Biking and Sipping

The next day we were off again, this time to California Wine Country: Napa Valley. After a leisurely breakfast of delightful crepes in the city, it was only an hour and a half drive over the Golden Gate bridge and we were transported to a totally different place. The steep city building blocks turned into beautiful rolling hills with straight orderly rows and rows of vines. Pointing various sun facing directions as far as the eye could see and with grand estate homes watching over the fields. These italian and provence-style homes were dwarfed by the surrounding Mayacamas and Vaca mountains that encircled and created Napa Valley. 

We went to the visitor center to get some info about where to go bike and taste wine. For those of you who have not been on vacation with me, it is a well known fact, at some point on our trip, I will make you do something really strenuous, something physical to the point that it isn't *that* fun while you are doing it, but turns out afterwards to being really fun (or a good laugh or a good memory afterwards). Note: these things are always fun to me for some reason. So on this adventure occasion I decided we should bike to all the vineyards instead of driving. It was sunny, there was a great breeze and after texas, mid-to-upper 80s seems ideal to do just about anything (plus its a dry heat!). My sister and cousin swear the idea of doing this was fun sounding to them as well, but apparently it was my cycling pace that was not quite what they called, "Leisurely". I don't know about this, I totally felt like this was leisurely-ish, I kept turning around to see if they were still close behind me and they were, so I figured I was maybe going a bit too slow, so I may have picked up the pace here and there to take advantage of a hill to coast down. . . . . but I digress.  

We went to two vineyards in 10 miles, so no long bike tour. I made sure we did the bulk of the ride first so that the remaining 1/3 of the ride would be an easy shot back to the rental bike place ($10-$20 fine anytime back after 5pm sharp!) 

The winery I liked best, was PlumpJack. This place was no low end boonesfarm. It was $20 tasting and they were pouring the good stuff.  Their specialty was: . My pick (and the one I plan to order and have shipped) was: CADE 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain.Our next stop, unfortunately, was up a large hill and then a bit of a coast to the next place. We just made it into the place before it stopped taking new tasters at 4pm. Cliff Lede Vineyards. We had a blast out here. We had very chatty neighbors who were on the more senior side who chatted up Triina and noted that the wine-tender(?) perked up the moment us three girls arrived. This was another great place. Since we were the last ones out there, they let us taste anything they had open, bonus! The pick at this place: 2012 Sauvignon Blanc. I liked their red despite the fact that their specialty was actually Cabernet Sauvignon. 

10 minutes prior to 5pm, we knew we had to book it the last mile to get back to the Napa Valley Bike Tours rental shop in time. Despite the heat and all the wine we'd had, we made it back with 4 minutes to spare! We returned our bikes then decided it was best for all of us to get some good food in our bellies before we even thought about finding a campsite for the night. PSI: there is great camping in Napa Valley. Its at the Bothe-Napa State Park. A cute, small park with a nice picnic and day use area and maybe 30 campsites, about half next to a small creek that ran through the park. Since it was Labor Day monday and just about everyone had left to go home earlier that morning, we had the pick of the place. We pitched our tents, light a fire and just relaxed to Triina playing my Uke, and then headed off to bed early. It was a warm night, no long johns or hats required for me. I could get used to warm-weather camping! 

Post Ride Pic: See, we didn't even breaking a sweat!

Our San Francisco Treat

Our day in San Francisco started off the same as the weather, some clouds, but it cleared up quickly. We had an excellent breakfast  despite the 1 hr wait for Taylor St Coffee Shop, where we had the Millionaire's bacon (a full 1/5 inch thicker than normal bacon and is slowed cooked all night with maple and cinnamon). Niina and I had this perfect light Breakfast salad with  poached egg, bacon, strawberries, blueberries, and a homemade balsamic dressing. So delicious! 

After a quick jaunt to my favorite jean store, we headed off to our main objective of the day: to Chinatown. The San Francisco Chinatown is the largest and oldest continually lived in chinatown in the USA. We were entertained by the novelty and prices of all the imports appealed to our frugal budgets. 

