Fall at Edwards

Fall at Edwards can be a bit of a let down - trees don't change color (there aren't any trees) and the weather doesn't slowly cool down, inviting you to wear jeans and sweatshirts. Luckily just up the road is the "Land of Four Seasons," Tehachapi. The first year we lived here we headed up there quite a bit, then we seemed to forget about Tehachapi until fall rolls around.

The first weekend in October, we headed up there with the EOSC travel club. The original plan was to head to the botanical gardens, but due to fall coming early they were closed. We regrouped and headed to the Souza Family Vineyard for some wine tasting. The vineyard serves only one of their own wines and then quite a few others from around the country. I can't tell you how the wines were since I had to sit this one out but they did bring out a nice food tray for us and were very pleasant to chat with.

Next, apple picking! There are two u-pick places and then 20 or so orchards that pick them from the tree and you pick apples out of a large box. In the fall you can get a map just about anywhere in town with a layout of the orchards. We visited a few to check out what types of apples were available - ask for a taste so you know what you are getting. We ended up splitting a box with the neighbors which gave us each about 40 apples.

We tried a Latin fusion restaurant for lunch. It wasn't terrible but I'm not sure I'll go back. My delicate stomach didn't take well to the smells or tastes but it's not their fault I'm pregnant!

A few weeks later in mid-October we decided to head back to Tehachapi with some other friends to Murray Family Farms. They have really upped their game this year - the hayride to the pumpkin patch is still there as are the pig races but they have added more fun. The kids we were with range in age from 1 to 3 and they all seemed to love it. There were duck races where you pump water to make your rubber duck float down a pipe, "cow" riding where you are towed behind a tractor in a half barrel on wheels painted like a cow and a giant inflatable pillow you can jump on. They had plenty of guides around making this a much more pleasant experience than in years past.

The farm also sells carving pumpkins but you will find cheaper ones at Trader Joe's.

For lunch we headed to Pacino's Spaghetti Factory in Tehachapi. It's nothing special but the food was good and it's a reliable alternative to the Apple Shed. The salads are huge - you can easily split one for your meal.

It's nice to get away and have it feel like fall, even for just an afternoon!

Austin, TX

When my sister said she was coming down to Austin for Spring Break all I could think was SXSW! Even without tickets SXSW is a great time to be in Austin, if you don’t mind the crowds. In addition to all sorts of festivities, our agenda included hitting up a few of Austin’s tamer attractions. The highlight of our trip though was getting to visit a high school friend, who I haven’t seen in 10 years, who has opened a food truck in Austin – and it’s amazing! (Keep reading for more details)

Saturday, we drove down to Austin and headed straight for the Univ of Texas campus. The LBJ library is on the campus and has free parking. We parked our car and walked across campus to the Harry Ransom Center. The museum houses both a Gutenberg Bible and the world’s first photograph (which I think looks more like a piece of banged out metal, but the first photograph is the first photograph.) Both items are right in the lobby – so it’s a quick stop. There are numerous restaurants in the area – we hopped across the street to Crave Thai & Sushi Bar for some sushi and Thai food. After lunch we headed back across the campus to the LBJ Library & museum where we were greeted by some very enthusiastic volunteers. The LBJ museum is not as large as some of the other Presidential Libraries – but they have a moon rock and a lot of other interesting exhibits. On the creepy side – if you head upstairs you’ll find an animatronic LBJ who tells jokes (tripped by a motion sensor). Upstairs also houses my favorite exhibit – the gifts from the American People. LBJ was the lucky recipient of not one, but six painted rocks. Awesome America. Haha.

Next up – night time bat viewing! We were in Austin in June last year, but the bats were breeding and so they weren’t flying. This time we booked a “river cruise” abord Lonestar's little boat - although I use that word lightly because it is actually a barge with white plastic lawn chairs- also it’s BYOB. Capital Cruises runs a double-decker boat that looks more legitimate but we loved the low key nature of the little star. Despite its seeming sketchiness, it’s totally worth it. The guide was knowledgeable about the city and the bats. The tour starts just before sunset with a wonderful view and tour of the city, then, at sunset, you park the boat by the Congress Street bridge for a viewing of the bats! It was not the ‘darkening of the sky’ with bats that I expected – it was cooler – for 30 min there was an endless stream of bats flowing from the concrete expansion gaps built into the bridge. The bats fly along the tree line in groups so that birds don’t eat them. While ‘out on the town,’ the million or so Mexican Free Tail bats in the Austin colony feast on moths and other insects, before returning to the bridge at sunrise. You can see the bats just fine by standing along the bridge at sunset, but the cruise was a fun rest from an already busy day. (I will post a short video in another post shortly - so check back soon.)

