California - A mere scratch on the surface...

When looking to do a 4 day trip to California with mum, dad and T - my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach - Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Napa Valley and San Fran were all on my list.

With a glass of Napa Red from the sofa I declared: 'Lets do a day in each!'

It was my parents who are very much, 'sleep when your dead' type characters who suggested that perhaps it would be a lot of driving and it might be better to refine my list. So I did and off we set... with California Dreaming and that other song from the OC on repeat in my head we headed to the airport leaving behind the floods of Houston and heading for the droughts of California...

First Day and First Stop: Napa... Napa Valley is one of the most popular destinations in California and is famous for the wonderful scenery and excellent wineries that are found around the valley. The drive here was pretty painless about an hour and twenty mins, pretty cool drive over the Oakland Bay Bridge and then it gets pretty once you hit the wine route. I really was blown away by the beauty of the landscape around Napa Valley and was surprised with all the drought and water shortage warnings how green it all seemed.

Full-bodied Cabernets, fruity Merlots, and buttery Chardonnays are just a few of the dozens of varieties presented by the 400-plus wineries that pepper these fertile soils around this area. On average you can expect to pay around $20 a tasting in Napa, which does add up fairly quickly... Our first stop was Artesa - located high up in the hills you have brilliant panoramic views of Napa from here, it was a really gorgeous stop. http://www.artesawinery.com/

Thereafter we decided that pulling straws or nominating T to be the designated driver was more than a little unfair and decided to head towards our hotel - the Glen Ellen Inn.

We did two further vineyards in Glen Ellen - Best vineyard for me of the day was KivelStadt http://www.kivelstadtcellars.com/ – I should note that it was also the last tasting of the day, those spits seemed to add up…!

Glen Ellen Inn was perfect - Gorgeous secret wee cottages simply decorated and clean with a super cocktail bar and restaurant on the site ended our first day perfectly, no driving required and it was delicious!! http://www.glenelleninn.com/

Day two - A thick mist and a Scottish drizzle had joined us this morning so we packed up the car and took to do some inside exploring and found ourselves at the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa $12 entry fee to see the largest collection of original Peanuts art work in the world. Visitors can laugh at Schulz’s original comic strips, learn about the art of cartooning and Schulz’s role in its development, view a re-creation of Schulz’s art studio and they also have an education room which would be great for kids. http://schulzmuseum.org/visit/

From there we drove on up to Healdsburg which was very pretty - lots of boutique shops and bistro cafe's - would be a great place to explore - but with the rain still battering down we decided to head on up to our Second stop - The Russian River. No wine stops on route... nothing to do with me now being the designated driver I'm sure?! I did stop however at Stumptown Brewery http://www.stumptown.com/ - The Designer in me was itching to leave my card as the decor led much to be desired - there was definitely a rustic charm about it! However the beer was great I was told, Mum, dad and T - went for the tasting flight of 'Blimey the wan*er,' 'Rat Bast*rd' and the 'Donkey Punch Pils.'

Leading us on to Guerneville - our stop for the night - the accommodation was nice enough, nothing to write home about but it was clean and easy to walk into town should you want to do so... http://westsonomainn.com/

Not many pictures of Guerneville itself - was a little scared to get my camera out - Not sure if it was the mountain air or the Blimey the wan*er but certainly everyone seemed to be high on life here!? The saving grace was dinner which we had the Boon cafe - delicious simple a tasty clean eats menu http://eatatboon.com/

Day Three started with an early morning swim - in the contested heated pool (definitely) climatised to Texas temperatures.

This took us on to our next adventure the Redwood National State Park - The Armstrong Forest - it was breathtaking - so peaceful.

These trees are the tallest and one of the most massive tree species on Earth. In addition to the redwood forests, the parks preserve other indigenous flora, fauna, grassland prairie, cultural resources, portions of rivers and other streams, and 37 miles (60 km) of pristine coastline.

On from here we drove on to meet the pacific highway, we were told there might be a chance we could spot some wales- no luck but my word the scenery was just out of this world again - coming out from the Sonoma Coast State park we drove to Bodega Bay all the way along to Point Reyes (Point Reyes was a super cute spot – great boutique shops and restaurants and a really nice vibe) before finishing at our night time spot Inverness.

The drive was not an easy one - with sheer cliff edge on one side and a massive valley on the other, it was a Sunday too so plenty of cyclists out and about and on the bendy corners it was a little tense in the car - there were definitely a few beers required upon our arrival at our apartment.

Day Four: A bright and breezy start to our last day in California, depite a little grumble from all I decided the coastal route was the best plan - we stopped off at Stinson and Muir Beach en route to the EPIC Golden Gate Bridge - which comes with an EPIC fine if you don't pay on time - You can pay before or 48 hours after we did not and the hire car company charged us $28... Worth it though was brilliant driving over this iconic bridge - The Golden Gate Bridge is one of San Francisco’s most famous landmarks as well as a piece of engineering art. You can walk across the bridge if you want, there is a visitor’s center where you can be briefed on the history of the park, or just stare at it from every angle and take a stupid amount of pictures like we did. We went to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which offers a waterfront promenade, views of the bridge, and a number of hiking trails. There’s a Walt Disney museum in the park too which allow you into the entry area to check out a few articles and snaps without paying...

This too us to our final stop SAN FRANCISCO - we started by checking in to: Hotel Zetta http://www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/en/zetta which was perhaps located in an 'up and coming' area but very down with the kids decoration and some super cool aspects - we took a drive around the city taking in Lombard Street, Nob Hill, Mission Park, the Marina, Fishermans wharf and lots more. We finished our exploring at The Scarlet Huntington bar which was very elegant and a gorgeous finish to our stay.

San Francisco = AMAZING!!! Glad I don’t have a manual car here – so hilly – but at the top of every hill is an epic view and another gallery! Such a gorgeous city full of amazing restaurants, galleries and parks…

This was the end of our little mini adventure! California…I hope I’ll be back!

#SanFrancisco #Travel