We passed a tea house that offered tea tastings, Triina the tea connoisseur, was all about learning the sacred art of Chinese tea making. We learned all the differences between the different ages of green tea and how it differentiates into the different types of tea. What exactly is the difference between jasmine and regular green tea.  What is Oolong tea, what is herbal tea? which teas a re good for different parts of the day. The whole time, the guide was pouring us different teas to try from. My favorite was a high elevation mountain tea that grows in the Himalayan mountains in Tibet. That stuff ran about $200/4oz. We did not get that one. We had to settle for a mountain goddess green tea and a ginseng oolong. It was a really cool and educational experience. 

So what else do you do when in Chinatown than a snack of dim sum. The waitress was clearly annoyed with us when we only got 5 items to try and no entrees. Our breakfast had been so big that we were only peckish and just wanted a snack. We were planning on going on a boat tour and didn't want anyone to get sick. At the end we were pretty surprised it came with free green tea ice cream, Score! The city pass we had gotten for the aquarium was also good for a harbor boat tour. Since we only had a day out there, we decided since it took us under the Golden Gate bridge and past Alcatraz (which is  a whole day instead to visit), 

The harbor boat tour was nice. It was a simple 1 hour tour that talked about the history of the city as we pasted landmarks on the shore and gave tidbits about building the bridge and cool facts about the prison. As a person who usually hates tours, I like these short 1 hour, git-er-done style rides that give me enough entertainment and informative facts before my fuse of being around a ton of people packed into a small place and being annoyed by being told what to do kicks in. They have a similar tour in Seattle that I also recommend. Post tour, we did a little window shopping and went to go see the sea lions that hang out permanently at Pier 39. Once again, so cute! After we had gotten our fill of oogling the seals, our stomachs were making us aware of dinner being required soon and our daily requirements only half fulfilled, we had to find a combo solution to our wine obligation and being hungry. A quick Yelp search had us at an intimate neighborhood wine bar and fondue place that had live jazz playing called Melt Cafe. We got the traditional swiss gruyere fondu, salads, and some tasty wine. 

After that we decided to go about the town. Nothing too fancy since we didn't want to go home and change and weren't particularly dressed up to go clubbing or to anywhere fancy. As we walked back to Union Square area from Russian Hill, we hit up a honkey-tonk dive bar for a drink and decided this was the night we did some karaoke. 

Karaoke is a tradition among Triina, Niina, and myself. When we had gone to visit her family in Finland, the whole family got together to meet us for an afternoon party at their family farm where we ate, played games in the id-summer twilight, and then sang Karaoke together till the sun finally went down. It had been so much fun! We knew this karaoke fun had to be repeated at some point on the trip. Since it was sunday, we had no problem finding a real karaoke club that had an open couch and an un-busy bar. We sang and enjoyed beverages all the way to closing time. We made friends with the other couches, everyone cheering each other one with their song picks, it was a very friendly evening of karaoke. A bit drowsy and worn out from our non-stop day, we eventually found our way to our comfy beds in Union Square. 

Los peces (and other animals)

Once again, we woke up to the sun shining, the skies blue, and a hot breakfast awaiting us! Our hotel had a free one, so we actually had a respectable start to our morning (as the breakfast was over by 9:30am, we had to be up). Plus we wanted an earlier start than the day before because today was very exciting, today we were planning on going to one of the best aquariums in the world, the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The MB Aquarium, is a wonderful facility that specializes in the unique eco-system that is the Monterey Bay and its super deep canyon. (Its twice the size of the grand canyon!). Our two favorite exhibits were the seahorses and the "Psychedelic Jellies" - aka jellyfish under black lights with shag-tastic '70s tunes that would make Austin Powers proud. We did our best dance grooves while keeping in spirit of the theme.

The seahorses were great because they are so freakin' cute and adorable and shy and you just want to eat them up. Both exhibits had great soundtracks to them that seems to really enhance the mood. Such a far cry from childhood museums and exhibits! I took about a hundred pics of them.

Also, the sea otters were also a big hit, once again: I want to love them and hug them and squeeze them and keep them for my very own. Perhaps name them George.

After an alright meal with an amazing view, we headed off to a vineyard. Once again, the day had sort of gotten away from us and we were nervous we weren't going to get to wine taste before all the tasting rooms closed for the day. We made it up to Ventana Vineyards and winery just outside of Monterey. These people specialized in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir This was an estate vineyard, only using the grapes they grew themselves for their wines. I'm not personally a big Chardonnay person, so I wasn't the best person to make an impression of the place, but Niina was quite taken with their blended red table wine and got one to take home to her mum.