After our bat watching, we walked into downtown to eat at the Peached Tortilla. Eric Silverstein, the owner, is a great fellow and the food is outstanding. On this night, the food truck was parked at 5^th & Colorado, in the midst of the SXSW concert events. We tried several varieties of the sliders and tacos – all were excellent! There is something for everyone, with fish, meat, vegetarian options. Eric lists the location of the Peached Tortilla truck on his web page and on twitter each week and they have also opened up a 'permanent' trailer location near UT. We left the food truck with full and just in time to catch an amazing fireworks show on the river. (I will post a video of the show in another post shortly.)

On Sunday, we left bustling Austin (quickly becoming one of the largest US cities) for a leisurely return trip to our temporary home base in Fort Worth. Our major stop for the day was at the Fall Creek Vineyard in rural Tow Texas. The vineyard hosts Saturday picnics on its winery property. So when I called to see if they could possibly accommodate our party on a Sunday for a picnic, I expected to be turned down. Instead, the staff was happy to offer a picnic to us on Sunday. We arrived at noon and joined a tour of the vineyard that ended with a tasting ($5 for 6 pours, you keep the glass). Then, we picked a bottle of Chardonnay to enjoy with our boxed lunches in the courtyard. Fall Creek Vineyard has a great location and a superbly friendly staff. You can find out about Fall Creek Vineyard activities on facebook.

We also made a quick detour into the town of Burnet (pronounced like Durn'it), Texas which is home to the worlds smallest public park and the return of the first annual dog house race... oh and a large rock they don't want removed. The main square looks lovely, although on Sunday everything was closed. During the week this would be an ideal place to find a bite to eat or venture into the stores on he square. Regardless, it made a nice stop to get out of the car and walk around before resuming our ride home.

The trip ended with a final stop at what is fast becoming our favorite eatery in Fort Worth, Freebirds. (Jeff recommends getting the BBQ sauce on your burrito -" it sounds strange but it tastes delicious.") It was the perfect end to a spring break weekend.

“Sideways” Wine Tour and other Central Coast Adventures

As I have previously mentioned Vandenberg, AFB is a great launching point for many California Central Coast adventures. If you’re not looking to drive 100 miles up the coast there is plenty to do right outside the Vandenberg gates.

The second day of our Central Coast Summer Adventure was dedicated to wine tasting. Santa Barbara County has some amazing wineries that offer a more casual atmosphere then its northern neighbors. Most of the tastings in this area will run you between $5-$10/person and typically includes your glass. There are maps of the wine tasting region available at Vandenberg, virtually any hotel and at every winery – so find your way to one and have them point you to the next one. If you are a “Sideways” fan (or just like organized fun) there is a wine map featuring just the wineries from the movie.

We got an early start on Saturday, a bit too early to start the wine tasting; luckily there are plenty of non-wine related activities in the area. Our pre-wine tasting activity of choice – Blueberry Picking! Don’t expect those fat blueberries you see in the stores – these are wild blueberries and they come in a variety of varietals. On this particular trip we were all given a bucket – 15min in I had barely covered the bottom of the basket. Mom was set on filling our bucket (A $15 value or a fraction of that if you failed to fill the bucket) while Dad and Jeff were set on sampling berries from each bush. After an hour our bucket (and Jeff & Dad’s tummies) were full and we headed to our next adventure. There are several U-Pick locations in the area, with a variety of seasonal crops– we chose one we had seen on our drive in the day before. (If you happen to be there not during a picking season there are some other alternatives such as visiting a lavender farm or an Ostrich Farm.)

