Sunday- Headed back to wine country to visit my wine club, Joseph Phelps. They are not accepting any visitors until end of November so had to pull out the wine club card to get an appointment. First, we went to Muir Woods to go for a proper hike with Pam. Had to get there by 8:30 before all the parking is taken (there are signs all over the freeways saying Muir Woods Parking is full). So foggy but so cool. The trees here are fat and super tall and we (Jen, myself and Pam) decide to go for a hike (of course straight up hill for 2.2 miles). It was great and the best part was Pam carried her coffee cup the entire time. When I saw her in the am, I said to Jen, we may need to exercise later because we had Jessee and Alex and now Pam with a coffee cup (seemed like it was going to be a leisurely stroll more then a hike) BUT Pam hiked the entire time with her cup of coffee and at the end it still had coffee in it. Very impressive. I am adopting Pam's line or her husband, Chris's line actually. I have to take Jen out for a walk everyday or she goes bananas. Great hike 5.5 miles. Met Jessee and Alex back at gift shop and headed to Mill Valley for brunch at the Beer Garden (Highly recommended by Pam and other people waiting outside). The town was so nice and we sat down right at 11:30 AM.
Ok, now the weird part. The brunch menu has no eggs or any breakfast food on it. It is a typical CA menu with the craziest combinations of items. For breakfast, I had the walnuts and salt! Yes, a bowl of 10 walnuts, a nut cracker and salt in the bottom of the skillet. All for the bargain price of $14. This is when Jen said to me, they have to all be in the kitchen laughing at us. "Lets serve them walnuts, like thanksgiving day and make them crack them and rub them in salt. We will just charge them 500% more then they cost and it will seem like a trendy thing. They will eat them." Well the joke was on us, we ate them, crazy (incidentally, we were driving to Napa later and saw bushels of walnuts for $5.00 that could have made this walnut dish for 500 people). We also asked for salt (as you all must know we salt the f out of everything) and they gave us a perplexed look, like "whats salt?" They came back with a little tiny thimble with 4 grains of salt in it. We had to ask 2 more times for refills. I did like my coffee and asked the server if I could have a refill and once again got the perplexed look--"you want another set up of coffee?" I replied, "yea, I guess." $4 later I got my "refill."
We stick out like sore thumbs here. We are wearing shorts (it is hot) but everyone is wearing pants and Patagonia jackets. Plus, everyone is super thin (as you would imagine eating 10 walnuts instead of a western omelet, bacon, toast and home fries). Also, everyone is walking a dog.
The commitment to biking in the US today is unbelievable but in CA it is a heightened level. You would think the Tour de France was everywhere in CA. Sponsorships, matching outfits, tight fitting pants on MEN and the most expensive bikes you have ever seen. Our bikes are still on back of the RV and completely diesel covered (will need to put paint suits on to ride them) but they fit the picture and maybe we will will use in Utah.
Did you know you need to ask someone to pet their dog? I did not, and learned the hard way.
Went back to Flag to shower and get ready to go to our confirmed appointment at the exact time of 2:30 PM at Joseph Phelps which is 1 hour away. Said we had to leave at 1:15 and that is exactly when Jen and I were ready to leave sitting in the car. Jessee and Alex (we love them to death) are so F-ing slow (sorry aunt mary but i need to stress slow). Granted the jeep is really hard to get into and out of but we have not left the jeep once without having to go back and get something we forgot. We ended up now giving them a 5 minute warning that we are getting out so they can gather their phones, wallets, etc.
Joseph Phelps was awesome. So high end and beautiful. We wanted to see one large Winery (Mondavi) and one boutique winery. The tasting could not have been any better and we sat out on the terrace and tasted 7 wines, most very expensive. We loved hearing about the process and were glad not to have an ascot wearing snooty wine expert but we did learn that people do tip the tour guides (sorry Doug).
Alex loved it so much he said he wanted to get a house there. That is his "go to" line when he likes somewhere. Jen wants to move there and Alex wants to buy a house there.
Onto a great dinner in Sausalito right on the water (literally on pilings). The Trident was awesome and our waiter was really cool and had a great NY accent and impression. Great way to cap off our SF stay.
MONDAY--Jen and I went for a walk at Blackies Pasture and this time went past a bunch of houses right on the water that were worth 6-10 mil, Really nice and I am sure Alex would want to buy one there, Got back and "folded" the flag up for moving and off to lunch in San Francisco on our way to drop off Jessee and Alex at the airport. Not a ton of planning went into this trip and we ended up stopping at Golden Gate bridge to try and find a place to eat where we could actually park the 62 footer and get a "Full House" picture of the Flag in front of the bridge (by the way, i am whistling "..everywhere you go"). Very easy to navigate San Fran with the Rig (NOT) but ended up eating at a cafe.
Now to the airport to drop off guests. Following signs that say no trucks and thinking about low overpasses, we pulled right up front to departures (Jessee and Alex were a little late-Shocker). Said good bye and headed to LA.
The next part of our trip was pretty uneventful until we entered LA county from US 5. It felt like we were re-entering the atmosphere from a shuttle from outer space. I felt like at anytime we would actually break apart. Picked an RV park in Malibu and did not arrive until 9 PM but got in and settled. Holy crap, we are right on to the water and the park is really nice. Most likely we will be kicked out because they have a "do not leave dogs in RV alone" policy and we are going to do that everyday. Sorry but I have been kicked out of better places (Buffalo Wild Wings).
Sorry about the double day but had a long drive yesterday. Tuesday- Explore, Trick or treat at mansions with Glenn, Wed-James Corden Show and then dinner with Eric and Lisa. Thursday, Maybe a cookout with friends at campground unless we get kicked out.
Shout out to Spez and Sabs for finally figuring out how to get good grades in College. 4 years is a charm.
No comments:
Post a Comment