Parents of the HS Class of 2009 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
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We’ve always had dogs regardless that H is allergic. I grew up on a farm and would love to have animals - I mean much more than 1 or 2 dogs. :slight_smile: H however grew up with no animals and doesn’t really “get it”. We both work full time and I’ve never had issues with that – during puppyhood I have gone home during the day to let the pup out or had a neighbor come in and take care of it if my day was just too packed. Training has always been the key and taking the pup out to various “new” experiences. I really can’t image life without a dog. My kids are the same. D has 2 dogs and S has one. I think S will be getting another one but will wait a bit since he will have a new baby in the house in a few months.

Loved Hawaii DTE. We just did Oahu and the Big Island when we went. I much preferred the Big Island. Just loved the openness.

We will be going to Napa shortly - a few more weeks. Any suggestions? I assume that we will go into San Fran for a day or two as well. All suggestions helpful. Seems like even though we are going with another couple I’m ending up the planner for this trip.

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Such a sad story about the dog, mp. Our current pup is our 2nd Wheaten. The first was a pup at heart until the end; the current one is, too – but way more wacky! Good thing she’s cute!! Very, very hard to train to calm down even a little when we have visitors. H asked me several months ago if maybe we shouldn’t have gotten another dog, since we do like to travel. I was somewhat ambivalent about it from the beginning for just that reason, PLUS I knew the majority of the care, feeding, training, etc. would be all on me. Back then H didn’t want to hear it. SO, while I do hope our pup has a long life ahead of her, we definitely won’t be getting another.

We’re planning to spend a few days in Oahu on our way back from Asia in May. We’ve previously done Maui and the Big Island, but figured this was our chance to see the Pearl Harbor Memorial, the Arizona, etc.

D and her fiancé closed on their condo last week. They’re having a little work done and moving on the 20th. H is convinced we’ll never see her since they’ll now be way over in South Boston…

Yesterday was 65 degrees here in Cambridge – just crazy, crazy weather! And today the groundhog didn’t see his shadow, so yay for that!

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RM, a few thoughts on SF. I have been to several good and/or very interesting restaurants in San Francisco. The best which I have not been to in a while is Gary Danko. One of my favorite restaurants. I’m pretty sure you need to make reservations rolling to dance for this restaurant But I have a very good meal at a restaurant called Spruce and another one called Foreign Cinema. The other night we had a really pleasant meal at a restaurant called Namu Gaji that serves what I’d call Korean/Japanese comfort food. A couple of people told me about a Greek restaurant called Coccari – I’m not sure how to spell that. We also had dinner at a very interesting Peruvian restaurant in Noe Valley and another Peruvian restaurant, by accident, near the ferry building.

We haven’t been back to Napa yet, so we don’t have suggestions from the modern era. We’ve been staying in Marin. We are planning to go to Point Reyes for Valentine’s Day.

We are doing more socializing than we’ve ever done. ShawWife has been cooking dinners on the houseboat, we been getting invited to other peoples houses, and are meeting people for dinner in Sausalito and in the city. Plus, people are visiting from back home. And, I’m traveling. In addition to my monthly European trip it looks like I have to take a trip for a day to Chicago, which I’m not looking forward to.

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RM…If you drive up HWY 101 the views are lovely along the coast. Many overlooks to stop at and see the water/beach. Cut over at Jenner where the Russian River meets the ocean. We stopped in Guerneville for lunch( I think the restaurant was Boon???) and then stopped at Armstrong State Park to walk through the Redwoods. Korbel Champagne tasting room is here and they also have a deli here. They have a nice tasting experience and it is free. The tour explains a lot of the history of the area.
We stayed around Healdsburg this past trip and loved the beautiful town square. Lots of shops and restaurants.

Some wineries we have visited in Napa/Sonoma/Healdsburg that I recall:

Lambert Bridge: Beautiful grounds, excellent but pricey wine. We stopped at Dry Creek General Store and picked up take out lunch and then visited the winery, bought a bottle of wine and ate in their gardens. It was a magical experience in the fall .