After that it was time to head to Santa Cruz to fulfill our second rule of the day: ice cream for dinner or as I like to call it "Dice-inner" and little thrift shopping. After our ice creams and lattes, it was time to call it a day and head to today's final destination and one heck of a charming city: San Francisco. Parc55 is our basecamp, and I finagled us free internet. a bit of SNL and then it was off to sleep for us weary travelers.

Just three girls, a car, and the open road

The sun shone bright through the blinds as we all woke up in Ventura. We had a big day ahead of us! We had to run some logistic errands like getting snacks and buying a cooler and dropping my sister's car off and most importantly getting a good breakfast. One of the things I miss about my days in the south is quality mexican/tex-mex food. I thought perhaps here in Cali I could get a real breakfast taco. It turns out while I can get an amazing plate of huevos rancheros, a breakfast taco is only a Texas thing. I had to settle for instead a mega-sized breakfast burrito of huevos, chorizo (the real stuff!), papas, and fresh salsa verde.  So delicioso!

Next was our quest for a cooler to replace the crap one I had at home and intended to get rid. I was taking this opportunity of needing one for our trip to do so. We shopped around and got a great deal on exactly what I was looking for: had wheels, a drain, and was of medium size. A quick stop at the Trader Joe's for snacks, and then it was time to drop the other car off.

My sister has been working for a naturalist company leading kids into the wilderness for the past 5 years and they would be holding on to Triina's car, so it would be waiting for her when she flew back. I got to see the logistics headquarters of her workplace. So many organized boxes and tents in the grand warehouse and office space, it was really cool to see where she has been working so hard in between trips!

All these pre-trip projects as always takes longer than anticipated, so we got a later start than we anticipated. But it was ok, we were on vacation and just needed to end up in Monterey by the end of the day.

We cruised down the road, playing roadtrip standards such as "On the Road Again"and "Going back to Cali" and some crazy band named, "We are from Barcelona". We decided to start a Spotify track so we could always have the playlist of this trip. This is when we decided to start making rules/guidelines for the trip. What should be our goals? We quickly decided that ice cream everyday was a must! As well as going wine tasting each day since we were going through some of the best wine country in the world.

Our first vineyard of the trip was right outside Arroyo Grande, a place called Laetitia Vineyard and Winery. This place was started by a Frenchmen who brought grape clippings with him from France. He was from the Champagne region, so that is what he made his specialty in his new vineyard, named after his daughter. This stop turned out to be Niina's first wine tasting ever, so it was a special occasion and totally matched their specialty of sparkling wines, which were exquisite! I bought myself a nice little bottle that I think save for a special occasion (or keep to myself! It was so good!_

Wine tasting is hard work, so we needed a break not too long afterwards and had a great lunch/dinner in San Luis Obispo at a great little organic farm to table place called, Big Sky Cafe. I had a very summery sweet pea risotto with scallops with sautéed pea vines. Everyone's meal was really the best of Cali produce and seafood, fresh, local, and expertly prepared.

By the time we were done wine-ing and dining, we kinda knew we were running out of daylight. So we tried to hurry to the beach Triina knew to check out one of the few elephant seal colonies in existence. There were huge! And while most were cute normal seal looking, occasionally a bull with his elephant like snout would get all ornery and make all the cows and pups move around. I could have watched them for longer, but we had to get going. The sun was close to setting and we still hadn't passed Big Sur on the highway and it was going to get dark half an hour afterwards.

We stopped on an unknown ledge to enjoy the moment of sunset before continuing on our journey. We literally stopped just in time, because just as I snapped my picture, the sun was gone.

Since Triina was familiar with the area, she drove the remainder to Monterey and gave commentary as to what we would be seeing if it was still light. Due to the darkness and the winding roads, it was just short of 2 hours before we finally crashed in our room at out hotel. It was a leisurely day but we were tired and ready for a restful night. I was bummed we had missed the famous Bixeby bridge area to the darkness, but its nice to know it will be waiting for me on another trip.

Pacific Coast Highway: LA to Seattle

If someone asked you, what was your favorite part of America? If you had just one week what would you show someone? Where would you take them? What encapsulated the spirit of the good ole' US of A? My sister and I had this conversation earlier this spring. Our cousin Niina from Finland was staying and working at the lodge my sister runs in California for the summer and when the season ended, we wanted to show her something of the country.

