1989 Mother Tour – Northern California

Napa Valley

My Mom was very new to the wine-tasting life. Luckily, she had the perfect tour guide with years of experience. (wink-wink)

Our first stop was Domaine Carneros, a very swanky Chateau.

We felt pretty under-dressed, but tried not to let it bother us.

The view was spectacular. My Mom seemed to be favoring the sweeter Whites while I am a dark Red fan. I had to take it slow though, this was only the beginning!!

We bought some little mementos, took some photos and went searching for the next one.

A very rough watercolor of the grapes.

Per a recommendation from a local, we went to Cornerstone Sonoma.

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It was like a mini wine lovers town! (the town was mini, not the lovers)
They have five wineries, restaurants, and beautifully designed gardens. It was the perfect lunch spot. My Mom enjoyed sipping my White wines and squinching up her face at the Reds.

Finally, our favorite, Chateau Montelena Winery

If you haven’t seen the movie Bottle Shock, stop right now and rent it.
Trust me, Alan Rickman and Chris Pine (with long hippie hair) are a dream together. And it’s all about wine! This wine to be precise:

Back in the day, France was still considered the authority on all things wine, especially Chardonnay. It wasn’t until 1976 during a Paris Tasting Competition that the Chateau’s 1973 Chardonnay took first prize, showing to France and the world that California was officially in the wine game. You can read about it here, but really, just watch the movie!!!

We loved all of the wines. This could have been because it was our fourth tasting of the day, but they were all very delicious! And our server was very kind, given the fact that we came in twenty minutes before closing. (he could’ve been flirting. Ooh yes, let’s say he was!)

Sad to leave our beloved wine country, we headed back towards Route 1 and the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway. The Mountains were so beautiful to drive through.

We ended up in a Denny’s in Eureka, California and it was very late. After a very strange meal with angry old men banging on the windows, we decided to look into a hotel for the night. Google Reviews was a life-saver. One reviewer recommended a hotel by saying, “This place is great, as long as you don’t mind having meth dealers next door.” We decided Arcata might be a better town to stay in.

Mom found a pretty postcard she wanted to practice painting. I am so lazy and minimalist with this, but she really commits!

We only had one more stop to make before we reached Oregon, and that was the Redwood National Forest. We took a detour off of Route 1 onto the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway.

It was here we entered Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
It’s perfect if you want to keep driving, but pull over every once in a while for a short hike to get the blood flowing. And that is exactly what we did. Drove a few miles, jumped out, ran in the woods, took photos, ran back, did it again.

Pictured below is Big Tree who is  1,500 years old, 304 feet high, 21.6 feet in diameter, and a circumference of 68 feet. Pretty dang impressive.

This park has cabins and a campground available. So I will definitely be visiting this area again in the future.

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Next up: OREGON!!!

 

1989 Mother Tour – The Grand Canyon

After visiting the caves in the morning, we drove from Carlsbad to Tucson to spend the night at Red Roof Inn. What a refreshing stay compared to the horrors the night before. Comfy beds, clean bathrooms, and continental breakfast!

Rejuvenated and energized, we set off for Peoria, Arizona (just above Phoenix). Here we unloaded my car a little bit to make room for another Disney friend! We borrowed her tent and she hitched a ride up to The Grand Canyon.

Thankfully, they both followed my advice to set up the tent before we went to the canyon. I knew we wouldn’t want to set it up in the dark later. Amateurs.

We chose to stay at a KOA campground about an hour from The South Rim. (only because the speed limits are so low, and cops are everywhere). While setting up camp however, I realized we were missing a sleeping bag. Wonderful. That should be fun.

I was so excited. I had always wanted to see this giant of nature. Everyone had always told me it was a ‘see it to believe it’ experience. And I get it. These pictures don’t do it any kind of justice. It is just too massive.

It really makes you feel small, but not insignificant. I felt honored to be able to witness such beauty on this earth! It was quiet too. I envisioned people trying to hear their voices echo the whole time, but there’s no way you could hear your voice with how humongous it is.

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My mom was having heart palpitations watching all the tourists act so cavalier about dancing on the edge of a 5,000 feet drop.

Again, had it been just me and a friend, I would’ve taken a few more crazy photos closer to the edge, but I’m not stupid. I won’t risk my life for a good selfie. But to save my mom from heart failure, I stuck to the path for the most part.

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I wanted to stay for about a week. I wanted to kayak on the Colorado river. I wanted to hike down and swim in the secret pools James Franco found in 127 hours. But alas, the dreaded schedule.

We camped for a night, went to the canyon one last time, then drove back down to Peoria to drop off my friend. (It was here I realized the missing sleeping bag was hiding behind her seat. oops.)
This was our longest day of driving. We started at the top of Arizona and drove all the way down through Phoenix to San Diego. With breaks, it was almost 12 hours.

 

Next Up: California! (Disneyland!)

Me: 55+ hours of driving

Mom: 2