Kunde Winery: Good wine, beautiful mountain top tasting experience. This was one of my favorites as the weather was perfect, the wine was delicious and H and I were the only ones on the mountaintop tour. A movie called Bottle Shock was filmed here.

Etude: very modern, nice patio, good wine

Chateau St. Jean: lovely gardens, good wine

Domaine Chandon: sparkling wines, large winery, lots of events/music in season

We stopped at Coppola to visit but it was so crowded that we didn’t taste. It is quite an entertainment area! The pool area reminded me of a Hard Rock Cafe. Coppola has his Oscars and movie memorabilia here.

We also liked this small boutique winery: Dutcher Crossing, nice patio out back, friendly staff and very good wine.

We wanted to try the tram at Sterling but it was closed for maintenance so we missed here.

We have visited many of these: http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/best-napa-valley-wineries-to-visit You will have fun looking for wineries that fit your style!

If you like Zins Mazzocco is THE place to taste.

We had really good luck getting 2 for 1 tasting coupons using econcierges dot com on my iphone. You can google for coupons too.

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Thanks NM. We are doing one winery day and going out with the guy from the B&B. After that we are trying for the most part to find other things to do. One day is about all I can stand. :slight_smile: Napa wasn’t my first choice of vacation spots so if I’m planning it that won’t be on the list of things to do. :slight_smile: Would love to find a food tour to do that would be good. May drive up the coast. Will see. H doesn’t like to spend a ton of time in the car when we are on vacation. More wants to DO stuff. I know that we will probably do Alcatraz and then probably walk Fisherman’s Wharf but that is in SF. H has also indicated that he would like to go to China town which is why I said probably 2 days in SF. Question is what other than wineries is there to do near Napa. As I said probably not my first choice of places to go since I’m not that interested in going to lots of wineries. Since we are staying at a B&B I doubt we will eat many (if any) lunches. That is just our typical.

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Point Reyes on the coast is lovely. Muir Woods, Bolinas, Stinson Beach, … . You can actually hike the coastal trail, which I’m sure is lovely but not easy. ShawWife and I cycled many years ago from Mendocino to San Francisco along the coast. Stunning scenery all the way down, but tough cycling.

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Hiking around Big Sur area is great if you are up to the trails but you have to drive to get there. What are you interested in doing? Museums, shopping, hiking or biking? I would strongly encourage you to make reservations for Alcatraz if you haven’t already done so. Muir Woods is awesome but Armstrong is less crowded. Monterey and Carmel are fun if you like shopping. The guys liked driving along Pebble Beach and stopping for a cocktail at the golf course. Driving up the coast is beautiful with lots of beaches but it takes a lot of time since the road is windy and slow. It all depends are what you are looking to do.

I haven’t done one but a friend recommended Avital Food tours in san Fran. I think you can pick which neighborhood you want to walk.

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I’ll second the Point Reyes suggestion. FWIW, I liked Sonoma more than Napa. Domaine Carneros (sparkling wine) had a great tour. We ended it with a lovely cheese plate and a flight of wines in their beautiful tasting area.

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Not sure about the hiking/biking Shaw. Couple that we are going with the wife had knee replacement surgery just 2 weeks ago. Not sure what she will be up to doing unfortunately. Seems to be going okay but she has indicated that physical therapy is very painful at this point. Not sure if that is normal or not.

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If I only had some time to look things up it would help. Work has been crazy busy with me putting in about 9-10 hours a day. Makes it difficult to really do any research. I typically would do that during lunch time. NM I had heard that we would need reservation for Alcatraz - just wasn’t sure if I could make them sometime during the week that we are there or would need to make them well in advance. So far what I have found is that we will do one day of wineries through the B&B - 5 hour trip I believe and we are going to the winery with the caves that does sparkling wine - not sure which one that is. Also have on the the list Castello di Amorosa (yeah okay wine but figured we would do cheese there as well), Petrified Forest, Old Faithful Geyser of California - I think those are all in Calistoga and then Alcatraz and Fisherman’s Wharf in SF. Maybe another day of SF with China town. I don’t mind a bit of shopping but don’t want to do that much. I like to see things. Hiking will be limited a bit a think. Oh probably Golden Gate park/ bridge as well.