Right down the road from the Blueberry farm is Nojoqui Falls Park. Nojoqui falls is a 160+ foot waterfall that is actually growing out due to mineral deposits in the water. An easy, albeit uphill, 10 min walk leads to the falls. This was our second visit to this little hike – A summer visit meant much less water coming over the falls, but allowed us to get much closer than in our previous spring visit. There are also plenty of picnic spots here - including one right by the falls!

Finally, a respectable hour had been reached and we headed out on our wine tasting adventure. We found a little “shack” on the way to our first winery and picked up lunch. Mom was hesitant to pick-up any food from this place, Jeff thought it looked like a piece of “Americana” but it’s really not even worth mentioning since lunch was nothing special – if I had it to do again I would have grabbed something from a grocery store in town.

You really can't go wrong stopping into any of the vineyards in this area, but I will list a few of our favorites as a jumping off point. (We didn't visit all of these on this particular visit, but have been in this area a few times before.) Riverbench Vineyards & Winery features outdoor seating & wine tasting, a lovely little shop and even a full scale bocce court! Cottonwood Canyon is where we chose to have lunch as they have a beautiful picnic area right out front with umbrella covered tables. We purchased a Chardonnay that went well with our blueberry lunch! Rancho Sisquoc Winery also has great picnic and outdoor seating. There outdoor tables are limited but there are plenty of benches and rails to perch on and complete your tasting outside. Foxen Winery is always much to crowded for us and thus we have never done a tasting here. Foxen has opened a second tasting room to try to alleviate the overcrowding but we missed the turn on this last trip and decided to continue down the road. Its clearly very popular so is probably worth the wait.

Before we knew it the afternoon had passed and we were almost back in Solvang. We decided to stop at Old Mission Santa Inez for Saturday Evening Mass. During Mass I couldn't help but admire the hand painted walls and ceiling of the church. Don't miss the gardens which are accessible through the church or the mission visitors center/gift shop.

We had the best meal of the trip at Root 246 in Solvang and is run by the Santa Ynez Band of the Chumash Indians. Root 246 has some outdoor seating, some funky tables with seating in high back couches in front of floor to ceiling windows and some intimate booths. The menu focuses on seasonal and local produce. The meal was excellent and they, of course, have an extensive wine menu. I ordered two appetizers for my meal and it was more then enough.

After dinner we took a stroll through Solvang. Don't miss the Hans Christian Anderson Museum, which is easy to miss as it is on the top floor of a bookstore in downtown Solvang. Every April 2nd they host a birthday bash for Mr. Anderson complete with birthday cake. If Hans Christian Anderson is your thing then you wont want to miss the Little Mermaid Statue or Hans Christian Anderson Park (which has a great looking playground.) If you are there during the day we saw a Surry Rental place (475 1st Street) with four person surry bikes that looked like a good time. There are also tons of bakery serving up Danish pastries if you want to pick one up for the morning. Personally, I just enjoyed walking through Solvang taking in the dutch influence - windmills, copper roofs with exposed wooden beams and the smell of pastries. I'm already looking forward to our next visit!

Madera Wine Trail

The plan was to stay home for the long weekend and Valentines Day, but we can’t resist a good trip around California. A month ago our neighbors purchased tickets for the Madera Wine Trail Wine and Chocolate Weekend. At the time they told us about the wine trail, this was the only weekend in February we would be home between planned trips and travel for work so we declined the invitation. However on Friday, with the three day weekend looming we decided a short outing was in order. This trip was an up and back outing – making it perfect for a weekend getaway.

The Madera Wine Trail includes a host of wineries only some of which participate in their Wine Trail weekend. On Wine Trail weekends you purchase a wristband and work your way around the participating vineyards for wine tasting and assorted other goodies. Of course if your just passing through on a non wine trail weekend all these places offer tastings and would make a nice stop to break up the drive.

We called Mariposa Wine Co. ahead of time to inquire about their special couple’s package. The package included our wine trail weekend glasses and wristbands, lunch for two, a special “wine bottle” valentine, a bottle of “love potion # 9” wine and a cupcake to share. Mariposa Wine Co. really went all out with the theme. The wines, both red and white, were delish – so much so we purchased the “mystery box” full of 12 assorted wines. Mariposa is well North of the other participating vineyards and made a great starting point for our wine tasting.

