Is it weird?

Is it weird? Because I think its weird. Its coming up to almost a year since my last back pack trip and I am craving to go on another one! The reason I find this weird is because of the trip I have last year. I nick named it the back pack trip from hell, remember? If you don't lets jog your memory Here.

Anyways, so I got to thinking today. Maybe it was the recent trip to REI, maybe it was looking through old pictures. Something sparked my interest to go back packing. I am thinking about trying to plan a trip.I know that we are very busy this summer but I am thinking that maybe we could do a short weekend trip and not go very far. Im going to do a little research to see what I can find. Zac said he went on a trip when he was little that was just a few miles in and there is a lake. Sounds like my kind of back packing! It would be cool if I could convince some friends from work to come with me but I don't know if back packing is their cup of tea. I guess we will give it a go and see what happens.

In the mean time Zac and I are headed down to Palm Springs this Thursday for my family vacation! Can't wait to spend some time by the pool and be with my family. I was trying to remember the last time I was in Palm Springs for vacation and I think it was 4 years ago! Because one of the main things I remember is watching Micheal Phelps win at the 2008 Olympics!

Weekend with the Pettys

I know, I know. I have been so behind on my blogging. I don't know how people can keep up with this sometimes. I can't even begin to tell you how busy I have been every single weekend this summer. Im not complaining about it because I love being busy! Its time for me to try and get back to my blogging. I can't believe that we are already coming up on August! This year has gone by crazy fast. And the beginning of August Zac and I are able to go on my families annual Palm Springs trip! Can't wait. Alright so time for my weekend with Janelle and Dylan.

I was so excited when Janelle told me that she would be able to come up for the weekend! I had not seen her in such a long time! They drove up on Thursday night and stayed in the city. We decided that we would meet them Friday, in the city for lunch. Friday arrived and we met Janelle and Dylan at the Burger Bar. They only have a few of these and ever since eating at one in Vegas I had wanted to go back! The food of course was delicious! I had to take a picture of the dessert that I had. It is a doughnut with passion fruit for cheese, strawberries for tomatoes, kiwi for lettuce and the meat is nutella! Yum! After filling up with with burgers we decided we wanted to take the trolley down to Pier 39, Fishermans Warf and Ghirardelli's. Once we got down to fishermans warf we got on one of the tour boats and headed our towards the Golden Gate Bridge. It was pretty windy, we stayed outside for as long as we could but then we had to go inside to warm up! The boat went under the Bridge and then around Alcatraz. We were hoping to do a tour of Alcatraz but they had already stopped tours for the day.

By the time we got back from our little tour we were already hungry again! Luckily there was a Boudin nice and close! We all got some soup in a bread bowl, yum! We walked around for a bit before it was already time to head to Ghirardelli for some dessert. Once we were stuffed we figured with was finally time to head back to the trolley so we could head home. It took some time to find ourselves a trolley but we did and Zac and I headed back home to Windsor.

Our plan for Saturday was to hit up the lake! Janelle and Dylan drove over from San Franciso and we headed out to Lake Sonoma for some fun in the sun! The weather was perfect! We brought sandwiches and drinks to enjoy while out on the water. Zac and Dylan tried to do some fishing while Janelle and I just soaked up the rays. While we were out there the boys found a rope swing and decided to test that out. A little nerve wracking watching them on the swing but they seemed to have fun! Janelle and I finally jumped in.

We had big plans for the evening so we needed to head home and start getting ready for our concert. I was so excited that we had enough time before our concert to eat at Pacifico in Calistoga. I miss Calistoga. We headed over to the fair grounds for our concert. The Calistoga Fire Department was putting on a country concert to try and raise some money. It was a little disappointing that there were hardly any people there. I think they needed to do more advertising. Im sure they lost a good amount of money but Joe Nichols put on a good show! It was a lot of fun. And Im glad that we could support the Fire Department. Sunday was just around the corner and already time for the Pettys to head back home. It was so much fun having them up here and being able to spend time with them! Can't wait to do it again!