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RM, I’ve heard there’s this really great houseboat in Sausilto serving fab dinners these days :wink:

But seriously, leave a little unplanned room to just enjoy some shunpiking if you can, and if the couple you’re traveling with can handle that. If you’re too tightly planned, a trip can take on a manufactured feel. And get a driver for the winery days :wink:

I’ve enjoyed just wandering around SF more than any specific thing such as Alcatraz. Maybe I’m just weird that way. I really enjoyed driving along the coast from Caramel to SF too, with lots of stops, hunts for good pottery, etc. If you like diving, the Monterey area is great.

With that said, if I were staying in Napa, I’d likely spend more time on the wineries in the area. Do you plan to overnight in SF when you’re there? Or drive back to Napa?

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We’ll be staying in Napa the entire time KMC. I’ve booked into what appears to be a lovely B&B there called Inn on First. Look it up – looks lovely. They offer a wine package that we are doing with them so we will at least that day have them to drive us. Everyone seems to want to do Alcatraz so that is on the list as long as we can get tickets. I don’t know if we will drive in or take the ferry? H seemed to think that we could take a ferry but I think we would have to look at times etc. H has terrible childhood memories of being in a car for the majority of his vacations - driving for hours, getting out and doing something and then back in the car so he’s pretty much anti driving too much. I enjoy road trips but not him. I’m not planning on booking too much - it’s more of an idea list. So if we decide that we want to go to Calistoga one day what could we do there. I’m also thinking that each one of us will probably have that one thing that we would really like to do. I’m a Snoopy nut. I would love to go to the Charles Schulz museum but we will see if we get there. Would love to see redwoods. All of us are the type that we would love to go to a park and walk – just not sure that hiking would be on the list due to the other woman going.

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RM…Would you enjoy the hot springs around Calistoga? Might be good for your friend. If the weather is warm perhaps you would like the Coppola winery as it is more an entertainment center. The main attraction seems to be the pool and restaurant. As I mentioned , the movie memorabilia is also very interesting.

EDIT: pools are now closed for the season. :frowning: But the Bocce courts are available! https://www.francisfordcoppolawinery.com/visit/amenities/bocce

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When I was pregnant with Son we did a Monterey, Yosemite, SF trip. Monterey was so beautiful - I thought that my pregnancy would be SO MUCH MORE PLEASANT if I passed it in Monterey vs. home.

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Salt Point State Park has some nice trails along the cliffs and great views. I took a 1.5 mile trail and got some glorious pics. Fort Ross is an old Russian outpost and was an interesting visit. S2 was helpful in translating things, though there were guides when we went. Some of them spoke Russian, and S was excited to talk with them.

CA is definitely a place where there is plenty of opportunities for hiking, both strenuous and casual. Hope your travel companion is more mobile and comfortable by the time you go.

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Thanks for all the ideas! I’m jotting them down as they come in. I appreciate the help. Will make my life easier with trying to figure things out. I’ll check them all out as things settle here at work.

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Well, darn. Slipped on some glaze ice yesterday and wrenched my knee badly. Ice, elevation and compression underway, but it does not want to bend more than about 20 degrees. I can stand on it ok, but let’s just say I am very, very thankful that our main floor toilet is of the “tall” variety. Really hoping it settles down in a day or two. :frowning:

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Oh, no! So sorry!

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Hope your knee improves!

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Good morning. Sendin arabrab the healing mojo!

TGIF again. This weekend I have the writers on Sat. And then lodge on Sunday. I didn’t realize it was the superbowl when I agreed to the date, but the rest of them did :wink: I’m the only one in the house that watches it anyway so no biggie but I will miss the PuppyBowl and commercials :wink: