Sam & Sandy visit California

This week my parents took a road trip to come down and visit me, Chuck, and Emily in California. They headed out from Boise on Thursday and stayed in Winnemucca then played golf on Friday before heading out here. When they arrived we quickly unloaded their car and went to pick up Chuck and Emily for our dinner reservations at Giostra. It's a delicious Italian restaurant Mom had heard about from her friends in Boise.

That evening we played cards at Emily's house and had a birthday cake that Emily made for Mom's upcoming birthday. It was a really nice evening. Saturday morning I got up and jogged 15 miles around Rohnert Park with Amanda while Dad and Chuck played racquetball. They were still playing at lunch so Mom and I hit up my favorite sandwich shop; Marc Mazzetta's Deli for lunch.

Then we all got together and went wine tasting, starting off at Francis Ford Coppola's winery in Geyserville, CA. I wasn't planning on it, but somehow I walked out of the winery as a member. My very first wine club membership! It was a great deal, we got our tasting fees waived and Emily, my Mom and me all purchased wine at the discounted cost. I also got my first shipment right then. Kinda cool.

From there we went to Healdsburg and tried out wines at two of my favorite tasting rooms on the town square; Stephen & Walker and Thumbprint. Both places offered free tastings to the bearer of the Visa Signature cards, so we all got free tastings! For dinner my parents wanted to treat Chuck for his upcoming birthday, so we went to his favorite place; Outback Steakhouse. We finished the evening up with some more cards.

Sunday I went to St. Johns Methodist church with my parents. It was a nice service and I enjoyed taking communion. That afternoon Chuck and Emily joined us for an adventure to Armstrong Woods for a little looking around. We hadn't planned lunch, so we hiked a bit and took some pictures.

We headed from Armstrong Woods over to Bodega Bay where we had dinner at a quaint little Mexican seafood restaurant called Brisas del Mar. I will absolutely be back!! I had crab cakes with a jalapeno sauce that was just amazing.

Before I knew it Monday was here and my parents headed back home via Redding for a night there and more golfing. Then they stopped in southern Oregon for another night before heading back to Boise the night of July 4th. It was a nice weekend with my core family. I really enjoyed the time with everyone.