....Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair

You know what they say. "If you're going to San Francisco..."

The second part of our trip took us to San Francisco. Now, I know they claim San Fran is in California, but the weather would make a claim that this isn't the truth. It was cold. not sunny and warm like LA was.

On Saturday morning, we once again rose bright and early, and met Stacy's friend Ted up in Sonoma to do some wine tasting.

(Sidebar: You may not know who Ted is. Stacy has a friend named Brad, which is the same name as one of my best friends. I would always get confused when she told me about talking to Brad, wondering why she was talking to my friend. So to avoid future confusion, I renamed her friend Brad, Ted)

We went to two vineyards, recommended by my dad: Ravenswood and Arrowood. At Ravenswood, we took a tour of the grounds, and even got to sample a few wines right from the barrell, which was really cool. We took it easy on the tastings, since we still had a long night ahead of us.

After Sonoma, we headed to my old Orlando roommate, Megan's, parent's house for a "Summer Fiesta." Now, I am a Disney nut, but even I felt awkward in this place. There was so much Disney I felt like I had returned to Anaheim when I walked in the front door. The house was very nice though, and had an amazing back yard with a pool and hot tub. There, we met up with the rest of my Orlando friends that were in for the weekend: Mike and Meredith, and Kristi and her boyfriend Tyler. It was nice to catch up with friends I had not seen since last summer. Living here in Illinois, there has been a piece of me missing without this huge group of friends I used to hang out with everyday. We had a blast. At the end of the night, we spent a little time in the hot tubs, just like to good ole days in Orlando.

On Sunday morning, we were once again up and out early. Who needs to sleep in on vacation? We met everyone from the night before at Muir Woods National Monument. We got to hike up the side of a mountain, and see Redwoods, and even play a little Return of the Jedi in the forest. Stacy's Aunt Connie, sister Lexi, and brother-in-law Rob also joined us. (Yes those are all their real names) We had a lot of fun playing in the trees, hiking on trails, and keeping an eye out for Sasquatch. (we think we may have heard his ipod playing in the distance) We got to see some of this country's natural beauty firsthand.

We spent the rest of the day at Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, and North Beach eating and shopping with everyone. All in all, it was a great weekend with friends and family, and wish we could do it more often.