After that enjoyable week off, we got back into our normal routine of “nothing” this past weekend.  I dropped comfortably back into my normal Friday happy hour schedule at Relish, with a few hours on their nice patio.  After that we went home and ordered delivery from Mountain Mikes pizza, which I’ve wanted to try since we moved here.  I’d say it was just as marginal as any other pizza we’ve had here, with the added bonus of bringing it to my door, so it’s officially in the ordering rotation now.

Saturday was the dreaded “shopping” day.  Gotta do it sometime I guess.  We’d effectively emptied the fridge before leaving town the week before, so we needed a full restock.   That, of course, meant the dreaded Costco trip, ugh.  After we circled the aisles a few times, though, we decided there was no way we were going to wait in the checkout lines so we ended up just leaving.  Guess we’ll be eating out or making nightly grocery runs this week, which actually we usually do anyway.  After that we took a trip to Lowe’s, again buying nothing, then went by the new house to check up on the progress.  After all that pointless driving, we decided to stop by this Farmer’s-Market-looking place just outside of town.  We’ve driven by this place countless times, but never stopped, preferring to just pick up our produce at the store.  Well, we didn’t feel like going to the store, so we decided this was the day.  Alas, the one day we finally made it a point to go there, they were having their annual “Strawberry Festival.”  Apparently it’s a semi-big deal, as we had to park out in the middle of some distant field and hike all the way to the grounds, only to find a bunch of vendor booths selling jewelry and stuff once we finally go there.  Any produce they may have had earlier in the day was long gone.  Sigh, off to the good ol’ grocery store.  We picked up some Copper River salmon for dinner, and fixed it on the grill.  First time I’d ever plunked down the extra coin for this supposed delicacy, and it was indeed a tasty piece of fish.  Worth the 3x premium over the Atlantic salmon right next to it in the case?  I’d probably be hard-pressed to go that far, but at least I can say I’ve tried it now.  After dinner we settled in for a movie night.  Bad Grandpa was the selection for the evening.  I guess I must found it at least moderately entertaining, as I actually stayed awake through the whole thing.

Sunday looked like some particularly nice weather, so we decided to head out on one of our local brewery tours.  After negotiating some nasty construction tie-ups, our first stop was at Rubicon Brewing.  We hadn’t actually been to the brewery itself, but we’ve had their brews before, so our main focus was the lunch menu.  It was definitely delicious, but their portions were a little over the top.  The first thing we ordered was a large guacamole, to tide us over until the food arrived.  I guess it’s our fault for not asking how big a “large” was, but I swear it came out in a mixing bowl.  I’ve never seen so much green goop in my life.  We should have just called it a meal and been done, but of course we then ordered sandwiches too.  We were so full by the time we left it nearly ended our entire day, but we fought through the adversity like troopers, and headed off to Track Seven.  This one featured the seemingly popular format around here of opening a brewery in a warehouse row, then throwing the overhead doors open and pouring some pints.  Hey, it works for me, even if the surrounding scenery is a bit bland.  At any rate it was a fun place, but we were so stuffed it was definitely a one-and-out stop.  After that it was on to New Glory brewing.  We’d been to that one before, but it’s a nice place (another warehouse) and is right on the way home, so it made the list.

After the Sonoma Tour-de-Vino, we headed over to Lake Tahoe.  This was the longest drive of the trip, roughly three hours.  We actually drove right by our house at the mid-point, but we kept rolling so as to not disturb the pets.  We did take a break early in the trip though, with a stop at B.R. Cohn winery.  This place had the added bonus of making olive oil & vinegar, which was interesting.  The whole place was nice actually, we’ll have to put that one on the “return trip” list.  We were there a while, then continued the trek east.  We got to Tahoe right at check-in time, but other than going to dinner with the group we didn’t really do anything.  I think everybody was running out of steam.  We all hit the hay early to rest up for the next day.

We all got up well-rested on Thursday, ready for the day.  (Don’t quote me on the actual day…  They all kind of ran together.)  The Martins took off for a hike, while we joined the Aushermans on what was to be a light bit of shopping.  Specifically, I wanted to get the kiddos (Kane & Teagan) a few toys, as all kids expect presents when returning from a trip.  We pulled into the shopping center where the pet store was, and the first thing that caught Jill’s eye was an art gallery.  Hey, we like looking at art, let’s check it out.  We walk in the front door and boom, both Doni & I say “oh I like that painting.”  Man, Ms. Snooty The Sales Lady was on us like a used car salesman.  I don’t know how long we were there, I think I may have blacked out for a bit.  At the end of the visit though, we were the proud owners of our very first painting, which I am oddly pleased about.  I figure after 38 years of marriage, if we stumble across something we both actually like, we darn well better get it.  We didn’t actually take it home though, I’m too scared to put it in the car.  We’ll save that for another trip.  After that, our shopping trip was over;  Sorry kids, no money left for your presents.  We grabbed a light lunch on a nearby patio and enjoyed the sun for a while.  (David & Jill had some tasty sandwiches, while the wife & I scavenged some nearby dumpsters for scraps.)  After that we circled up with the Martins and went for a cruise on the Bleu Wave yacht.  Two thumbs up on that excursion, I’d do it again.  It was a little chilly, but we finally actually got out on the water, which we hadn’t gotten around to on any of our previous trips.

