The Palm Springs of Washington

This weekend we made the journey over to the Palm Springs of Washington - Yakima. (Seriously, that's what they call themselves!) We were going to celebrate Jessie and Pete as they became hubby and wife, so thought we'd take the opportunity to go a night early, so we could have a little extra time to relax and explore the bustling metropolis.

On Saturday, we took our time to get up and get ready (which felt so luxurious!) and then hit up a few wine tasting rooms - Gilbert Cellars, which had the most amazing Grenache. And Treveri Cellars, which has mastered the bubbly - they even a delicious sparkling syrah. I'm already regretting not picking up a bottle. In between, we took a little lunch break at a hoppin' local pizzeria. An afternoon well-spent.

We eventually made it back to our hotel to get ready for an evening of fun - details to come, but I will tell you this: you would have never known this was a DIY wedding - gorgeous!

Bavarian Bliss

By now, you should be well aware of my love for Leavenworth. Any town that combines great weather for every season, good beer, fun festivals, taffy shops, wine tasting, German pretzels and an overall kitschy tourism feel - is a fabulous town in my book. To kick off the fall season and say goodbye to summer, the girls adventured east for a day trip to our favorite Bavarian getaway - consisting of an authentic German lunch, wine tasting, store hopping, ice cream eating, riverside walking and more.

I think another winter trip to Leavenworth is in order. Who's with me?

Homebound

Sunriver, as usual, was magical. It was hard to come home, but at least we had the chance to enjoy the beautiful Central Oregon scenery on the car ride home. (It was way too dark on our way down.) Details to come, but I will say this: snowblasting (AKA tubing) is awesome and so are my girlfriends. Both make me smile.

Hope you had a wonderful 3-day weekend!

TG(iPhone)F

When I saw this series of pictures, they made me laugh. I remember trying so hard to take a good picture of us with the beautiful, landscaping views of vineyards in Sonoma wine country.

The wind and sun had other plans.

After NUMEROUS attempts of trying to get one that 1) didn't have my hair all up in my face 2) didn't have sun flares and 3) didn't make one of us look ridiculous, we settled for one where I just sort of had hair in my face.

But now I think I like the series of pictures best because it takes me back to that moment. That moment of being on vacation in warm, sunny California with one of my best friends.

[Clicking heels like Dorothy to go back in time.]

Road Trip: Polaroid Edition

Remember all the obsessive posts about our road trip? Well, now you can see (part of) the trip through the lens of a Polaroid camera.

Someone I know has a scanner and has so graciously offered (or was politely asked while I was fluttering my eyelashes) to scan all of my Polaroids. He finished a set, but there are still more to come in future posts. Not all road trip, but all of my Polaroid fun!

But for now, enjoy a few from Road Trip 2k10. Oh, how I wish I had a time machine right now.

The last one is from the rad cabin we stayed at.

And the rest of the road trip

I realized that I was very eager to post about all the wine we drank, but have yet to post about the rest of our fabulous road trip. So here goes.

Remember these GORGEOUS photos of Crater Lake? And how excited I was to see the bluest lake in the world? Well, turns out, the weather had other plans. We rolled into our campsite at about 10 or 11pm on a nice, clear night, pitched our tent and fell fast asleep. Fast forward five hours: rain. We didn't put on the rain fly. So while I was in my sleepy state and saying, 'it's ok, we'll be fine without it," Joe took care of us. (Thanks J!) But it wasn't soon enough to prevent some water in tent, so we got up early and went to the lake.

Here's Crater Lake. We waited for several hours in the lodge for the rain and fog to clear, but it wasn't going anywhere... The one hiccup of our road trip, so we'll have to go another time.

So, next stop: Pacific Ocean! More specifically, Lincoln City and briefly Cannon Beach.

Being goofballs in the water.

The sunset the first night was perfect. Beach + cheese & crackers + wine + wonderful company = perfection.

We also swung by Portland to visit my sister for coffee and to see her new place! I'm so happy for her. Love ya, sis!

Drinkin' the grape juice

A little of Napa and a lot of Sonoma, we tasted our way through California's wine country. As expected, we sported the semi-permanent purple teeth for part of the trip.

