Silly Layne

This weekend Paul and I went camping while Layne had to stay behind (poor guy). He was running low on food and treats so I stopped by today to restock. We gave him a new giant rawhide bone (so it lasts a while) when he started whining and whimpering looking for a place to hide it. So in honor of Layne, I've posted this film of him doing his routine with an old bone. *You can hear him squealing! Don't mind the mess either.*

Sonoma (Day 2) and departure day

Our last day in Sonoma was spent visiting eight wineries. Here are some comments and/or photos of each.

• Seghesio - we didn't take pictures here, but the tasting room has windows along the backside that look into the wine cellars.
  
• Ridge Lytton - again, no pictures, but we had a chance to talk to the guy pouring who told us that the local junior college offers a wine maker degree!
  
• Foppiano - apparently this place was open during the prohibition. They have a picture on the wall of when the government found out they were still selling wine. The ditch in front of the winery was filled with all of the wine they were forced to pour out. Fortunately, the prohibition didn't include drinking alcohol, only purchasing and selling. That day the town came out to drink from the ditch!
  
• Hartford Family - this place was in the mountains and was a very beautiful house. Here is a view from when you walk in to the garden.

• Martinelli - this place was ok. Didn't do much chatting, but Paul did catch me coming out of the bathroom!

• Kendall-Jackson - we received a complimentary reserve tasting coupon from Martinelli, so we headed there next. We didn't purchase anything, although we did enjoy the pretty scenery!

• Korbel - might as well visit another champagne place on our anniversary!

• Martin Ray - our last winery and another one of my favorites. The girl pouring was very nice and they were playing Coldplay! How could I resist! She was sweet enough to take a photo of us, though.
  

Finally, Paul and I headed to our anniversary dinner at a little place called Syrah, like the wine. We had a great meal and yummy desert. Our waitress took the photo for us and we were even the first table greeted by the chef (below) that night who wished us a happy anniversary!



Tuesday morning we had to head back to San Fran to come home. Paul was fortunate enough to have to drive over all the bridges that weekend.


Before we left, Paul and I took out our top layer of cake to have defrost while we were gone. That night we ate a slice of our cake, and one slice was all it took!

Sonoma (Day 1)

We spent the day at four wineries. First stop...a tour at Ravens Wood! We pulled in thinking that we were the only ones, but luckily for Paul, we weren't. The man that we first met was a joke-ster and even gave us a "complimentary" taste before the tour started. They took us out into the vineyards and gave us a sampling from 5 unfiltered wines right out of the barrels.

Next stop was Gundlach Bundschu and one of my favorites. We were told that they are the last remaining winery in Sonoma that is still owned by the original family. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures there.

We then headed off to Cline Cellars. They had beautiful gardens and cheap wines, but a rather uncomfortably warm tasting room.

Paul really wanted us to have a picture with the vines in the background.
The last stop for today was Gloria Ferrar, who is known for their sparkling wine. We decided to stop along their drive and take pictures of the grapes.

They had really pretty flowers on all the tables. Our sparkling wine came with Spanish almonds which had a great spicy kick to them!

Napa (for an afternoon)

Saturday morning, Paul and I decided to take a Winetasting 101 class at the COPIA instituite in Napa. Unfortunately, we arrived at 10:17 and were not allowed to join the 10:15 class. Instead, we went to use the restroom and afterwards picked up a map of the wineries in the area. The nice gentleman at the information booth said we could try the Modavi winery and take a tour. So we did! Turns out that we learned quite a bit of information on the tour. It was meant to be!

We stopped for lunch at a place that my in-laws recommended.

San Fran

Paul and I just returned from our One Year Anniversary trip to San Fran and Sonoma. Here are some pictures of the S.F. portion of the trip...

At the Boudin sourdough bakery they make bread in different animal shapes that are amazing!

Looking down Lombard St.

Alcatraz

This was something Paul wanted to see, which I hadn't known about. There were HUNDREDS of sea lions near one of the piers.

More fun with Layne

Yes, I know, it's sad. I spend all my time lately posting silly videos of our "fur" baby, Layne. But for now he's all we have. Right now he's having fun with my father-in-law's German Shepard, Lucy. Hopefully both of them survive until Tuesday!

Here's a video of poor Layne trying to bury his bone. Unfortunately, our home doesn't have a place for him to bury it inside, so he has to use his puppy bed.



This following one is of Layne being a "good boy" for a bone.



Lastly, Layne is whimpering in desperation while searching for a place to bury his bone! Oh the humanity!!

The fun we have...

Paul has the exciting job of trimming Layne's claws. I've attached a video to show how well it usually goes.