My mom, sister, and I decided to take a mother/daughter trip out to California to visit family and go wine tasting. It was glorious.

After talking about muffins, running the Hot Dash, and having my people over for lunch on Saturday, my mom, Jaci, and I headed to the airport and flew west to California! Jaci and I hung out with my cousin and her fiancé (Michelle and Shawn) Saturday night in Oakland and then explored San Francisco all day on Sunday. My mom stayed with my aunt and uncle (Linda and Terry) on Saturday and Sunday. Then on Monday my mom, Jaci, Linda, and Terry went wine tasting all afternoon in Sonoma.

Instead of sharing my normal Thursday Things I am sharing a fun set of California Things.

THE WEATHER.

We couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather! After weeks (months!) of harsh Minnesota winter it was great to finally feel the warmth of sunshine on my skin and be able to wear a dress without tights. Of course in true San Francisco form it was foggy in the morning, but after it burned off the sun was out and temps reached up to the mid-70s.

The temperature has actually been pretty spring-like in Minneapolis as well, so this made coming back to real life significantly easier!

THE FOOD.

Oh, the food! Everything was so delicious. Here are the highlights:

• Brunch at Boot and Shoe Service in Oakland. I had the gulf coast white shrimp and it was phenomenal – very unlike any other brunch dish I’ve ever had. Jaci and Michelle got the corned beef hash and Shawn got the fried egg sandwich, which all looked very delicious as well.
• Beers at Zeitgeist in San Francisco. This place had a beer garden and we wanted to take advantage of the sunshine. Here I remembered how much I like Magic Hat #9.
• Burritos at Taqueria Cancun on Mission Street in San Francisco. These burritos were AMAZING. The el pastor is marinated with pineapple and then grilled to perfection. I got the “super burrito” without the tortilla. It was enough food for days, but I ate it in one sitting. My sister left a portion of her burrito (which was the size of a small baby) at the table and then we saw a homeless person come in a take it while we were in the bathroom line – a charitable donation.
• Drinks at the View Lounge in the Marriott downtown San Francisco. Here it is all about the view, so it is very appropriately named. The bar looks out onto San Francisco and it is so gorgeous, especially as the sun in setting. We (me, Jaci, Michelle, and Shawn) met up with the rest of the crew (Mom, Linda, and Terry) for one last cocktail. One of my college girlfriends and her husband also met up with us here, which was a special treat.
• Picnic at Imagery Estate Winery in Sonoma. After our first wine tasting we stopped to pick up picnic food before heading to Imagery Estate. We got salami, cheese, crackers, and chocolate at the Kenwood Market, then stopped at VJB Vineyard and Cellars for salads and sandwiches. I was drooling over everything in VJB, it all just looked so good. After much debate we ended up with a salmon panini, pancetta eggplant melt, sausage and pepper sandwich, antipasto, and potato salad. Yummmm.
• Dinner at Hops and Hominy in downtown San Francisco. On Monday night we met up with Michelle and Shawn for one last dinner. This restaurant was cozy and very cool with a menu of many delicious looking things. We got some cornbread to share at the table. My sister and I split the black-eyed pea fritters and bacon-wrapped asparagus. I also had the kale & quinoa salad and stole a few of my mom’s chicken wings. Just delicious. Everything.

I never went hungry the entire time in California. It was a very happy time.

THE WINERIES.

We spent Monday afternoon wine tasting in Sonoma, but kicked-off our trip with a bottle of Malbec at the airport (because, vacation!)

Linda and Terry know the area well and are members at a few locations, so mom, Jaci, and I just followed their lead. This was perfect, because we are terrible at making decisions. Like, really bad at it.

First stop: Chateau St. Jean.

We did a reserve tasting of 5 different wines: Fume Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Malbec. The wines were all amazing and it made me happy to end with a Malbec (my favorite). The chateau grounds were gorgeous and we were able to enjoy our tasting outside with the beautiful sun and views. Our hostess was so much fun. She chatted with us, told us the history of the vineyard, and showed us around the house. It was tempting to just stay there all day, but then we realized we had a few more to go to.

