Tag: vineyard

The second leg of our trip took us to Sacramento to visit my sister and her husband to meet my new nephew. Monday afternoon we arrived in Sacramento and intended on checking out the art museum there only to realize it wasn’t open on Mondays.  We explored old town Sacramento before meeting up with Cheryl, Dean and Calvin to visit a neighborhood sports bar to watch UVA win the NCAA Basketball Championship.

Tuesday we all piled in the car and headed towards Sonoma and dropped Calvin off at his grandparents house for the day. Calvin’s grandfather was a sailor and has a huge train layout in his basement that was fascinating.  Our next stop was Iron Horse Vineyards for a sparkling wine tasting.

We got lunch in Boone and then went to Porter-Bass winery for another tasting and met back up with Calvin. Next we drove out to the coast to see the ocean and walk on the beach which was made a bit treacherous with the high winds blowing the sand around. It was still pretty.

Wednesday we took the dog hiking in the Auburn State Recreation area. We hiked about 6 miles around the North Fork American River across the No Hands Bridge and under the Foresthill Bridge – one of the highest bridges in the country.  The views were amazing and the trails were very nice. The whole park was just under an hour away from Sacramento and an easy drive.

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Mumford & Sons came to Charlottesville and we were able to see them play.  Before the concert we stopped for dinner with Jen and Janek at The Local in Charlottesville for a fantastic meal. At the concert the stage was set up square in the middle of the floor and our seats were in the corner. It was a cool setup having people all the way around.

We spent the night in Charlottesville and then next day we visited Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards and Albemarle Ciderworks.

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Sunday following the football game Jess and I filled the day with scenic drives, hiking and a winery. We started at the southern end of Skyline Drive and stopped about 20 miles in to hike Calvary and Chimney Rocks. It reminded me of the hike we did a couple years ago up to Old Rag without the scambling. It featured some wooded trails up and down hills that went by some rocks with lookouts and good views. The trail was 3.2 miles and took about an hour and a half.

We finished the drive to the Swift Run Gap entrance and continued to Barboursville Vineyards where we tasted wines and enjoyed the sunset.

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This summer I got to take Jess and join my family in Portland Oregon for 6 days of touring any my sister’s wedding.  We stayed in a boutique hotel in downtown Portland that was walkable to a lot of neat restaurants and parks.

For Day 2 Jess and I spent the whole day on a tour driving around Willamette Valley tasting some fantastic pinot noirs that the region is known for.

The next day we spent some time at the Oregon Brewer’s festival.

The wedding was at a beautiful botanical garden.  We had fun seeing family, reuniting with old friends and meeting new ones from across the country.  We had a lot of fun celebrating with my sister Cheryl and her new husband Dean.

On the last day of touring we visited Multnomah Falls and the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River

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