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| Trip Length: |
7 Days |
| Pickup Date:
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July 29th |
| Drop-off Date: |
August 4th |
| Rough Distance Traveled:
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476 Miles |
| Pickup Location: |
SFO (San Francisco Intl. Airport) |
| Drop-off Location: |
SFO |
| Overnights: |
San Francisco, Santa Rosa (Sonoma Wine
Country), Monterey |
| Group Size: |
4 adults, 1 teenager |
| Vehicle: |
Passenger Van |
| Guide: |
Deke Sinclair |
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| San Francisco |
2 nights |
| Guide, Deke Sinclair, picked
up the group of 5 ladies at SFO late in
the morning, and took them straight to "the
City," where they spent the next two
days seeing the city highlights. |
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| San Francisco Highlights
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First day "get to know
each otherlunch at Max's Opera Café
on Van Ness Avenue |
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Touring the San Francisco highlights,
like Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower,
Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. |
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Saw the "Women Impressionists
of the 20th Century" exhibit
at the Legion of Honor/ |
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Dinner at In 'N' Out
Burger at Fisherman's Wharf (they
just HAD to eat there) |
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| Marin, Muir and Sonoma
Coast |
Visited en route to
Sonoma Valley |
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The group departed San Francisco after
2 days of touring, and headed over the
Golden Gate Bridge. Less than an hour
outside of the big city, the group found
themselves walking among some of the largest
living things on the planet; the coastal
redwoods of Muir Woods.
After a walk through the giants, the
day continued with a drive out to the
coast, where they took a leisurely pace,
stopping at overlooks and beaches along
the way.
North of Bodega Bay, where the Russian
River meets the coast, Deke took the group
inland, following the course of the river,
ultimately arriving in Santa Rosa.
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| Highlights
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Excellent lunch at the
Olema Inn and Restaurant, Marin County |
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Up Hwy. 1 through Marin
County to Muir Beach Overlook and
Stinson Beach |
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Goat Rock State Beach,
south of Bodega Bay on Hwy. 1 |
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Turned inland just north
of Bodega Bay, continued east through
Guerneville on to Santa Rosa |
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| Sonoma County |
1 night (2 days) |
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In Sonoma County, the family did stop
at a couple of wineries, but eschewed
a fully wine-focused agenda, in favor
of some countryside activities. The highlight
of these was an early morning hot-air
balloon flight over the wine country.
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| Sonoma County Highlights
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Hot air balloon ride
left from Charles Schultz Airport
in Santa Rosa in the early morning
hours and landed at the Kendall Jackson
Winery a few miles away |
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The kids got to go to
Lake Sonoma (west of Santa Rosa),
where they used paddleboats on a beautiful
sunny day |
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Stopped at Dry Creek
General Store for a deli lunch, eaten
at their picnic tables |
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Went wine tasting at
gorgeous Lambert Bridge Winery near
Healdsburg |
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Took the kids to Johnson's
Beach in Guerneville (just West of
Santa Rosa) for a swim in the Russian
River on a beautiful sunny day (they
didn't want the hotel pool!) |
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| Monterey
Peninsula |
2 nights |
| The Davis family followed
up their visit to the Sonoma Coast and the
Sonoma Wine Country with a visit about 3
hours south to the Central Coast's crown
jewel: The Monterey Bay. From Santa Cruz
to Montery and Carmel by the Sea, the ladies
truly enjoyed a relaxing time in this picturesque
seaside destination. |
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| Monterey Peninsula
Highlights |
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Toured the Monterey
Bay Aquarium |
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Ate at a Mexican restaurant right
across from the hotel |
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Toured the 17-Mile Drive at Pebble
Beach and saw the sea otters |
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Stopped at the Santa
Cruz Beach Boardwalk for a brief visit
on their last day |
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Stopped for lunch at Buck's in Woodside
(where the big deals are made) on
their last day |
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| Return to San Francisco
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1 night |
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Tours of infamous federal prison on Alcatraz
Island are offered 7 days a week. However,
one special version of the tour is only
available 5 days a week. The Alcatraz
Evening Tour offers a chance to experience
the prison as evening falls across the
Bay, experiencing a different mood, and
allowing you a glimpse at what prison
life here must have been like, as the
reality of nighttime on the island sets
in.
Janice was very gung ho to take the ladies
on this version of the tour. Unfortunately,
the two nights they planned to spend in
San Francisco at the beginning of their
tour fell on the two nights of the week
when the tour is not offered. A little
creative thinking, and we realized that,
with the group flying back out of SFO
at the end of their trip, here was another
opportunity to take the tour, and jogged
the itinerary to fit this activity in
as the last attraction of the family's
week in California.
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Guide, Deke Sinclair, recalls two special moments
from the Davis's trip to the Sonoma Coast.
Muir Beach Overlook
If you were from the East Coast and hadn't experienced
the natural beauty of California, all you'd have to
do is stop here. High above the blue Pacific on bluffs
overlooking 50 miles of coastline and thousands of
square miles of ocean, you would think you'd come
to the end of the world. We walked down the staircase
to the edge of the bluff overlooking the ocean. You
could see all the way down the coast to San Francisco
and all the way north up the Sonoma Coast to Stinson
Beach. If you looked straight ahead, you could make
out a cargo ship off in the distance. We were there
on a magical day, with the vistas startling in their
beauty. This area has remained unspoiled and was just
waiting for us to discover it.
Goat Rock State Beach
Just south of Bodega Bay on the Sonoma Coast, this
beach provided us with a spectacular visual experience.
The beach is not made of sand, but is a gently downward
slope of tiny pebbles that make a rushing sound when
the constant waves crash upon the narrow beach. Large
rocks lie at the water's edge, interrupting the waves'
short trip to the beach. A cacophony of sun, crashing
waves, mild breezes, moderate temperatures and the
azure Pacific in late afternoon made for an almost
surreal experience. It was made even sweeter by the
fact that we literally stumbled upon this beach; we
didn't even know it was there! You just had to be
there to appreciate the show that Mother Nature put
on! We left this beach stunned by its natural beauty
and with the inner realization that we had frozen
in our collective memory a vista that would last a
lifetime.
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