Point Reyes National Seashore

We leave Mississippi for California in 2 1/2 weeks! I'll be on vacation soon!

I want to visit Point Reyes National Seashore while we are in the area. We want to do a dayhike to the coast. I've been looking on the nps.gov website and on the backpacker.com forums for good dayhikes, and I've decided on the Woodward Valley Loop, the same hike this guy took.

From nps.gov:
WOODWARD VALLEY LOOP (approx. 21 km / 13 mi.) This trail includes beautiful forest and spectacular coastal hiking. Begin at the Bear Valley Trailhead, climbing either Mt. Wittenberg or Meadow Trail to Sky Trail. Continue to Woodward Valley, one of the lushest, greenest trails in the park. Follow this all the way down to Coast Trail where you'll enjoy open ocean views as you head south to Arch Rock. Beach access is marked along your way at Sculptured Beach, a beautiful and remote beach. From Arch Rock, follow Bear Valley Trail, a gentle grade through beautiful buckeyes, oaks, and Douglas firs, back to the Bear Valley Visitor Center.

I'm really looking forward to this part of our trip!

Chip has been working on the list of vineyards we'll visit and winery tours we'll take. Of course, my only request was that we visit some with great gardens. Here is the list so far:

Oakville
Far Niente (gardens!)
Nickel & Nickel

Rutherford
Grgich Hills
Mumm Napa
St. Supery

Saint Helena
Flora Springs

Yountville
Domaine Chandon

Carneros
Cline (gardens!)
Domaine Carneros (gardens!)

We may add more, or we may not even be able to make to all of those. I think its going to be awesome!

Hiking with my Husband

In three days, Chip and I will be heading up to North Carolina to visit the Nantahala National Forest. We'll be whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River and heading to Fontana Lake to kayak, hike, and camp in the backcountry of the Great Smoky Mountains. I am beyond excited about this trip. We've been planning for months - saving up for our gear, researching gear, purchasing gear - and are ready to go!

I first visited the GSMNP back in the March 2000. We car camped at Smokemont and did the more popular trails in the Smokies: Alum Cave trail and the Chimney Tops trail. I went back in June 2001 with some of my best friends. We camped at Balsam Mountain and did some of the AT to Charlies Bunion. In November 2006 I visited the Gatlinburg, TN side of the park for the first time. We camped at Elkmont and hiked the Ramsey Cascades trail.

Then last year, I took a trip with my girlfriends to the Nantahala Gorge. We had such an awesome time that I vowed to take my husband on some hikes. Chip and I have traveled to some wonderful places together but have yet to go on a camping trip together.

Our prep hike was a 13-mile day hike in Point Reyes National Seashore back in April. We hiked up the Mt. Wittenberg trail to the Sky and Woodward Valley trails, to the Coast trail, then back to the car via the Bear Valley trail.

We saw some beautiful views on this hike. Descending from Mt. Wittenberg on the Sky trail, there were heavenly views of the Pacific Ocean and Point Reyes.


The first few miles of the Woodward Valley trail were through a lush forest speckled with ferns. As we walked through this peaceful valley, we began to see some of the damaging results of the 1995 Vision Fire.

Some photos along the Coast trail looking over Sculptured Beach. I really regret not heading down to explore the beach. We decided not to hike down to the beach because we were less than halfway through the 13-mile hike, and our hips were already getting a little sore. I've seen photos of the tidal pools and wildlife, and I really hate that we missed it!


After about 9 miles, we finally made it to Arch Rock. We sat here for a long time just feeling the breeze, listening to the waves break on the rocks, and taking in the gorgeous views of the ocean.

We have tons of work to do tonight and tomorrow night to prepare for our departure on Saturday morning: buy groceries for our camp meals, pack the backpacks, get the kayaks... And getting ready is half the fun!! I'll do my best to post a few photos of the views from our cabin, the Ocoee and Nantahala rivers, and of our camping adventure around Fontana Lake.

Just say "Wow" to Point Reyes

We did the Point Reyes hike yesterday, and it was awesome! 13 miles was a bit too much. The last 3 miles we were both wishing a golf cart would ride by to take us to the car. But we climbed a mountain, walked along the seashore, and saw some fantastic views. I'll post tons of photos later.

