Over dinner on Saturday night in Sonoma, we talked a lot about what this year has brought, our highs and lows, and what we have to look forward to. It has gone so quickly, and yet we feel like we're in a great place, together in our marriage and in our new home on the West Coast. We've definitely felt our share of challenges, especially in adjusting to new schedules every 6 weeks, San Francisco livin', and distance from family and friends, but we have also navigated these changes together, which has inevitably made us stronger. Cheesy? Absolutely. But so true.
We celebrated our anniversary with our first (of many) trip to wine country! It turned out to be much closer than we realized, and we will definitely be taking visitors up north for a quick trip. It rained throughout the morning on Saturday, but it stopped by the time we parked in Sonoma for our bike tour. Best.Decision.Ever. Biking through wine country gave us a different perspective, allowed us to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather, and was much-needed after we were stuffed with wine and food. Highly recommended and a lot of fun!
(Ok...so we also had to break out the old rain gear/windbreakers. We liked to hink of these jackets as a throwback to all of the pictures with them from China).
(Note: I adjusted the picture so the rainbow is more easily visible)
Our first winery was Gundlach Bundschu. We shared several tastings and walked around a bit. We also got to go into the cave and learn about the aging process.
We then rode off to our next stop: Buena Vista Winery. This ride had a few more hills, but it was totally worth it when we arrived to find gorgeous fall trees (my favorite...oh, how I love fall colors! It's very strange not to have experienced leaves changing this year) with an outdoor picnic area and 2 beautiful old buildings that house the winery.
We were greeted with a lucky surprise--the winery was having a huge sale! We tasted a ton of different wines (gotta try the 2003 and the 2004 Syrah because you never know...!) and just couldn't resist: we left with 6 varieties!
Our tour had a delicious lunch spread above the tasting room at the winery. We also enjoyed a selection of Buena Vista's best while learning more about Sonoma and our fellow bikers.
It was slightly more difficult to get back on the bike stuffed with food and wine, but we managed to make it to the last winery of the day, Bartholomew Park. They had a museum that explained some of the history of California and Sonoma, and it was interesting to learn more about our new state. However, by the end, we were pretty "wined out." Luckily, the final stop on our tour was a cheese factory! It was a great ending to a fabulous day!
We were pretty exhausted and basically crashed at the B&B as soon as we checked in. There wasn't much time to rest...we had to get ready for an anniversary dinner at El Dorado Kitchen, a famous Sonoma restaurant! It was delicious and such a treat to get to relax and enjoy each other's company.
We stopped at one more winery on our way out on Sunday. Ravenswood was highly recommended by our guide. We really enjoyed the wines and the gorgeous views of the mountains.
We continued to enjoy the gorgeous views on our drive home. It was less than an hour, and we went from vineyards and rolling hills to mountains and water. The landscapes were unbelievable! I clearly had to get a few pictures in...
(Note: these were taken while driving, which actually enhanced them a bit!)
Finally, we ended a wonderful weekend with a little cake...wedding cake, that is! Adam thought it was a little gross, but I'm a cheeseball and love tradition, so I loved eating our 1-year-old cake. Yum!
After a very long post with a ton of pictures, I want to end with our favorite self-portrait:
Happy 1st anniversary to my wonderful husband!
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