If you didn’t want to do the couples package at Mariposa – Appellation: California Wine Tasting Visitors Center offers a group bus options that includes wine. They go to 5 of the participating vineyards starting at 12pm and returning at 5pm. It looked like a blast. We stopped in on our way out of town on Sunday to taste a few wines and enjoy some cheese from a local vendor.

I will really quickly run through the other vineyards although Jeff will probably go into more detail on the wineries.

Quady Winery focuses mostly on desert wines and wasn’t really our thing. If you like desert wines they had quite the variety and the grounds are lovely.

Birdstone Winery has a wonderful inside and outside tasting area. We particularly enjoyed the white wines here, although they had quite a selection of reds as well.

Chateau Lasgoity had both reds and whites – we didn’t really get to enjoy the property because of the crowds. We would like to go back on a non trail weekend.

Ficklin Vineyards was our last stop. It was also my very favorite. They are known for their ports but had a variety of reds and whites also available. In addition they support a local wild cat rescue and had a few of the wild cats available to view. (You can also "become a fan" on Facebook.)

I had no idea this little wine region even existed. We have driven through Fresno a few times looking for a little stop to break up the drive back to Edwards. This wine region is the answer. You could stop in to one vineyard or make a day of it by exploring the Medera Wine Trail.

Temecula

Jeff and I didn’t know much about Temecula when we received a gift certificate for a hot air balloon ride over Temecula as a wedding gift. So we headed down to southwestern California this weekend to check it out.



Temecula is only 2.5 hours from Edwards, allowing a leisurely Friday night at home. Waking up early Saturday morning we hit the road with bagels in hand. We had plans to meet some friends at South Coast Winery to begin our Temecula wine tasting experience. South Coast Winery is stunning. Like many of the vineyards in Temecula South Coast is not only a winery, but also a resort, spa and restaurant. Temecula has a strange zoning law that requires tasting rooms to have a method of counting the tastings. As a result you pay for the tastings in one room, receive your counting device - which at South Coast were little tear off pieces of paper with numbers on them- and then head into the tasting room. At 10am the tasting room had just opened and we were the first at the counter – good thing, because by 10:30 the place was packed. Another difference between the wineries in Napa and the wineries in Temecula was the sheer amount of wines these vineyards produce. In Napa, we found most places to have six to eight wines they have available for tasting. In Temecula each vineyard had a full menu with a host of different varietals.



We spent over an hour at South Coast. The wines were good and they had something for everyone. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable about the wine and the area. Our hostess explained that South Coast also has quite a range of evening programs available – everything from comedy to Kenny G. After enjoying the wine, we decided to step outside and look at the grounds. We were particularly curious because our traveling companions will be returning for a friend’s wedding in the fall and wanted to get a lay of the land. South Coast’s grounds are well manicured and always look as if they are ready to host a party. South Coast was the perfect start to our day.



From South Coast we ventured up the main road to Falkner Vineyards. In planning our Temecula trip we found a coupon for a two-for-one tasting at Falkner and we couldn’t pass it up. Everyone was getting a bit hungry and we read online that Falkner had picnic grounds. Unfortunately, upon arriving we were told that we couldn’t bring outside food into the picnic grounds even if we purchased a bottle of wine. We decided to do the tasting anyway. We took our poker chips (what we were given to count our tastings) and found a place at the bar. Falkner’s indoor tasting room felt a bit like a singles bar, it has an elegant design, but had techno music playing softly in the background. After a few indoor tastings we moved outside to finish the tasting. I found Falkner’s red wines to be much better than the their whites, but that is just one girls opinion.



We left Falkner to seek picnic grounds, which we found almost right across the street. After a lovely lunch of bread, cheese, watermelon and whatever else I put in our picnic basket, we were back on the wine tasting trail.



For dinner we headed into Old Town Temecula, which also happened to be hosting a Jazz Festival. There are not enough nice things to say about Old Town Temecula. The town is quaint and with jazz music playing in every empty it was almost magical. Unfortunately our dinner experience was not quite as magical. We are going to chalk it up to the town not being used to the crowds, but dinner service was slow. The food was good, but the service was so very slow. After dinner we took another stroll up and down the streets, stopping occasionally to listen to jazz music, until the light started to fade and our friends had to head back home. We took this as a cue to head to our B&B for the night.