Pillsbury

If this isn't living the dream then I don't know what is!? Way back when I decided to plan a camping trip with my friends from work. It seemed like it was forever away but before we knew it, it was Friday and we were trying to make it through our last day of work so that we could head up to the mountains.

We got off work on Friday and headed up to Pillsbury. Zac and Kyle were lucky enough to leave on Thursday. I think we got up there around 7:00-7:30. I was lucky enough to have my tent already set up ;) It had rained that day so everything was a little wet. We all got our chairs out and warmed up by the campfire. The boys had been fishing all day so they were cooking up their trout that they caught. Zacs older brother Tye had heard about the camping trip and drove all the way up from Gillroy to join us. He was his usual self, a social butterfly. We all chatted and had some drinks around the fire until Tye decided that we all needed to head down to the lake to go frog gigging. Tye happened to bring his gigging poles. So off we went, all nine of us down to the lake at 1:00 in the morning. Lets just say that we partied hard that night. We shut down the campsite. Good times though.

 The next morning we all slowly got up ate some breakfast and decided even though it was cold we were going to go out on the lake and test out the island. I had my doubts that we were going to fit 9 people in the blue hoochie but we did! To tow the island was slow going. So after many attempts we decided the easiest way to get the island across the lake would be to put it on top of us, so we did. When we finally made it to a good fishing area the fishers stayed in the boat while the others hopped on the island. It was windy and cold but we did our best to stay warm. After a little fishing we were all hungry so we decided to beach the boat ( and the island) and make ourselves some sandwiches. Did I mention we also managed to fit and ice chest in the boat as well? Right when we were making our sandwiches Zac caught a 18" trout! The biggest trout of the trip. He was SO excited about that. We stayed on the beach for awhile before we decided it was time to make the trek back to our side of the lake. We were back at camp and before we knew it, it was time to get going on our dinner. I always love camping food! Sometimes I feel like I eat better when Im camping then at home. For our first dinner there we made: Tri-Tip, roasted potatoes, asparagus, bell peppers, corn on the cobb and garlic bread! And of course for dessert, smores. Another wonderful day and a wonderful evening around the campfire.

And just like that its already Sunday! We decided it was time to go shoot some guns while we waited for it to get a little warmer. We drove over to the airport and had some fun shooting things up! My friend Melinda (aka MoMo) brought her Mini 14 which was awesome! I was a little worried about shooting it at first but I have now decided that it would be an awesome first gun for me. After spending some time there we decided it was warm enough to head out on the lake.This time we were pretty close to shore with the boat and the island. Not worth the long trip across the lake. It felt so nice to lay out in the sun! I sure was enjoying myself. Manny caught a trout and Erica caught squaw fish, the biggest one of the trip, 20 1/2". I didn't do any fishing on this trip, I was perfectly content laying out in the warm sun. We were ready to head out a little farther on the lake, it was Lorena and I on the island and Momo on the river rat. Zac started to go faster and faster on the boat and let me just say the island is NOT meant to be towed. In the blink of an eye the rope was pulled from the island which made a large hole and before we knew it we were in the water! Luckily the arm rests were still inflated so the whole thing didn't sink to the bottom of Pillsbury.It was a wild ride and we were all ready to head in a cook some dinner! Can't believe that this was our last night. Went by so fast but it was a blast, can't wait to do it again!

Time for some pictures from the trip. And I am so behind on my blogging, I just have NOT had time. So stay tuned for my next post when Janelle and Dylan came up to visit!

Learning how to gig frogs

The island above our heads on the boat!

Look at that trout

The Girls

Mini 14

Enjoying the island

And then it popped

Awesome trip!

Water

So....I've been spending a lot of time at the lake lately. And I must say its awesome. The above picture is at Lake Sonoma at the campsite Homestead. They have boat in campsites which are pretty sweet. We found this little gem the other day. We beached the boat and let Hudson out, he had so much fun running around and playing in the water. It makes me so happy to see my sweet boy get to run and play. After being there for a few hours we cruised around in the boat. Hudson love the open bow and just slept up there the whole time. Anyways short little post but enjoy a few pictures.

