You make it work

As many of you might know the boat off to the right is the Blue Hoochie II.  I think we have had her a little over a year and she's been out on many a fishing trips. Zac and I had done some ocean fishing in our 14ft aluminum boat and decided that we needed something bigger to be out in the ocean.  Well, after a lot of research my dear husband found this boat….in Oklahoma. And one day him and a buddy from work drove all the way to OK to go pick it up. He is crazy. At first I was a little apprehensive but once he brought it home and I took a look at her I was pretty excited!  She is a 23ft 1968 Uniflite. I think I was most excited about the small cabin that has the cutest little table in it. Anyways, the beginning of July Zac and I took her out to do a little fishing. On our way out from Bodega we heard a strange noise. I of course was freaked out about it so I told him I don't feel comfortable going out any further with the boat sounded like this…and he agreed.  On the way back to the launch we didn't hear the noise again, but just to be safe we still put her back on the trailer.  Well my parents were up for 4th of July and Zac wanted to get back out on the boat and take my dad along with him. So out they went one morning while us girls were hanging out at home.  It wasn't long before I got a text from him saying that the motor was done and they were on their way home.  So sad that Zacs boat was dead, especially during salmon season!  So now with a dead boat Zac is in the process of trying to get her running again. He has a new motor that he has been working on during his free time. We are still trying to get out on the water though, just trying to make it work a different way. Like with Kayaks.

Our first kayak trip that we did was to Tomales Bay (which I had never been to before) We thought it would be fun to get out on the water and maybe do a little halibut fishing while we were out there. I must admit I never have any luck halibut fishing. I have been a few times and I have yet to catch one, so I wasn't getting my hopes up to high. We left in the morning and were out on the water for a few hours before the lack of no fish and the wine coming in was enough to send us back to shore.  We definitely got our arm work out for the day thats for sure!  After putting the kayaks away we found a cute little restaurant overlooking the bay and had some yummy lunch! It was a lot of fun. 

Even if we didn't catch any fish it is always fun to get outside! Its strange because although I consider myself a homebody there are times where I absolutely love just being home, I also am at home sometimes and think I need to get out of here and so something! There is a quote on Pinterest that I found that I think helps decide my feelings to the "t". 

"My heart swings back and forth between the need for routine and the urge to run"

But living this life to the fullest is what I plan on doing and so far 2015 has been quite the year for doing that. 

The next kayaking trip Zac and I did was just a few weekends ago.  We thought it might be fun to head over to Lake Sonoma and do a little bass fishing.  We have been to Sonoma many times but I must say that we haven't had the best luck with fishing there.  If we DO catch anything it would be bluegill or bass.  It was going to be the perfect day to head out to the lake so we loaded up the kayaks when Zac got off work and headed up there.  We stopped in Cloverdale to grab some lunch before we launched the kayaks.  We decide to go the the Yoardie Creek side of Somona, which I had never been to before. When we got there we loaded up the kayaks with all our fishing gear and paddled out.  We hadn't gotten to far before we were already pretty toasty from the hot sun.  We decided to find a place to beach the kayaks so we could cool off in the lake and also do a little bass fishing. 

I know this sounds weird but I usually don't actually go IN the lake because it is always SO cold but for some reason it was feeling perfect that day! So while I was casting out into the water I kept walking in deeper and deeper until all the sudden I felt that tug!  I knew it was a fish bite so I set the hook and started to reel! It was very frustrating cause the drag on my reel was set super loose and I was scared I was going to loose the fish so I was trying to keep the fish on the line and tighten my drag at the same time! Finally I got it tight and I was reeling away while I was yelling "Fish On!" "My drag is loose!" and probably other things. I think the whole lake heard me catch that fish. Well, I finally got to see him and he was a pretty good size! I was SO excited that I actually got to catch something. I have't caught a fish in a long time and what a rush it is. 

Anyways, so thats been Zac and I taking advantage of our kayaks while the Hoochie is on a break. Hopefully he can get that new motor in and running so he can get back out on the ocean, I know he really loves it! Hope everyone is having a good week! I have some exciting stuff coming up this weekend that should be fun to blog about!