So the conversation went from showing her Michigan, or southern Cali, or NYC. Or maybe just take her to our cabin for the week. Instead we decided we should do something quintessentially and culturally unique: The great American Roadtrip. It has everything: seeing the countryside change and transform right before your eyes, the majesty of nature, the kitch of small towns, the excitement of the cities, the the everyday people you meet on your travels while out finding your way. 

We decided with our limited time of only a week, we should not do the standard cross-country east to west; the days worth of cornfields and plains seemed to be too heavy of a burden for so few days. That journey requires 2 weeks to do proper. Instead, we decided to show her the places Triina and I have fallen in love in with the last few years. Triina a now bonafied California hippie girl and me a Pacific Northwest granola (wannabe) hipster; the perfect bridge between us is the Pacific Coast Highway #1: LA to Seattle. 

So the adventure is set! I booked a flight to Cali, got a one way rental car, and met Triina and Niina in Ventura (let's be honest, there is nothing to see in LA but swimming pools and movie stars). A fellow naturalist of Triina's let us crash at their new pad since I arrived late after work and we got a good night's sleep before our adventure started. That night we all went to bed with the excitement that only a new odyssey and journey can bring.  

Once a Runner

After I moved to Seattle, and the relocation package ran out and I still had nowhere to live, I serendipitously ended up living once again with my friend Amy. I had lived with her back in Houston briefly before she got a new job and sold her condo all in 6 magical days. We joked that I was her lucky charm for all the changes in her life. When I moved in the second time (on this occasion into her lovely condo in the heart of Seattle), we joked again that I would bring change. . . . . . sure enough, engaged within a week. I told her just to let me know when she wants to have kids, let me know and I'll camp the weekend in her backyard.

I loved living at Amy's, with the exception of the cable tv. In Houston I had a roommate and things are significantly cheaper, so of course I had 6 HBOs and 6 Showtime stations in addition to the super ultra deluxe cable package. At Amy's I had like 20 channels. 10 of them being a combo CSPAN, home shopping, and spanish/religious stations. It sucked for the few nights of the week where I was too tired from skiing to be out and about. I couldn't handle it, I needed entertainment. I started going through Amy's small book collection looking for something good.

I found a winner in the classic sport novel, "Once a Runner" by John L. Parker. I was skeptical since I myself am not much of a runner, I mainly did it to keep up my cardio so that I could be better at skiing, but mostly I found it boring and without a purpose (unlike Soccer, which I described as running with a purpose) so a book about it seemed kinda lame.

Nope. This book was so ridiculously awesome that I immediately wanted to take up serious running and begin training for something. The review on google post as following for the book:

"ONCE A RUNNER IS AN INSPIRING, FUNNY, AND SPOT-ON TALE of one man's quest to become a champion. Originally self-published in 1978 and sold at road races out of the trunk of the author's car, the book eventually found its way into the hands of high school, college, and postgraduate athletes all over the country. Reading it became a rite of passage on many teams and tattered copies were handed down like sacred texts from generation to generation. Once a Runner captures the essence of what it means to be a competitive runner, to devote your entire existence to a single-minded pursuit of excellence. In doing so, it has become one of the most beloved sports novels ever published"

My sentiments exactly. The night I finished was the same night I signed up for the Seattle Rock n' Roll Half-Marathon and said I expected to finish in 2 hours. Game on.

I knew as a non-runner I needed help, so I drafted my friend and serial marathoner Jenny to help me out. Boy did she come through! She sent me an awesome personalized training schedule for each and every day right up to race day. Amy also lent me another book, "The Competitive Runner's Handbook" by Bob Glover and Shelly-Lynn Florance Glover to supplement my running knowledge. Between those two resources I was set!

The first thing I did was ask people about the arbitrary goal I had set for myself when I signed up. I had no idea what my time would be, so I simply guessed something. After speaking with people and consulting the AST healthy living facebook page, I was told, this was actually a very ambitious goal for a non-runner who had never ran that distance. I was told realistically that I would probably run more like a 2:30 time since I knew that my regular mile average was a 10min/mile. This was confirmed by the handbook. Oops. I was nervous about being placed in a fast heat, but figured it would be good to be pushed race day.

For the next few months I followed Jenny's schedule the best I could and toward the end sort of fell off the band wagon due to being sick/on vacation/skiing. Two weeks before I was sort of willing to give up and admit defeat of not reaching my goal and questioning if I could finish at all (without stopping/walking).

