Women, Wine, & Running

Every once in a while you just need to get away. I was "due" for a girls getaway and last fall my friend Autumn invited me to join her for a destination race in wine country in July. I love running and wine so naturally my answer was yes and my bestie from college, Rachel came along too.

We started in San Francisco and rented bicycles to ride over the Golden Gate Bridge. We landed in Sausalito, shopped, ate, and rode the wrong ferry back to San Francisco which left us riding bikes throughout the very crowded streets of San Francisco.

We met up with Rachel's brother, Jeff, and sister-in-law, Patti (a mom to be) and they drove us to Santa Rosa with many amazing stops along the way. Apparently I'm becoming prone to motion sickness as I age and ended up needing to ride shotgun which pushed pregnant Patti to the back. When did I become such a grandma?!

On Sunday we ran the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon. Northern California has the best weather for running. I didn't set any new time records for myself, but I did set a new personal record of drinking wine and Guinness during the race. When in Napa, right? A festival of wine tasting afterwards followed by a winery stop on the way home made for a runners high times 10. 

The next day we were picked up in a senior citizens type bus for a wine tour with a curly gray haired driver that may or may not have been a former Beach Boy. I have not perfected the use of the "dump bucket" as I feel that spitting out good wine is absolutely ludicrous. After 9 hours of wine tasting though I learned its smarter to dump out the wine on your own terms rather than your digestive track's terms. Next time I'll be smarter.

Overall it was a fantastic trip and the kids did a great job without me at home too. I laughed a lot, exercised a lot, and drank a lot of wine. Those are the key ingredients of a perfect girls getaway in my book. 

The hotel we stayed out was very dated. We thought Elvis was going to walk in at any moment.

Mile 10.5 of the race. I love this picture.

We did it!

My favorite winery, St. Francis with Jeff and Patti Anderson

Everything was so beautiful and fresh here.

At one of the wineries our server had a striking resemblance to Tom Cruise in Risky Business.

We toured Korbel Champagne Cellars. The Korbel brothers middle name is GRIT.

We visited Armstrong Redwoods. I saw a tree that was 1400 years old!

The roots of a redwood spread out and intertwine with neighboring trees' roots for support. Redwoods roots are like women friendships, they help each other grow strong.