Wine, History, and Zen . . . Vacation!



We’re back from our vacation in northern California and man, what a great trip! Time with our kiddos is always a treat—little Grandboy is precocious and sweet-natured and fun, Son is always the best company ever as is darling DIL. This was a Zen time for us—time to get away from home and everyday trials and worries and just soak in family and the Earth.  
And so we did—first at Son’s house where we drank wine and ate great meals and enjoyed the fellowship. They took us to a new Chinese Bistro called Ping’s. Lots of great and unusual dishes, including frog! We also tried a dumpling place and I confess, I love Chinese dumplings. Son made his signature salmon and I raided his wine cabinet with abandon, even though we were headed up to wine country later in the week. What can I say? I love wine. 

DIL taught me how to make a new breakfast delicacy—avocado toast. Yummy! And my first taste of lemon olive oil, which is amazing and gave the avocado a citrusy zip. I’m a believer! Got to watch of Grandboy’s new favorite movies with him Moana and Storks. Good fun, except now the music from Moana is stuck in both our heads! And everytime you say, “thank you” to Grandboy, he sings back, “you’re welcome!” in Dwayne Johnson fashion. Too cute!

After five days at the the kids’ house, we left for our second honeymoon in Angels Camp—a little resort type village about two and a half hours north and east of the Bay Area. We had three days just the two of us before Son and Grandboy would drive up to spend the weekend with us. Thursday we simply hung out and got to know the little town, found a grocery store, settled into our condo, and enjoyed some wine out on the balcony. Gorgeous views of the Sierra Foothills inspired the Zen—we were relaxing. On Wednesday, we went up to Murphys, a town about ten miles north, to taste wine and visit some shops. Tasted some wine, had lunch at a fun little French patisserie, and then bought some wine. 

Great winery called Lavender Ridge had a gorgeous Grenache Rosé that knocked our socks off and the little tasting room brought back such wonderful memories of Paris that I didn’t want to leave. The little town was sweet and everyone was friendly and kind—we really enjoyed the day. Then home to our cozy condo for supper and sitting on the balcony with a bottle of wine. 

On Thursday, we spent the day in Angels Camp. First we listened to a fascinating talk about Samuel Clemens time in Calaveras County and how he discovered his Mark Twain voice there—his story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, was kindled right there by a tale told to him in the Angels Hotel. Mark Twain is celebrated like crazy in this little place and they’ve had an annual jumping frog contest every May since 1928. We toured a terrific museum where we learned about the Gold Rush and mining—all in all, the honeymoon was wonderful—wine and history and sunsets—how can you go wrong, really?


Son and Grandboy arrived on Thursday night and Friday, we hit the road to drive up to Big Trees State Park to see the sequoias—what an awesome sight (truly awesome, I promise!). We went back to the condo for lunch and then headed back into Murphys for more wine tasting and some Nanny and Grandboy play time. While Poppy and Daddy tasted, Grandboy and I wandered, got ice cream, and hit the town park where the playground was the perfect spot for him to be Pepper, the hamster (from his preschool) in the tubes and slides. Too fun! Thursday night was another great supper and another wine sunset . . . nice. 

Saturday, we drove up to Jamestown to do the steam train ride and museum, which turned out to be not only a great deal of fun, but completely fascinating. Lots of cool train history that enthralled us all. Back to the condo so Grandboy and I could swim and splash in the pool—ah, lovely! I missed water! Then a charming Italian restaurant for supper was the perfect capper to our weekend. 

We found wine, we found rest and relaxation, we found lots of family joy and fellowship . . . and we found some Zen. Isn’t that exactly what a vacation is supposed to do?

Comments

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    1. And so it was! I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

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  2. What a fabulous amount if family, food, wine, and Zen you were able to pack into your days!! It sounds wonderful (and I agree about the Moana music!)

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    1. The wine was amazing, Ava--I totally recommend Murphy's as the place to taste in the Sierra Foothills!

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  3. What a beautiful vacation - sounds perfect!

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    1. Yup--loved time with Son and Grandboy and DIL--but also loved the honeymoon time, too! ;-)

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  4. What a wonderful time of family, travel, food and wine. Grandboys are the best! I am glad it was a good time for all of you.

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    1. Grandboys can't be beat, Carolyn, true enough! I recommend vacationing with them--they bring a lot of joy!

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  5. How lovely, Nan. I've always wanted to go to wine country in California, because I love wine, too! Glad you had such a wonderful time.

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    1. Thanks, Jana--oh, you should make the trip sometime--it's grand!

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  6. Sounds wonderful. I love that area of California! Next time you should just stay on I-5 going North until you hit Portland :)

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