After our trip to San Francisco, we loaded up and drove on to Sonoma.  On our way out of town, we stopped by Anchor Steam brewery for a tour.  Once we finally found a parking spot, we spent a few hours on a very informative tour.  Truth be told, they don’t put out any of my favorite brews, but there was a lot of history behind it and they are currently expanding as well.  From there, our itinerary listed Lagunitas brewery as the next stop, who, as it happens, DO put out some of my favorite brews.  I’ve also heard from many that it’s a great place to hang out, with a large outdoor area and a good food menu.  Alas, a quick check of their hours showed they were closed on Mondays, rats.  I guess that’s on the list for another trip, it’s not that far from our house anyway.  Deprived of that destination, we made the quick call to head to Russian River, which was located near our final destination for the day anyway.  They brew what is considered one of the top IPA’s in the country, so it was a suitable substitution to be sure.  We enjoyed a good lunch there, then checked into our hotel.  For dinner we went to a friend’s house who lives in town.  He fixed a great meal for the whole group, and we got to check out his cool gardens.  (Big vegetarian;  He’s got quite the setup.)

The next day, we all met up at his house again and loaded up in a limo for a Sonoma Valley wine tasting trip.  Our first stop of the day was at Coturri, which was quite a drive.  Our friend Steve knew the owner at this place well, so we got quite the hook-up.  I’d never to been to a winery anything like this place, it was interesting.  I’d call it “informal,” he kept grabbing random bottles from his storage building and bringing them out.  He had a table set up outside, and we just kind of enjoyed the weather and some tasty vino.  We stayed there quite a while, then headed off to our next stop at Buena Vista.  This one (and the remaining stops for the day,) were more what I’d experienced before:  Stand at the counter, taste a few glasses, move on.  And move on we did, to Gundlach Bundschu.  This was an interesting stop, as it is actually the oldest winery in the world.  Or maybe it was the oldest in California.  Possibly just Sonoma.  I don’t know, I was losing interest in wine rapidly by this point.  The building was certainly interesting though, and so were the grounds.  We spent some time there, then wrapped the day up with a nice little picnic in the square downtown.  Next stop, Lake Tahoe.

Wow, that was quite a week.  Matter of fact it stretched a bit into this week, necessitating the slightly late update.  It was my birthday week, and I’d say I got considerably more mileage out of it than usual, if perhaps only by sheer coincidence.  We kicked things off by meeting up with several friends in San Francisco for a few days.  While I’d like to think they all came to celebrate my birthday, we were actually there to take part in the 103rd annual Bay To Breakers run.  Several in the group had done it before, but it was our maiden voyage.  And oh, what a voyage.  We had intentionally elected to queue up in the back of the crowd, as we had no plans of actually running.  We just wanted to walk the 7.5 miles and enjoy the show.  And, indeed, a show it was.  Even the veterans in our group proclaimed it quite a bit bawdier than they’d seen before.  Despite many visible notices proclaiming a crack-down on alcohol, nudity, backpacks, strollers, and fun in general, nobody seemed deterred in the slightest.  (I kept all my clothes on, for the record.)  We got some idea of what we were in for when we got stuck in the start gate (with the other 40,000 runners) for a good hour, directly behind a rather chubby fella wearing face paint and flip-flops.  Just face paint and flip-flops.  (OK, he did sport a few other fashion accessories, which shall go unnamed,  mostly because I’m not really sure what they’re called.)  Apparently in an attempt to keep warm in the chilly morning air, he felt the need to constantly jump up and down.  I still wake up screaming.  There were lots of entertaining costumes actually consisting of clothes, too.  There was definitely ample scenery to keep us entertained throughout our leisurely stroll.  It was so freaking crowded we really couldn’t have run even if we wanted to though, so we ended up sort of shuffle-stepping the entire 7.5 mile party.

After the “run,” we managed to navigate the daunting commute back to our rental house.  (Ever seen 40,000+ people, mostly badly impaired, trying to find a ride home at once?  It was nearly as entertaining as the run itself.)  Donette had found the house online, in the Haight Ashbury district.  Personally I’d never even heard of this neighborhood, but apparently it’s generally widely recognized.  It was a great house, and the location was a blast.  It had plenty of room for the group, and we were in walking distance to more places than we could hope to visit in our short trip.  Not remarkably, I was most fond of the brewpub Magnolias, which was conveniently located a mere two doors down from us.  I enjoyed the bar-none best blue cheese burger in recent memory, not to mention a few pints of their Prescription Pale Ale.  (Which I see is no longer available, guess I got lucky.)  It appeared that several thousand people had cut their run considerably short and opted to just party all day, so we plunked down on the front porch and just watched the bizarro’s walk around.  Matter of fact, even on the other days we were there, the front porch provided more than enough people-watching value;  We spent quite a few hours out there.  That pretty much wraps up the San Francisco portion of our trip.  Tune in tomorrow (or the next day…  Or the next…) when we continue our riveting journey to Sonoma!

Happy birthday to me.  I’ll be brief, as I’m in the midst of a birthday-week celebration and I don’t want to waste valuable vacation hours.  (And I find the iPad very difficult to type on.)  We are currently in San Francisco, wrapping things up and heading to Sonoma later today.  Yesterday was my actual birthday, which I celebrated by participating in the 103rd annual Bay to Breakers run.  Donette & I walked the whole thing, no running for me.  I just enjoyed the people-watching, which there was certainly ample opportunity for.  I shot a few videos on my phone, I’ll upload them later…  Maybe.  Wow…  Some things just can’t be unseen.  Far more people than I’d expect seem to have a penchant for running in the buff out here.  Didn’t look very comfortable to me, but then again I can’t say I’ve ever tried it.  We were one of the very few people without some kind of costume on, I felt a little un-festive.  I’ll have to come up with some kind of unique costume idea for next time, which will likely be never.  We decided the race would be better enjoyed from the sidelines in a folding chair, so that’s our plan for the next one.