Angels Camp

I don't know about you but that is one good looking view! I spent this last week on a family vacation at Angels Camp. Angels camp is about 3 and a half hours from Santa Rosa and is near Sonora. Cindy was able to use her time share for our little get away which was awesome! We had a three bedroom with a kitchen, right next to the pull and maybe 15 minutes from the lake. Felt so good to get away for awhile, much needed.

It all started on Sunday. Zac had to work so Cindy and I headed up to Angels camp boat in tow. The first night we were there we just stayed in a relaxed. Had some snacks, some wine and some dinner. Before we knew it we were already tired and ready for bed. The next day Zac was going to be coming from work. He wasn't suppose to get there till late afternoon so we took advantage of the pool! Once Zac got there he was ready to hit the lake. We loaded everything up and headed out to the water. This is quite a large lake! Especially since we are used to going to Sonoma since its so close to us. I don't know what it is about being out on a lake but its so relaxing. Zac did a little fishing and Cindy and I enjoyed some wine! Perfection.

Tuesday, today was going to be a full day on the lake. We started the morning with some delicious breakfast burritos! Once our bellies were full we loaded up everything for our day on the lake, including some delicious sandwhiches! I think we got on the water about 11:00am and we were out there until around 5:00pm! We were getting hungry so we needed to go eat some dinner. So after we cleaned up a little we headed into the town of Murpheys for dinner. Not many of the places were open in this little town, but we did have a place that caught our eye called Alchemy. The cute little out door seating looked fun and when we got there they also had live music by the owner, Al himself. I had a strawberry balsamic salmon salad that was to die for! Yummy so good. We planned on heading back to Murpheys on Wednesday so that we could look around the stores.

Wednesday came and we headed back over to Murpheys. We had lunch at a little place called Grounds. More delicious food. When we were done we walked around the town and checked out some of their little shops. Zac wanted to get his hair cut and we found a barber shop for him. We had reservations at the restaurant Camps that was right by the time share at 6:00. We stopped at home to get ready for dinner and then headed over to Camps. At Camps we had the best view, looking over the beautiful golf coarse. Not to mention more delicious food! Macadamia encrusted talapia with lemon mashed potatoes and mango salsa, Im getting hungry just thinking about it. After dinner we dropped Cindy off at the time share so she could wait for Nick and Steve to arrive while Zac and I headed out to the river because Zac wanted to test out a new fishing area. The fish were very hungry and kept jumping out of the water to eat but Zac had no luck that night of catching anything. By the time it got dark and we were headed back we found out from Cindy that Steve and Nick had made it!

I can't believe Thursday came so fast! This was mine and Zacs last day of vacation. Zac had to go back to work on Friday. The boys woke up early to do some fishing and when they got back it was round two for yummy breakfast burritos. It was suppose to get up to 96 degrees so we thought it would be a good idea to spend our last day out on the lake. We loaded everyone in the blue hoochie and off we went. The boys were back to there fishing. It started to get really really hot so we all ended up jumping in the lake to cool off! We got off the lake around 3:00 and went home to make sandwhiches. It was time for Zac and I to head back home! What a fun vacation, great start to a great summer! In a few weeks my parents are going to be up which I am so excited for and then we have our group camping trip and finally my best friend Janelle and her husband are coming up to visit! My June is already booked and I can't wait!!

Gone Fishin

Busy. I have been so busy lately. I am really slacking on my blogging. I will try my best to catch up. I still need to post about my trip to West Coast Moto jam and seeing monster trucks! But for today I am going to post about my little fishing trip I went on yesterday.

