trip to Grand Canyon at that time was a little too ambitious. It turns out that was the best thing that happened on the trip. Here are pictures to prove that:

We had a wonderful day hiking around the park, and were ready to head back to Vegas. It turns out there was more adventure in store for us. We had just entered the Lake Mead recreation area, and parked our car to take one last picture before sunset. When we got into the car, it wouldn't start. The Cadillac that we had rented had some bug in the security software, and an alarm was activated. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere and it was getting dark. None of our phones had coverage, but luckily the Cadillac had On-Star that we used to call Hertz. They had no idea where we were and we had no address or cross street for them. They sent out 2 tow trucks that could not find us for about 6 hours. It was getting cold and we could not turn on the heat. The battery was dying and we needed every bit of it for the On-star satellite phone support. Finally around midnight we were so happy to see headlights after was seemed like ages. People usually enter the hotel drop off in fancy limos or cabs, and we made a grand entrance in a massive tow truck that night!

Other trips that we have taken from Las Vegas are to Zion National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Red Rock Canyon State Park. I will write in more detail in subsequent posts. 

- Yam