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Congregate

Home at Lodi

Wow there is a lot of shit from California, and I only posted a fraction of the photos I took. In any event, this is the last post from our trip. The day before we left, we decided to take it easy. We spent the day in nearby Sacramento and the night in Lodi. It was a nice relaxing day since we had been running around quite a bit the past couple days. Some of the photos were taken with Cathy's p&s.


Nothing too notable happened in Sacramento. Some walking around, random shopping, and banana splits at Gunther's. The place has been around for about 70 years, and they make one hell of a split.


They were promptly eaten.


We returned to Lodi, did some more errands, and eventually setup the grill for dinner.


Meat and vegetable kabobs were on the menu.


Lots of random dishes. By the way, the produce around there is a lot better than in Chicago. I've been settling for wilted greens, bruised peaches, and sub-standard tubers for too long now.


Anyway, everything turned out pretty tasty.


We also enjoyed some killers mojitos, complete with fresh mint from Eric's garden.


I was sad to go. Roland was sad to see us go.


Clem was sad too.


See ya later (Eric and his flourishing veggie garden).

Napa Valley

We also went to Napa Valley. It was my first time there. Generally speaking, it's a pretty touristy area - but for good reasons.


Wine tasting. To be honest, I know nothing about it - but I guess I know what I like.


Cathy tasting. This was at the Francis Ford Coppolla winery. It was actually somewhat of a mix between a museum and winery.


Eric tasting. It was a touristy joint, but cozy, interesting, and the people were friendly.


Food pairings. This was at the Robert Sinskey winery. I liked it a lot. No nonsense, very casual, and very good wines. We left with three bottles.


Barrels o' wine.


We had a fantastic dinner at this place. I left incredibly satisfied and full. Excellent French food.


Napa Valley and more good times.

San Fran, Organic Ice Cream, and Sake Tasting

The day after Santa Cruz, we went to San Francisco to hang out. I've been there a couple times and always had a good time and this was no exception.


After a nice Italian dinner, we went to was Bi-Rite Creamery. They use local and organic ingredients, and generally appear to be eco-friendly - my kind of place. The ice cream is awesome too. Pic taken with Cathy's Sony p&s.


Rie, Eric, Roland, Me, Cathy. My brother got stung by a hornet in San Francisco. Five days rolling around in the woods with swarms of hornets, and neither of us got stung. But A couple hours in the city, and bam - hornet sting. Pic taken by a stranger with Cathy's Sony p&s.


To soothe his pain, Eric and I decided to do some sake tasting. We bought a couple bottles from a place called True Sake, I think. After getting back home, we cracked them open and gave em a taste. We tasted the middle bottle until it was gone. Delicious. One of my first posts, here, on this blog had a photo of booze and my brother, so this photo was taken in the same spirit.


Good times.

Santa Cruz Sea Lions

Time for some non-hiking photos from our California trip. After Cathy flew in, we went to Santa Cruz for a day with my brother. We lay around all day, played some frisbee, watched some weird fog roll in, and had a great seafood dinner on the wharf. Nothing too notable, but here are some photos of sea lions (taken with Cathy's p&s Sony camera):


There was a spot for sea lions to hang out on the wharf. Here's a group of them sleeping, barking, and/or scratching themselves. They kinda look like dogs. Cute little guys.


This one wanted to take a nap away from the crowd. Somehow he was able to get up on this beam on the other side. Funny shit.


Looks like he is really enjoying himself.