So randomly Zac bought a boat for the summer. And once Tye found out we had a boat he was all about taking it out striper fishing. So we planned everything out and woke up about 2:00am on Friday. We were headed down to the San Luis reservoir to try our luck. We first met Tye at his house and got all the fishing poles and the bait together. We finally made it to the lake at around 7:00am. Since we were going out on a reservoir we were not allowed to have any water coming from the boat. I guess they don't want it contaminating the water. Our boat also had to go through an inspection. We passed and were ready to head out on the water. The guy there told us that the water was pretty choppy and that if you see the flashing yellow light turn to red, you need to get off the water right away. Tye was telling us that every year someone dies there. It was a little nerve wracking but our little boat did awesome over the 3 foot swells. He was right, it was very choppy but around 10:00am the water turned smooth as glass.

Tye caught the first fish of the day. It was very exciting! We were all bundled up because it was so cold out. But by 10:00 when the water started to smooth out the sun heated up and we had to take off all our warm jackets. Not long after Tye caught his first fish he caught another. The minimum for keeping these fish is 18 inches. All of the fish we caught were at least 18, Nick caught the biggest one of the day which I believe was a little over 20. We all got a chance to reel one in. It was so much fun! They sure put up a fight. The boys wanted me to hold it for a picture and let me tell you it was so hard to make myself okay with touching that thing, yuck!

I think we stayed out on the late till about 1:00. The wind picked up and the water started to get really choppy again so we thought it would be best to head back to the dock before it got a little to wild for us. We made it back safely although Zacs sweet hat didn't make it. We got the boat all cleaned up and took some final pictures of the fish we caught. It was such an awesome day, I had so much fun! I loved being out on the water, just laying out in the sun with the music playing. Zac and I are excited to make some upgrades to the boat to make it even more comfortable to be in.

That was my day yesterday. Today Zac is gone and Jasons bachelor party. I wish he was here so we could hang out but I know he is going to have fun at the party. We have been so busy ever since we moved that we haven't had any time with just each other so I am hoping we can sneak in a date night soon. This next weekend Zac is going to be at work and on Sunday I am headed to Angels camp with Cindy for a family vacation. Zac won't be getting there till Monday afternoon I believe. I am so excited to have a break from work. I took the whole week off! I try my best to make every weekend feel like Im on a vacation. It sure makes my weekends something to look forward to! Anyways I hope that ya'll have a great weekend!

Love it.

Summer! You're so close I can taste it! So just to give ya'll a little update me and some co-workers are planning a camping trip to Lake Pillsbury. We were having trouble deciding on where a good campsite would be so I suggested heading up to P-bury for the day to look around and find a good place. I was lucky enough to grow up going camping which I am so thankful for. What an awesome and cheap way to vacation. There is nothing like being able to get up into the mountains and get away from it all.

Saturday morning we my friend Melinda and her boyfriend Wylee met us here in Windsor. We all loaded up in my tacoma and headed up to the mountains. It probably took us about 2-2 hours and 15 minutes to get there. Once we arrived it was time for some fun in the sun, however we got off to a bit of a rocky start. First let me start by saying that my truck is a pavement princess aka not a 4X4. We headed down in the river bed, saw that the river was a little high and decided to turn around. Well that did not go as planned, as we drove back up the river bank my passenger rear wheel sunk into the river. We were stuck...like 2 hours stuck. The boys did all they could to try and get us un-stuck but no such luck. We finally flagged someone down and they were able to pull us out. Note to self, don't take a pre-runner off roading.

The rest of the day was awesome. We spend a nice little afternoon enjoying the beautiful scenery. Zac and I brought Hudson and he had so much fun! We let him off the leach (which always makes me a little nervous) but he was having so much fun playing in the water and running around. We knew Hudson liked motorcycles but we found out at Pillsbury that he loves chasing them! Motorcyclist would take off down the road and off he went chasing them! Nerve racking and funny to watch. After some hours in the sun we thought we should do what we actually came to do and take a look around the lake for a good campsite. We found two that would work out awesome, so excited! It was finally time to head back to reality, but not after stopping for some yummy BBQ for dinner!

Wylee and Melinda

Me and my hubby

Now THAT looks relaxing

Yup. Perfect.

Next toy? Boat please.

Love my sweet boy