Another weekend

Zacs dad and mine have the same birthday, July 24th.  While my dad was up in Washington for his birthday Zac and I were able to spend time with his dad.  Saturday we had plans to head over to the Fleckners house and work on the Shasta Trailer that they have been in the process of restoring.  The goal is to have it done by October, just in time for their Redding trailer meet.  So when holidays and birthdays come along ( Mothers day, fathers day etc.) we head over to help them out as our gift. 

Friday night Zacs dad mentioned that there was a car show that he wanted to take his COE to.  We hadn't been to a car show in quite some time so we thought it would be fun to tag along with the Barracuda.  Since we are currently without a garage we headed over to storage that morning to go pick her up.  The car show was in Penngrove which is pretty close.  It was the perfect day, sunny and warm.  Steve and Cindy had gotten there before us so when we got there we took advantage of the COE and pulled right up on her. We had the best parking spot in the place if you as me! Once we got there we decided to go grab some breakfast.  After breakfast it was time to go check out the cars.  We walked through all the different cars and checked things out. Its always interesting to hear people comment about the vehicles.  So many different opinions from different people. 

Once we were done walking around we stopped back and the Barracuda and the COE to just sit and relax.  The Mopar club was checking out my barracuda and they gave me their card so I could join them on Wednesday night.  

Once we finished up at the car show it was back to Steve and Cindys to do work on "Super Cute Shasta" like we promised. Zac worked on electrical while Cindy and I did some polishing of aluminum…while having a glass of wine of course.  Before we knew it, dinner time had arrived.  Cindy made us some delicious tacos for dinner. Yum! It was a really fun day.

Next.  So on Sunday me and my girls had planned a winery day at Kunde.  Zac and I became members about a month ago.  I kind of think being a member at a winery can be a waste of money, only because Zac and I tend to drink cheap wine, however, with that said I am trying to get the most out of ours! They have many different options for tastings at the winery. The girls and I decided to do the Mountain top tasting.  They give you a tour into the cave, through the vineyard and finally you end up about 1400ft above the winery to enjoy a tasting on their deck.  We arrived at the winery a little before 3:00.  We looked around and waiting for our friend Stephanie to arrive.  Once she was there we headed into one of the rooms in the winery to being our tasting.  It takes a total of about 2 hours.  The price for the mountain top tasting is $40 but now that Im a member we all got it for $20.  There are free tastings as well at the bar and the Kinneybrook room.  So with that I am just going to post some pictures. Enjoy:

With this group of gals we always need a jumping picture in there! Nailed it.  After our tour and tasting we were hungry so we headed over to Sea Thai Bistro for some food!  A quick stop at mini Costco ( aka Rite Aid) for some ice cream and then back to my house for some MORE girl time and girl TV. It was a really great day. Can't wait to have another great adventure with these ladies.

Monday.  Which brings us to today! It was…or IS a real hot one out.  Zac had a great idea to take Hudson to the river to let him play in the water.  But before we headed to the river we were invited over to Steve and Cindys for her to cook her famous omlettes, which we didn't want to miss out on! They were relish.  When our bellies were fool we headed back home to pick up Hudson and it was off to the water! 

I really haven't spent to much time at the river but Zac knew of a place to take us that wouldn't be to busy.  I love Hudson to death but he just doesn't play very well with others, more of a lone wolf.  So its better for us and him if we are more secluded from other dogs. The drive wasn't very far, we hit up a portion of the river that is in Windsor.  It was already getting pretty warm out so Huddy was ready! When we got to "the spot" there was a lady there with her dog and horse…she told us she wouldn't be much longer so we decided to do a little exploring.  Like I said, Hudson was getting hot but as long as he is moving and just not sitting around he does well.  I would say about 15 or 20 minutes later on our way back to the spot we saw her, her dog and her horse walk out of the trees! It was go time for us!  Hudson walked right into the river and laid down. He was so happy to cool off!

The water actually was pretty cold! I was in my swimsuit but I only ended up going into my shins.  It felt really good though. So that was pretty much my weekend in a nutshell. Then it was back to reality and Zac and I ran some errands and did some grocery shopping. No bad days here! Until next time.