The B&B sent us to South Coast Winery for breakfast. Yet again we were the first ones in the restaurant for breakfast, but it began to get crowded once we got our food. Once again South Coast did not disappoint. Jeff had an egg sandwich, which looked divine, and I had the pancakes, which were some of the best I have ever had. We sat outside overlooking the grounds we were so taken with the day before. It is not surprising South Coast has won so many awards, everything about the place seems well thought out, yet it is not pretensions.



From South Coast we headed a bit more south to San Diego’s Wild Animal Park. We arrived just as the park was opening and got our tickets and were in the park in no time. Military is free at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and they get 10% off all additional tickets. The free ticket is the “Best Value Ticket” which included the African safari, the Conservation Carousel and the Dinosaur exhibit. Following the advice we received we headed straight to the African Safari. Going to the safari first avoids the lines, but also allows for more animal viewing since the animals are more active in the morning before the heat really sets in. The Safari was excellent – all the animal were active – finding their shade for the day – they came right up to the vehicle to see what was going on.



While we loved the safari the rest of the Wild Animal Park was a bit of a let down. It was more “zoo” like then we had expected. By noon the temperature was over 100 degrees, and like the animals we wanted to seek shade and limit our activity. We wandered around the park a bit longer, finding a spot to sit at the elephant enclosure for a while. Something that amazed us about the Wild Animal park was the sheer number of baby animals.



Ducking into every gift shop we could find just for the AC, we knew we were done for the day. We called up a friend who lives just north of San Diego to see if she wanted to meet for a drink in Oceanside. By 3pm we were at a bar on the beach enjoying the cooler temperatures and The Key lime Martini’s that tasted like a pie in the glass. After an hour of catching up and chit-chat we parted ways – our friend is in nursing school and had to get back to studying- and we had to make our way back home to the desert.

Napa Valley

Napa Valley is one of our favorite locations in California, probably because we love wine, nature and great food. Since moving to California a year ago we have visited Napa Valley three times.

Napa is quite the hike from Edwards, AFB. The drive typically takes about 6 hours if you take I-5, so its best to do this trip when you have a long weekend.

We typically take advantage of Travis, AFB being so close to Napa and stay on base. If, however, you want to stay somewhere other than base there are a ton of hotels and Bed & Breakfasts in the area.

Our favorite part of visiting Napa is visiting the vineyards and learning about wine making. Here are some of our favorite vineyards to visit:

Elizabeth Spencer Wines: My parents introduced us to Elizabeth Spencer and we stop in every time we are in Napa. Located in Rutherford, their tasting room is in the old post office building. The wine is good, the people are nice, we just love it here.

Rombauer Vineyards: We were introduced to Rombauer by our marriage preparation couple in Atlanta. We were in Napa with good friends who love Rombauer wines and just had to stop by. The wines are great and the property is beautiful.

Sterling Vineyards: We recommended this vineyard to our friends with children. While we love sterling wines, we can't get over the view from the vineyard. A tram takes you up the mountain to this vineyard where your admission also gets you a self guided tour of the winemaking process. Then enjoy a tasting in their tasting room or outside on the patio.

Rocca Family Vineyards: We initially wandered into this small tasting room in the city of Napa because it was open later than the other vineyards. We stayed because their red wines were amazing and the owner Mary Rocca was fascinating. It turns out she knows the same priest from Note Dame (who happens to also be named Rocca) that we knew from our Notre Dame days. We always return to this little tasting room for a glass of the Bad Boy Red.

If wine tasting isn't your thing there are lots of other fun things to do in Napa. We went with Napa Valley Balloons for a stunning view of the valley as the sun comes up. The highlight of our ballooning trip was trying to set the balloon down on a sunflower lined road. Equally as thrilling is the Old Faithful Geyser of California. Don't be put off by the hokey, 1950's feel of this attraction - the geyser literally went off every 8 times while we were there. Kids will love the llamas, sheep and fainting goats. If you need to walk off some of that wine you've been drinking there is a petrified forest in Calastoga that has a nice 20min walk or just stop in any of the small towns and do some window shopping.

We hope you enjoy Napa Valley as much as we do. I am sure we will be back soon.