Jake's first visit to California!

Jake and I have been talking over text for a while now and after we finally met in person last weekend while I was in Boise with Katelynn for Esthetic Evolution, we decided he should come visit me in California.  Thursday night Jake flew into Oakland for the first time and I was there to pick him up.  It was so wonderful to see him in the airport!  We didn't go out to the city that night because the next morning we had Jake's first 10K race to run; the annual Kenwood foot race.

We were up bright and early, ready to go with our race bibs on.  Jake was nervous for his first 10K.  He's been training up, but hasn't ran 6.5 miles yet (the approximate length of a 10K).  It was fun running with him and taking pictures all along the route.  I'll never forget as we neared the finish line and Jake asked "Is that the end up there?!" and I said "Yup, almost there, you can do..." I didn't even get to finish my sentence.  In just a few strides he was outta there!  It was all I could do to keep up with the man as he was leaping towards the finish line.  Come to find out later he just wanted to beat me across the line!  Gah!  HaHa!  You can see the pictures I took along the route on my Runkeeper page.

That evening we had an action packed fourth of July planned!  It started with a three course meal at the Prelude at Sonoma State University's Green Music Center.

The apple pie baked into a glass dessert with ice cream on top was a perfect way to end the meal.  Then we headed into Weill Hall for the Santa Rosa Symphony.  After the symphony the fireworks were supposed to start, outside... but as the night drew on and only a few sporadic fireworks lit the sky it was clear something was amiss.  Jake and I sat and talked with Karen, my boss Jason and a lovely woman named Rose while Kevin and others were scrambling about.   It was nice having drinks at the prelude and talking enjoying the evening regardless of the fireworks situation.  What a perfect fourth of July; thank you Jake!

Friday July 5th was reserved for my favorite tasting tour with Jake.  We started at Frances Ford Coppola's winery and then went to Healdsburg not only going to my other two favorites Hawley and Thumbprint but also to a new one; Toad Hollow.  After all that we had to have dinner on the square before the drive back to Rohnert Park.

Saturday July 6th was a day to explore the city of San Francisco.  We started out with an organic lunch at the Plant Cafe- another favorite of mine in the city!  Then we went up Lombard street and took a picture of us at Coit tower.  I couldn't believe all the tourists at the end of Lombard street-geeesh!   That evening I wanted to take Jake to my favorite seafood restaurant in the city - The San Franciscan.  We had a delicious dinner and a great view overlooking the bay.

After dinner we went exploring the local tourist trap venues along Pier 39.  We had a lot of fun checking out It's Sugar, Fisherman's Wharf and the Ghirardelli Chocolate factory!  Couldn't stay out too late, I had a 16 mile run to do with Amanda in Sonoma for our Marathon training.  Marathon training takes no breaks!  You can see the run Amanda and I did- her FIRST 16 miles ever on my Runkeeper.

That afternoon we had lunch with Jake's friend Anita at East West Cafe.  It was great that she was in California at the same time as Jake and actually in the north bay!  We had a delicious lunch and I think it may be a new favorite for Jake!

As the afternoon wound down it was nearing time to take Jake back to the airport.  It was such a wonderful first visit and I'm looking forward to many more visits.