Albion

Doesn't that look like heaven? Thats because it is.  So at the end of June beginning of July I had almost three weeks off from work (rough life, I know) Although Zac and I were busy with things around the house the whole time I was off we didn't get away…it was more of a "stay cation" for us.  I wanted to go somewhere but putting in a new pocket door, re-doing our laundry room and having my family kept us plenty busy.  Well after everything calmed down a bit Zac told me that he planned us a nice day together and said that I needed three outfits. 1) A cute outfit 2) A kayaking outfit 3) A hiking outfit (how cute is he?) Then he told me when he got home he would talk to me more about it.

When the hubs came home he hopped on the lap top and asked me if I wanted to see where we were going then he shows me a hotel! I was shocked because in my head I was thinking a day trip, maybe to the coast or something like that. So he showed the Albion River Inn and that picture above was the photo I saw ( minus the two of us of course).  Although I have been living in Northern California for quite some time I have never really explored the Nor Cal coast so heading up to Albion sounded amazing!

Zac got off work on Sunday and once he got home we packed and headed up the coast.  I think the drive took us about two hours.  We decided to leave Huddy home alone on this little trip and he did great.  Before we checked in to our hotel for the night we wanted to get in some kayaking. We chose not to bring ours and just rent a double.  The weather was absolutely perfect for our day of kayaking (as seen above in the picture).  So out we paddled for the next two hours and gave rock fishing a try.  I got one solid bite and we caught lots of rocks but that was about it for our fishing adventure.

It was pretty cool that from our kayak we could look up on the cliff and see the hotel that we were staying at.  I keep calling it a hotel but it doesn't look like a hotel at all, its actually like mini cottages.  And one thing I thought was really cool about them is that they have no TVs (at least ours didn't) and why would I you want one with that gorgeous view! 

Like I said, we kayaked for about two hours and then headed back to check into the "Inn".  We stayed at cottage #9. It had a little bottle of white wine waiting for us and a fireplace! It wasn't quite cold enough to need the fireplace so we headed right outside to our deck to enjoy our wine.  We took it easy just chatting and soaking in the view before it was time to get ready for our dinner date.  The Inn has a restaurant on the property so we were able to walk right over.  The view from the restaurant is just as good from the room! We got there a little early for happy hour and then headed inside to eat.

My sweet hubby sitting on his chair enjoying his wine.  Doesn't that look just perfect? I mean if you're going to enjoy happy hour….why not be outside with that view.
So that was the end to our perfect day!

The next morning we woke up and headed back to he restaurant for our complimentary breakfast.  It was turning out to be another gorgeous day. After we filled our bellies with yummy food it was time to pack up and head home….well, not home, more like head to a beautiful hike!  Zac kept his word with me needing a cute ouftift, a kayaking outfit and now my hiking outfit.

So we headed to Russian Gulch for a mini 5 mile hike to a waterfall.  Of course the waterfall didn't have much water…but it was still falling.  The hike was very easy and very beautiful, I was very surprised how green everything was with us being in a drought. After our hike we decided to get a better look at the large bridge that we near by.  We found a little trail to take so that we could get a better look.  After we checked that out we decided it might be fun to take the coast all the way home and maybe stop for lunch on the way.  Zac wanted to stop at Point Arena cause he heard that instead of having a dock with a "boat launch" they actually use a giant crane to lower your boat down into the water.  Sure enough when we stopped there it was.  He really wanted to see it in action however it was a pretty windy day so there were not many boats out.  We did get to eat and see the launch though so it was defiantly a success!  

Like I have already said many times already it was the perfect weekend. Thank you to my dear sweet husband for treating me like such a princess and always making me feel loved and taken care of! Love you! Now y'all can enjoy some pictures from our little trip.

 The View from breakfast

 Not much water but still fallen

 Getting all up in the falls

 Just an awesome tree on our hike

The Bridge we were looking at

A lot of hiking this year

ALMERE FALLS

So this is Almere falls. After our wonderful day of wine tasting Rebecca and I wanted to get our hike on. We have been hiking a lot this year and I have been loving it! I have always been an outdoors kind of girl and the gym has never been very appealing to me. So hiking is my way of getting a little exercise and I am thankful I have someone to go with! So if you're at all familiar with Northern California then I will tell you that Alamere Falls is just past Point Reyes.  Hikes are fun but when you have a view or a waterfall to get to, it makes it even better. It was a very easy hike with hardly any uphill so we knocked it out fairly quickly.  There and back was a total of about 9 miles.  Of course you can see by the pictures above we took some time to enjoy the waterfalls.  The biggest one was down a pretty steep cliff that we were on our hands and knees for.  However we made it down and back up safely! Can't wait to get back there when there is more water.