As you may have picked up (here, here or here), I like me some wine. Red. White. Verde. I like it all. And I think this trip has made Joe that much more interested in wine too! He loved the whole experience. I mean, how could you not? Jumping from winery to winery to taste really good wines and having the people tell you all about the whole wine-making process, from growing to fermenting to aging. (The geeks in us really liked learning about the whole process.)

Now a sampling of our pictures from the wineries.

Windy at Artessa Winery

Growing grapes at Mauritson Winery

Pelligrini Family Vineyards

(Had it not been for that piece of dry grass, this picture would have been awesome!)

The gazing ball at Ferrari Carano again.

The vineyard at Ferrari Carano

(Note: they don't allow picnics)

Madonna Estate - organic wines!

TGIV

Thank God its Vacation!

We're hittin' the open road at 7am tomorrow morning. First stop: Visit Lizzie in Redding, Ca. Yay! It was her birthday a few days ago, so we'll even be able to celebrate that.

We're fully prepared for long hours on the road - The iPod is loaded with music, audio books and comedian's stand-up. I'm most excited for the audio book Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (I remember it being hysterical when I read it 10 years ago), tons of stand-up of Jim Gaffigan, and the USA Top 40 playlist that Joe just downloaded for me. Oh, and the Glee soundtrack that he also downloaded. (For me? Probably. But I like to pretend he's a closet Gleek and actually rocks out to Don't Stop Believin' all the time.)

I'll miss you dearly, but I'll be back and probably with purple-stained teeth. Ciao!

pic via

Road Trip: Wineries

My road trip previews have fallen by the wayside, but I had to squeeze at least one more out. Because it's a biggie.

Wine tasting in Sonoma Valley.
Yum.
I'm going to have a perma-purple mouth.
But it's worth every sip.

Since I have one Sonoma wine tasting experience under my belt, there are a couple places I know I'd like to return to.

First, Peterson Winery. Not only is it the coolest name ever, their zinfandel rocks my world.

Second, Ledson Winery. Mostly because it's just a really, really awesome castle. My mom, grandma and I made sure to get our picture in front of it.

I'd also like to go back to Ferrari-Carano because they had beautiful gardens to just wander through. That's where we took this little gem.

Maybe we'll schmooze with a winemaker and get invited to do some barrel tasting? Here's to wishful thinking.

[all pictures courtesy of my dad]

Road Trip: Sonoma Wine Country

It's no surprise that I love wine. So where better to stop than California wine country? Even better, where better to stay then an adorable, romantic little cottage, smack dab in the middle of wine country?

I think I'm most excited about this leg of our trip. We found the place on Homeaway and immediately emailed them. Lucky for us, it was open on the days we needed it. Score!

At the cottage, they have a cheese and fruit platter waiting for your arrival AND ingredients to make homemade waffles the next morning in the full-size kitchen. Since road trips generally mean you eat out a lot, we're going to take full advantage of the kitchen and make some tasty grub. Obviously pairing it with wonderful local wines.

We also have a hot tub time machine! Err, hot tub.

Next up, wineries!

cottage pics via

Note: I can't pull pics from their site, so the last two are pictures from another unit via Homeaway, but you get the whole vibe.

Road Trip: Crater Lake

We're in the process of planning our road trip down the west coast at the end of the month, which is quickly approaching. What? I haven't told you about our road trip? Forgive me, I've been too busy daydreaming at my desk about it.

I've done similar trips before - once with Stephanie as our high school graduation trip. Our parents weren't keen on the whole Mexico trip that everyone else went on, so we made our own fun and had a blast. A second time as a Spring Break trip in college with Mads, Autumn and Lizzie. It too, was a blast, even if I cringe at the pictures of us in sweats and no make-up for the entire trip. We took camping grunge to the max.

For sake of not boring you with every little detail of my latest road trip endeavor at once, I'll give you little insights about a couple stops along the way.

One stop: Camping at Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. (Which would mean that we will have gone to 2 of the 3 deepest lakes in the US, Chelan and Crater. I guess Tahoe (#2) will have to wait.)

From all the pictures I've seen, it looks gorgeous! Impeccably blue and almost like a mirror to the landscape. Any recommendations on hikes or particular places to see at Crater Lake?

both pics by my masterful dad