Natural Wonders

Yesterday we drove through the Russian River Valley to Armstrong Redwoods State Park. This was an AWESOME park. The trees were so majestic and beautiful, and the camera doesn't do this place justice. We got some good hiking in, including a pretty steep trail thanks to my silly desire to tackle a trail that was labeled as "strenuous". Next time I come up with a bright idea like that, I've instructed Cullen to remind me of this trail. Below are some shots, my favorite is the last one.

After getting our fill of the old redwoods, we grabbed a late lunch in Guerenville and then drove up to Calistoga to see an "Old Faithful" geyser. You're probably familiar with "Old Faithful" in Yellowstone, but something you might not know is that to be called "Old Faithful", a geyser has to errupt on a regular schedule. There are only three Old Faithful geysers in the world. One in Yellowstone, one in New Zealand, and a third in Calistoga, CA. We stopped in Calistoga to watch the geyser, which erupts regularly every 30-40 minutes. We stayed to watch two eruptions, each lasts about 3-5 minutes. We also learned that Old Faithful geysers are used to help predict earthquakes. Hopefully we'll get out of California before another quake hits. Below is one shot of the geyser.

You're On Our Honeymoon, Charlie Brown!

Yesterday we visited the Charles M Shulz Museum.... really cool place. Learned all about CMS (aka Sparky) and saw the display "Baseball as an Allegory". Hey - I just realized Cullen and Charles have the same exact initials! HEEHEE. We ate lunch at the Warm Puppy Cafe and watched hockey skaters at the Snoopy Ice Arena. Next week there will be a seniors hockey tournament with teams from the US, Canada, and Switzerland. Below are a few pics we took outside the main exhibit areas...

Beautiful Sonoma County

Today we drove through a good portion of Sonoma County. We started out in Windsor and drove through Healdsburg before heading west on Dry Creek Road ( this is a very narrow twisted east-west county road through the heart of northern Sonoma). Our first stop was a fluke - we ended up at this amazing lookout point at Lake Sonoma. These first three pictures are from that point. There are no close up vineyard shots here as we didn't take any, but passed through MANY vineyards. I'll try to take more later.

After getting through the heart of wine country we found ourselves driving through a dense forest. I managed to pull over once to get a good shot or two of some redwoods which are the next two pictures. We drive out of the dense forest to find ourselves basically at the ocean's edge on California Route 1 (Stewart's Point). That was a truly amazing experience.

We are awed by the views, I took many pictures, though don't feel they really do the landscape justice. Below are three of them. We luckily find a spot to stop (without having to pay to park) and walk down to the edge. We have a seat above the waves pounding the rocks below us, a very scenic snack. A golden eagle flies literally within 10 feet of me, but my camera is off so I miss a great shot. There was one stretch where it was actually a bit scary as you are so high up on the cliff and have nothing between you and the surf below. My mom would have been terrified. Despite getting a bit motion sick from the countless turns and bends in the road, it was a fabulous drive.

Greetings from San Fransisco!

San Fransisco is such a wonderful city! It does remind me a lot of NYC though. Yesterday we spent some time on the cable cars, walked around Fisherman's Wharf, had dinner at a killer Sushi/Japanese restaurant, and walked around Union Square. We ended the day at one of the MANY Starbucks (just like NYC). Today we went all over the city. Walked on the Golden Gate Bridge, ate lunch in Golden Gate Park, visited the Japanese Tea Garden, Went down to the Pier and walked the Embarcadero, and finally took the Cable car back downtown. Tonight will be a nice dinner at Le Colonial, a French/Vietnamese place. Below are only a few of the many picures we took...

Monterey Bay Aquarium

We spent most of July 4 at the aquarium. I took lots of pictures of Jellies because I think they look cool. The bottom picture is my "finding Nemo" shot.

Greetings from Monterey

We are having a fabulous time in Pacific Grove. These are a few pics to peak your interest. I am pretty proud of the bottom picture. I woke up early and caught a rare sunrise over the bay. Apparently, morning fog and low lying clouds are almost a daily phenomenon in the summer along the bay, but our first morning was completely clear.

We're Married!!!

After waiting out our long engagement, June 28, 2008 finally arrived. Despite the heat and humidity, our wedding day was absolutely wonderful. Cullen and I both feel very happy and very blessed to have each other as well as to have had the opportunity to share our special day with such great family and friends. We hope you enjoy the few shots that I posted (courtesy of Daniel T Eig). I'll most likely update you all after the honeymoon...