My friend from work Connor, who also had been running the race 'for fun' and had not been training seriously, the day before the race decided to mysteriously drop out (Connor has no SISU). And the day of the race another friend who was supposed to meet up with me before the race ho'ed me out as well and left early for the bus (which is what I wanted to do, but everyone had convinced me that we could leave later. . . . . . ) so I ended up standing in a huge line with all the other late people and ended up at the race an hour behind start time and had missed my heat. Things were not looking good. . . . . .

I was in a not so happy mood at the end of the race lineup in heat #33 (far away from my heat #10) and was cold and irritated. As I waited for the other heats in front of me to go (there were several heats behind me as well for the walkers), I tried to give myself a pep talk and bounced around a bit to try to warm up my muscles. In the midst of my gloomy-ness a deep 1940 style leading lady voice came into my head and a woman in a salon chair turn around,

"If you're going to let one stupid prick ruin your half marathon, you're not the girl I thought you were."

Yes! It was was Professor Stromwell (played by Holland Taylor) from Legally Blonde, in my head there to pick me up! Within that one ridiculous pop culture line the gloom disappeared and I laughed to myself and was ready to run!

Note: If you ever want to feel good about yourself, run a rock 'n roll series race. There are so many people who are in no condition to be in any sort of race, let alone a long distance running race, you are bound to feel very very good about yourself. Not matter how little you trained. You will see someone who trained and prepared Way Way WAY less than you did. You get to feel good about that.

I felt really good running right from the start. I tried to not start off too fast, but I had to get out from the crowded running peloton. That is when the feel-good-passing-of-people began and went on for 13 straight miles. I dodged and weaved in and out of the spread of people in the various heats of those who had started ahead of us. I ran with joy to the beat of the bands that were along the way and to the people cheering and waving along the way.

The trail was quite lovely, going along the the historic houses and parks of Lake Washington. The water and gel-snack stands were spaced well along the trail. (Blackberry gel; turns out to be delicious. Who knew?) The path slowly found itself on the freeway and heading into the city and toward the finish line. It made a lap around the stadiums, so that runners got a a great view of the sound via the Viaduct (last Rock 'n Roll marathon to get to do so, before the demolition later in the fall).

Coming into the home stretch it was finally time let the final mile rip and going into the stadium parking lot with all the people cheering and I ran my fastest mile. I beat my goal of running the half in 2 hours. I did it in 1:57, averaging 8 minute 50 second miles. Significantly fast then any training run I had done prior. Apparently, passing people kinda makes you magically faster. I totally felt awesome! I think I got some of that runner's euphoria that they talk about in those runner's magazines.

After the race I got my medal, special space blanket, banana, bagel, and water and I wondered around until I felt ready to start the mile walk home. On the way to 1st Avenue, I accidentally met up with my new friend Pedro who I had met the night before and his friends. We all celebrated out race results with drinks and fish 'n chips at the local Irish pub. Perfect way to end the morning and start the afternoon!

When I finally got home, I rolled out my muscles with my foam roller (seriously has changed my life and my IT-issues), then finished with a hot bath and more foam rolling. The next day, pretty much pain free.

Overall it was such an amazing experience! I will definitely do it again next year (new course!)
Anyone want to join me?

Post Trip Summary

I made it to Seattle! Yay!

I would like to thank everybody who made my trip possible. Andres, Triina, Matt, Ben, Brret, Benton, Briana, Kyle, Alex, Sam, hippies, Wyoming locals, etc.

A special thanks to Grant for being my partner in crime and mountain guide.

It was an epic trip and one that really gave me the adventure and relaxation that I needed after such a hectic December of packing, moving, studying, working, and saying goodbye.

I did learn a few things. Saying goodbye is hard, no matter what the situation. Keeping busy is the best medicine. I also learned that I love skiing more than I remembered and that I really really needed that break. I think Benton and Briana have the best idea of taking a season off every now and then to just ski full time.

For the remainder, they say that time can heal most anything. I will be giving that a go with Seattle; all shiney and new with fresh possibilities. I'm super excited but prone to complaining, so I need to just chill and take things in stride. I know there will be adjustments to be made (like dealing with city parking), and making new friends, but the best thing I found out is that I already have great people in my life, even if they are far away.