Second stop: Imagery Estate Winery.

Instead of doing a full tasting, we just bought a bottle to drink while we had our picnic. However, we did do some sampling first. Their Code Blue is a Syrah that is also made with blueberries. It was so interesting! It isn’t a sweet wine, like you may think with the blueberries, but rather a classic Syrah with bursts of blueberries. We also tried the Mourvedre, but ended up choosing the Primitivo.

Then we claimed a picnic table, poured the wine, spread out the food, and enjoyed sunshine. Picnics at wineries are one of my absolute favorite things. It brought back memories to many-a picnic at Arrington Vineyards from when I lived in Tennessee.

After devouring the food and wine Terry and Linda played bocce ball and horseshoes while Mom, Jaci, and I relaxed in some Adirondack chairs. Can I just do that everyday?!

Final stop: Gloria Ferrer.

We rounded out the afternoon with a glass of bubbly and yet another gorgeous view. By this point in time we were all pretty beat. I forgot how draining the sun can be… or was it the wine? Either way, we were exhausted, but oh so happy. Terry had the Blanc de Blancs and Mom, Jaci, and I had the Royal Cuvee.

It was such a fun afternoon. I have been out to wine country with some girlfriends before (where we stopped at 7 or 8 – how?!), but it was the first time for my mom and sister, so it was fun to share it with them. Plus, Terry and Linda are always such a blast. Silly times.

THE VIEWS.

San Francisco and Sonoma are full of such beautiful views! Some of my favorites were…

Bernal Heights Hill in San Francisco.

Seriously, all of those buildings! There are just so many. Plus, there are adorable dogs running around.

China Beach in San Francisco.

The drive to the beach was a sight in itself – so many gorgeous houses! It’s mind bottling (you know, when things are so crazy it gets your thoughts all trapped, like in a bottle? – name that movie!). But for real, what do these people do for a living?! I was seconds away from knocking on doors and conducting a survey…

Anyway, the view of the Golden Gate and never-ending ocean was beautiful. We had some fun taking pictures. On the way up the steps to our car, people were coming down carrying a mermaid costume. It was so tempting to turn around and spy on them…

Lands End in San Francisco.

We took in this view from the top and didn’t walk down to the bottom, because it was windy and we were getting tired.

Then there was pretty much everywhere you looked in Sonoma, but I already shared most of my view pictures above.

THE FAMILY TIME.

The biggest draw to this trip was the mother/daughter time with Mom and Jaci. They are both so much fun and after some stressful weeks, they were both ready for a relaxing get-away. They are both so incredible, I can’t even describe how much I love and enjoy hanging out with them.

Jaci and I also got to spend some good quality cousin time with Michelle and Shawn. I can’t remember the last time we got to hang out that much at one time. They were wonderful tour guides and even got Jaci to make a decision on something she wanted to do/see (the Full House houses). We did a lot of reminiscing, talking about our Duesterhoeft traits (the good, the bad, and the ugly), eating, laughing, and wishing we could hang out this much all the time.

There were also a lot of fun times with Terry and Linda. I used to see them quite a bit when they lived in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but after they moved to California there has been more time between each visit. I always enjoy spending time with them. Great conversation and great champagne are typically involved. Terry taught Jaci and I how to use the AirDrop feature on the iPhone and our lives are forever changed. We also played a lot of “What would Brad (my dad) say in this situation?” We nailed it every time.

Overall the trip was amazing and I am so glad that it happened. The only thing I was bummed about was that I didn’t get to fit in a City Running Tour like I did during my trip to Denver. The timing just didn’t work out. I was able to squeeze some treadmill interval running and strength training at the hotel in the mornings, so that was good at least.

It definitely won’t be the last mother/daughter trip, nor will it be the last California trip, nor will it be the last trip – Chicago this weekend for St. Patrick’s Day!!