CATARACT FALLS

Another great hike for the books more towards the beginning of the year. This was the hike that inspired us to get ready for backpacking trip.  Another Marin coast trail so a bit of a drive but worth every mile.  I think it ended up taking us almost 2 hours to drive there.  But I was pretty excited to see when we got there it was nice a cool for my sweet huddy and you are pretty much hiking up a waterfall the entire time which was really cool.  At first we got a bit nervous because when you start this 7 mile hike you are greeted with stairs…and not just regular stairs but the straight up and down kind.  However, we were able to power through and it was so worth it because after you get through all the trees and through the meadow you come our on a bluff over looking the ocean and it is gorgeous. You can see Sausalito and San Francisco. The pictures above just don't do it justice. Although I don't know if Hudson appreciate the view as much as we did.

GUNSIGHT ROCK

Oh Gunsight, I have done this hike a few times and its a great one! A lot of uphill and when you do it on a hot day it really kicks your butt! This one is a local hike and easy to get to. Pretend like you are heading to St. Francis and then instead of pulling in to do some wine tasting drive right past it to the trail head. This hike is about 7 miles. They do allow dogs on the trail but if your dog is anything like mine he gets hot easily and needs a cooler hike with water.  You do pass over a few streams so with a bit more rain it might be doable for a furry pup. 

So those are a few of my bigger hikes that I have been doing lately however I have been doing a lot of little hikes after work that include: Taylor Mountain, Foothills and Shiloh. Even though you can be exhausted, sometimes heading out on a hike after work feels really good, time to enjoy nature and vent about life with a really good friend! In fact, that is exactly what I did tonight.  

Get outside people. Its Awesome. 

This is hard

Blogging gets hard. It really does. The other day I was looking through all my years of blogging ( and I can actually say that because it HAS been years) and I was thinking this is so much fun to go back in time and see what I was doing. It really is a modern day scrap book and I love a good scrap book.  I am hoping that after going through the last couple of years and reading about all of my adventures that it can get me back in the game. I feel bad that I let myself get so behind because now I feel the need to catch up and there is just so much to catch up on. But maybe if I can take it just one day at a time that will work so here we go.

So these are my girls. And we just have the best time ever! Not to long ago we all had a friday off and we thought it would be great idea to do a little wine tasting together, but not just any wine tasting, a food pairing…tasting (if that makes sense). At the beginning of the year for my moms big surprise birthday my sister and I planned a food/wine paring at St.Francis so I thought that this would  be the perfect place to take the girls. So I set up some reservations and our Friday finally came.

We got to St.Francis about 20 minutes early so that we could check in and enjoy a glass of white wine while we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and of course took a few pictures!

The weather was just perfect for our wine tasting day, sunny and 75. After about 20 minutes and a few pictures later we headed inside for our tasting. St.Francis has two large half round tables that seat 8 people on each side. The (for better lack of a term) server came out and introduced himself and gave us a little 101 on the food we were able to consume. He poured us our first glass and out came the first course to go with it.  Each round came with wine and a delicious pairing. Unlike a lot of wineries who do different types of pairings this one leaves you feeling full, like you actually just had a meal. I feel like its worth the money. When I was there in January it was $50 but since then they had upped the price to $60 per person.

We had a real good time! (Shout out to Joby for getting some real great shots of all us girls)

After finishing up at St.Francis we thought we would head down the road and hit up one more winery. Ledson was just down the road so thats where we headed. I had never been there before but most Sonoma County residents would recognize this large mansion. I must say that from the outside Ledson is just gorgeous and really captures your eye but from the inside…eh, I wasn't TO impressed. However it was only like $10 for a tasting so we made the best of it and of course took some more amazing pictures!

It was the perfect start to our weekend! Can't wait to do it again!