Date: Spring Break 2010
The first Dowell to hit the road was Madeline. She packed up and had a fantastic week with Grandma and Papa Dowell. They stayed quite busy -- trips to the library, botanical center, Papa's work, the mall and even an Easter train ride (but NOT a visit to the Easter Bunny....he's a questionable friend of Santa.)
Next off, Darrin and I hit Des Moines International and headed to San Francisco via Chicago.
We started off in the city. Toured Alcatraz (got a stamp in the National Parks Passport!!!), ate the most dee-lish dinner on Pier 39, and walked around town a bit.
On our way to Sonoma the next morning, we saw the Golden Gate Bridge and hit another National Park -- Muir Woods to see some of the tallest trees in the world. Can you find mini-Darrin in the picture?
For two nights we stayed at a fantastic bed and breakfast called Beltane Ranch in Sonoma. I'd highly recommend it. Imagine waking up to views of vineyards soaking in the California sun, a tray of coffee, creams and sugars delivered to your room, and the smell of fresh lemon bread in the oven. Ahh...it was great.
Our adventures in Sonoma and Napa included stops at several wineries, a picnic lunch out in the sun, and a new membership into a wine-of-the-(every other)-month club from V. Sattui.
After two days of lovely relaxation and lots of wine sampling, we headed back to the city. We walked (and then Darrin drove our rental car) down curvy Lombard Street and rode the cable car up and down the crazy, crazy hills while singing the Rice-a-Roni jingle.
Isn't my husband stinkin' hot? Gosh, I love him. This is his pensive look while on the cable car.
Five days alone with my studly husband was wonderful. We have a lot of fun together, and we enjoyed our spring getaway. And it was super, super duper fun to come back and get hugs and kisses from our sweet Madeline.
We are so glad that the two of you get to go on your trips. We love that Madeline loves staying with us. We love doing things with her and she is so entertaining. The Dowell Hotel is always open and available whenever you want to travel. Love Mom
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you guys had a great trip! Makes me miss our time in NYC. Ahh, fun fun memories :D. How 'bout Italy &/or Greece in 4 years, for our 35th b-days? That's enough time for another kiddo to be born and weaned, and to save the $$ to go. With or without you guys, we're going. But we think it'd be super fun to go together.
ReplyDeleteLove you! Ray