Last weekend was unseasonably warm due to the dry Santa Ana winds. The winds, which unfortunately fanned the fires in Southern California, also made it nice to get out and enjoy some biking along the Strand: a 22-mile beach bike path that connects Redondo Beach, Venice, and Santa Monica. Joey, Andrew, and I rode to Santa Monica for dinner and marveled at the surreal views caused by the huge amount of smoke in the air from the fires…
There’s no place quite like Napa Valley, especially when you have relatives that live there. Their ranch house, which is surrounded by a pool and grape vines, has been a favorite family vacation destination for years. So, when my grandma was in Napa Valley visiting our family last weekend, it took little convincing to make the trip with a good friend named Ben, who is currently on an internship in San Francisco.
Over the weekend we succeeded in relaxing, eating lots of delicious home cooking, catching up on some movies (including one of my new favorites, The Darjeeling Limited), and finding the last remaining wineries that offer free tours and wine tastings. Here are some photos of the trip and Napa Valley in the fall, which by the way is a great time to visit because the valley air is filled with the smell of pressed grapes. So good!
