Napa, Thanksgiving, and Monteray

Heidi writes:

What a long weekend!! It started on Wednesday when Jeff and I took a trip to Napa Valley, Calistoga, and Sonoma with some General Mills folks. It was our first trip up there and a ton of fun. We got to taste a ton of wine - thanks Drew for the hook-up - and really enjoyed ourselves. We had dinner that night with Liz - I finally got to see her and then got the sad news about her mom passing. Luckily, Jeff and I were on our way to the airport to pick up Jeff's brother and were able to get a ticket and bring her there! Here are a couple of pictures from our first winery stop at Robert Mondavi:

I love elepants and am so glad that this rock was there! Below, Jeff and I are in the vineyard. There were still some grapes on the vines and the leaves are starting to change colors!

On Thanksgiving, we were at Toni and Drew's house. They made an excellent turkey and stuffing and everyone else brought some yummy food to share as well! I made cranberries and pecan pie and brought some appetizers. After we ate, we played football, darts, and some games. It was a fun day!!

On Friday, we got up and drove to Monteray Bay and some other places along Hwy. 1. We drove on the 17-mile scenic drive adn that was amazing. The views were spectacular. It was a little chilly that day and be by the ocean didn't help at all. The pictures below are from the drive and some of the stops along the way:

Above is bird rock. It has a ton of birds sitting on it and flying around it. There were also sea lions in the water in front of it splashing around. It was pretty cool to see. Below is a picture of Jeff and I in front of the water.

Above is the Lone Cypress. It is kind of interesting how a tree just grows on a rock like that! They have cables holding it up so the wind won't blow it over! Below are some deer hanging out at Pebble Beach Golf Course.
The picture above is a beautiful sunset. It was awesome being by the ocean during this time!

We drove down to Big Sur to see the lighthouse but it was closed by the time we got there :-( I am thinking another road trip will be in the making soon - who is coming to visit next? While we were driving down there it came to me why they say that happy cows live in California. It is because they have amazing views of the ocean!! I attempted to take pictures out of the window so you could see where the cows graze, but they didn't turn out!

Ok, so that was the first part of the weekend. I will post later and share things about Sacremento and San Francisco.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!