The Petrified Forest

We stopped to see the largest Petrified Forest in the World.

Here are a few photos:




One spot even looked like a tunnel of trees

Little Old Faithful

It was fun watching it spouting and spraying and a lot of the scenery was very beautiful.

But, more interesting were the animals. They looked a bit like mutants. There were goats with four horns, three horns and even a Unigoat.

I don't know why. I just know it was weird.

Whirlwind Weekend

Robert Louis Stevenson lived here in St. Helena for a couple of months after his wedding. He was ill and needed to recover. He stayed here and perhaps that's why they still honor him today.

His wife was divorced - which was a difficult thing to do in those days. She usually said she was widowed to avoid the conflict.

Stevenson was best known for his stories of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Treasure Island--at least in my mind.

So, we stopped to visit his museum and even is tree.

Robert Louis Stevenson Tree

Coming Home

The Santa Rosa Airport is a tribute to Charles Schultz and I couldn't resist getting my picture taken with Charlie and Lucy. I was feeling it was such a great beginning to another Charlie Brown Christmas :)

The Wineries of Calistoga and St. Helena

Sterling Winery was fun because we took a tram up to the top of the mountain and then we went on our tour, which included many little glasses of wine along the way.

Here my husband is waiting for the tram ride to begin
Here's a view from the tram as we begin to move up the mountain
Here's another view from the tram




There are plenty of wineries to visit. But, check with your hotel first. A lot of them give discount tickets or brochures that you can turn in for $5.00 off per ticket. My husband and I turned in one brochure for $10.00 off. That was a good deal.



Here's another beautiful winery we visited. It's called Castello di Amorosa
It looks like an American castle:

Running the Golden Gate Bridge

So most people might not think it's a great highlight of a vacation to run over ten miles. But, I did.

My husband rented a bicycle at Blazing Saddles (he didn't feel like running) he said he'd rather cruise. Then together we took off for the Golden Gate.

We took off and ran and biked a little bit. It wasn't long before we made it to the dock
It was a wonderful run/ride along the water front.

We got closer and it was the prettier the further we ran/rode.

Finally, we made it And, then we made our way (wonderful might not be the word) up to the center of the G.G. Bridge. We stopped to take a few photos. And, then we turned around and went back the way we came.

I would have loved to have run all the way over the bridge into Sausilito but we were running (he-he) out of time. We had to get going. If we had run into Sausilito, we could have caught a ferry back to the Wharf of San Francisco but the ferries only "run" at certain times and it didn't work with our schedule. So, we could only make the run/ride half of the way (or to the center of the bridge). But it was still a beautiful ride/run and a lot of fun.

Lighted Tractor Parade

Calistoga is a tiny town mostly known for its wineries. So you might think the people might be snobby or snotty but that wasn't what we found at all. They were talkative and helpful and we had a funtastic time.

In fact, even though we visited some wineries and tasted some yummy fruity flavors, one of the highlights of our stay in Calistoga was spending an evening watching a lighted Tractor Parade.

The entire town came out to herald in the holidays and here are some photos from the night. They even had the Hot Air Balloon machine there.