Okay, as promised, here's a bit of what we're doing on vacation. Thursday evening we flew down to San Diego and spent the first few nights with Terri's mom at her rental in Oceanside (north of San Diego). Our first night, Friday, we had a party to thank all of Sis' friends who had been so helpful to her this winter and last winter during her time in California. We enjoyed seeing those again we'd met before...and meeting others for the first time...there was plenty to eat and drink that evening and it was a fun evening...for everyone, we think! On Saturday, Sis played in a golf tournament, so we headed out for a couple of errands, and then to Oceanside's beach to soak up some sun, walk and (imagine this...)take some photos! Although a bit windy, we loved the sun and enjoyed our time walking on the beach. It was amazing to see many in shorts and t-shirts, and even swimsuits...and some in the water (just plain crazy!!!). We were just enjoying the sunshine and LACK of rain!! Sunday we had a nice brunch and it did rain (fairly hard), but cleared by noon and turned out to be a mostly clear afternoon. The locals were complaining about the weather, but being from the Northwest, we thought it was pretty nice...and even the little bit of rain, it was nothing compared to what we had at home!
Monday we drove to Temecula, about an hour north and east from Oceanside. We spent that afternoon at a couple of wineries, sampling some wonderful wines and enjoying more sunshine!!!! A bit of a disappointment...we had hoped there would be "something" on the grape vines, but sadly, they will start getting growth in the next month or so...the bare vines were not what we had hoped for...Terri said she was going to cry when she saw them!! Oh well, plenty of other things to photograph and more is ahead!
That day we visited two wineries (Baily Winery and Wilson Creek Winery - both highly recommended!!) and without lunch that day, it was plenty...and time to think about some dinner.
Wilson Creek Winery had a wonderful port that was served in a chocolate cup and then topped off with an Almond Champagne ...ooooooohhhhh!!!
Tuesday morning we woke up at 5:30 and headed out early...to take a hot air balloon ride. Terri has been on one before, but Rick hasn't, so this was his first time. The basket for this ride help 8 people plus the pilot and when Terri went...there was the pilot and one other person...so quite a bit smaller. It was a perfect morning, clear skies, a bit cool, but it warmed up and quite comfortable before long. We "soared" to a height of about 2700 feet and saw three other balloons up that morning and of course, the view from the air of Temecula. We saw one of the wineries we'd been to the day before, so it was fun to take some photos from a different perspective!!! After the balloon ride, we enjoyed some champagne, a little breakfast and coffee with the pilot, and his crew. It was fun to visit with them as well as the other passengers and learn some of the history of the area...a great start to our day.
This was our pilot, Dave, who was awesome!!
We headed back to our hotel room, changed...and back to a few more wineries that day. Three wineries (South Coast, Leonesse and Robert Renzoni Wineries) that day and some more great wine and LOTS of sunshine...it was wonderful. Hmm, now we have some wine to bring home...and even some that is being shipped home...good thing we don't live too close to this area! Oh, but wait, the Yakima Valley and Walla Walla aren't that far and they have some wonderful wines as well...we need to get back over there!
Today...Wednesday...we are driving to Sedona to spend the week with Rick's parents and lots of exploring and yes...photographing! Neither of us has been there before, so we're really excited about what is ahead of us. We are thinking about driving to the Grand Canyon one day since it's not that far away and we'd love to see that while so close! Yes, there is lots to see, and we'll see how much we really get to see...whatever it is, it'll be great and it's in the sunshine (forecast is nice for the week!) and away from home. Now, we must say, that although we are very excited about vacation...we're sure missing Jayden...and will look forward to seeing her when we get home. She has called us a time or two and one day last weekend went roller skating with Mandy and some of her friends...it sounds like she had a good time!
More later...for now, here are some photos from our first few days...we'll try to update more later...if we can get an Internet connection. Right now this is being added as we travel along Interstate 10 in Arizona (started in California)...isn't technology wonderful!!
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