The food has been pretty good so far. At Redd I had the best truffled lobster risotto - the most perfect rice dish I've ever consumed. And my entrée - a skate wing with peas and carrots - was my favorite entrée of the trip so far.

The food at Bouchon wasn't mind-blowing, but was certainly classic French perfectly executed. I had French onion soup (just fantastic) and roasted chicken with peas and greens. This chicken was local and organic, and so much more flavorful than anything you can buy in the grocery store in Mississippi.

Ad Hoc was pretty terrible. They have a set menu each night. We'd been checking the web all week and saw fantastic food. Then on our night there was a good salad with a bland piquillo pepper vinaigrette, truly nasty flat-iron blade steak, fennel gratin, and pecan cake with vanilla ice cream. The cake and ice cream were the only redeeming parts of the meal. If we weren't at a Thomas Keller establishment I might not have believed that the meat we were served was beef. It was so fatty and oily. Ick!! The fennel was unforgiveable. The menu said it was "braised" but it was too slimy to have been braised. I've prepared braised fennel many times and mine tastes good, with sweet, concentrated flavor. If I had to guess, I would say it had been par-boiled and finished in the oven. Eeeww.

Today, we have a wine intensive day. Exciting! We have only been to a few tastings and tour so far and a Pinot Noir class at the Culinary Institute of America. I can't wait to share my photos from Nickle & Nickle and Far Niente.

- Posted from my iPhone with BlogPress

Our Favorite Winery Tours

We planned to spread new mulch in the garden beds this morning, but the 70 MPH winds and thunderstorms are keeping us inside. It isn't good weather for gardening but is just right for blogging.

For Chip's birthday last year I bought him a bottle of Nickel & Nickel 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from the John C. Sullenger Vineyard. I wasn't totally sure what it was all about, but the label was beautiful and the reviews I read were good. We decided to tour Nickel & Nickel and its sister winery, Far Niente, while we were in the Napa Valley. These tours did not disappoint! At both of these wineries, history seems reach out and grab you... and then hands you a glass of fantastic wine. If you are interested in the history behind these wineries, please visit Nickel & Nickel here and Far Niente here.

The Nickel & Nickel tour was really informative about producing the wine, and the grounds are just gorgeous. Upon arriving we had a small glass of Chardonnay in the Queen Anne farmhouse built in 1884.

We walked out through the back door and there stood a barn built in 1774 in New Hampshire, then dismantled, shipped, and rebuilt here on the winery grounds in 2003.

Then, we toured the fermentation barns and huge aging cellar that lies under the property.



The entire winery operation runs on solar power capured from these panels.

We ended the tour with a tasting of seven of Nickel & Nickel's single vineyard Cabernets, including the 2005 Sullenger that I bought Chip for his birthday! Isn't that the coolest?! We toured along with four couples from Kansas City. The entire group agreed that the Sullenger was the best of the seven. I also loved the Copper Streak (Stags Leap) Cab.

On Monday, we were both a little sore from the Point Reyes hike, but after the amazing experience at Nickel & Nickel we were really looking forward to Far Niente. It was wonderful!! The gardens at Far Niente were even more spectacular than Nickel & Nickel. The format was similar - winery, cellars, then tasting - but at Far Niente we also had the opportunity to view Gil Nickel's classic car collection. Our guide at Far Niente, Walt, was fantastic. He was so passionate about the the wine and the vineyard.

The fermentation room...
The cellars...

Us in front of the Dolce cage. Dolce is Far Niente's late harvest "noble rot" dessert wine.

Deep in the caves is the Far Niente wine library where every wine produced since the winery began bottling from these vineyards in 1982 is stored.
As the story goes, Gil Nickel bought this 1951 Ferrari 340 America Vignale Spyder for $12,500 and restored it to what you see below. It is now one of only three of this model in the world and is worth $14 million. On the right side of this photo is our guide Walt. He's a dead ringer for Ed Harris.
Our tasting flight with cheese pairings. The Dolce with bleu cheese was my favorite. I can't wait to recreate that pairing at home!