Dear Dacia: An Overdue Trip Well Worth the Wait

San Francisco was san-frantastic. I loved it more than I could imagine, considering the whole of my experience with the left coast is news of their left politics and the high percentage of left-handers. Great wine, cool weather, plenty of visual oomph, aaaand it didn't quake, shake and float off into the ocean while we were there. What's not to love?

So this blog is just about the first two days of our trip to make it a more manageable typing and reading experience.

First, though, it wasn't what we expected, and that was good and bad, starting with wine country. I thought it would be much more high brow. You would pass by a winery and then a trailer, a beautiful little town and then a gravel pit and truck yard. Guessing what eye sore came next became our little running joke. (Oh and another little game I liked to play was 'spot the solar panels'--much like when my sister and I were kids and would yell out "AIRBRUSH" when we drove into Panama City for vacation with my parents.)

When we first arrived, we drove through downtown and across the Golden Gate Bridge and ended up detouring to eat and browse Sausalito. It was wonderful with divine views of the city, a great personality and adorable cafes.

Sausalito was also our first intro to the fact that even the tiniest place would have hard-to-pronounce sandwiches and mysterious ingredients. Delicious, but not the straight forward food you find in Texas.

After a wonderful morning strolling that town, he headed north for the official beginning of our first leg of the trip in Sonoma County. We stayed at the Hyatt in Santa Rosa, which I wouldn't recommend. While it had a pretty facade, they nickel-and-dimed us for everything(--hello, even McDonald's gives FREE wifi!) and it was devoid of personality. Trust me that if Kyle and I can't scrape personality from those around us after we have been drinking wine, than there is none to be found. Santa Rosa is a cute little town(if you call 161,ooo people little), again with the odd dichotomy of froo-froo hotels right on top of the homeless shelter. We did go out one night in Santa Rosa and it was interesting in it's own right. The first bar we went to had a suspect- looking black bus out front, which turned out to be the tour bus for the guitarist from the Scorpions. We also stopped into the Toad in the Wall next door which was so bad we didn't even finish our beers. The singer was bad mouthing the south and I got an ugly reminder from a lonely lesbian that, yes, some people really are fine with being rude and disconnected from the rest of the human race.

The last bar was great with live music and $16 glasses of wine. We mourned the fact we didn't go there first and finally headed back to the hotel.

On that note, when you go to Northern Callie, just get ready to bend over, grab your ankles and hand over your wallet.

Anyways, it was hard to get our bearings on where to go and what to do at first, but Kyle proved to have killer travel instincts, the first sign of this being when we stumbled across the Kendall-Jackson winery. KJ proved to be auspicious not only for the wonderful taste explosion I was to have, but for the very good advice our tasting expert gave us that helped us navigate the next few days. They had a wine and food pairing so unbelievable that had you only heard the audio of that delectable experience, you would have thought I was having an hour long orgasm. Each course was designed to bring out the true fullness of each wine. OH MY GOD. Sitting outside on the patio in the gardens with a handsome man, succulent food and elegant beverages, what more could a girl ask for? We had made a pact that we would not buy bottles of wine from every place we visited, but broke it on that very first afternoon. (Notice the telltale bag below.)

The next morning we drove to Armstrong Redwood State Natural Reserve and went on a six mile hike. The majestic redwoods tower over you with perspective-inspiring majesty and the peaceful mood seeps into your entire being. The hike was on the challenging side and I was glad Kyle brought our camel-packs.

Because we were already an hour north, we wound our way over to the famous Hwy 1 and drove the gorgeous and at-times nauseating turns up the coast. (Yes, those are sea lions. So cool!)

Let me tell you, California drivers are not scared to drive with one foot on the accelerator and and one foot at the doorway to heaven, and Kyle fell right in line. Can you see my face turning as green as the vegetation just at the memory? The scenery made up for it, but I only let go of the 'oh-shit' handle above the passenger door to take pictures.

We cut back south on the main highways and stopped in Healdsburg on a recommendation. Do not miss this little gem. Actually if you go to Sonoma, try to find a smaller hotel or b and b on a winery around Healdsburg. It's that good. We grabbed a divine Pinot, that turned out to be this particular wine maker's first official production of just 300 bottles (Chavez) and sat on the square in the waning sunlight snacking on salami, local cheese and olives. Perfection.