Weekend of Freckle-Making (aka: weekend of outdoorsy-ness)
March 31, 2009
This past weekend was chock-full of outdoorsy adventures!
On Saturday, Chris and I went to Half Moon Bay and took a beginner sea kayaking class. And on Sunday we, along with his friend Christina, went on an almost 70 mile bike ride to Pescadero and back (back via Tunitas… *cue scary music of doom and despair!!*)
Here’s how it all went:
Sea Kayaking
I’ve wanted to try sea kayaking again ever since I tried sit-on-top sea kayaking in Maui back in high school. And, since I wanted to treat Chris to a really cool activity, I thought this would be an awesome time to give it a whirl.
We arrived at 8:45 and found out that there were only going to be three students! Us and one other girl. I started to really appreciate the low teacher-student ratio when I sat down in my sea kayak for the first time and realized that I was like really really stuck in a contraption that could capsize with me still wedged in it.
The morning was spent practicing basic maneuvering skills (i.e. turning left, right, front and backwards paddling, etc.) in very calm waters. I had a case of déjà vu when I watched my paddle go into the water, which was kinda neat. [déjà vu because I rowed for UCLA my freshman year, which means I’ve seen an oar go in water a lot more often than pretty much 99.99% of the population.]
We then had a nice lunch break over on a dog-friendly beach. This was cool with me but I’m telling you right now it was not so cool with the instructor. I didn’t think it possible for someone to hate dogs, but if he doesn’t than he comes close.
After lunch it was time for our self-rescue practice, which means it’s time for us to purposely capsize our boats and learn how to get out (and then back in) safely.
Apparently it showed that I was less than enthusiastic about this business and, accordingly, he said I would go first. (Feel the love?) When he first showed us the steps of how to get back in the boat I started laughing. Not “this is so funny” laughing but “this is ridiculous, I’m going to die” nervous laughing.
After we all practiced it on the shore (which looks hilarious) it was time. I got in my kayak, Chris wished me luck, and then pushed my boat in and was on my way. The instructor was out standing in the water waiting for me to come up to him. The idea was that he’d walk me through the first time and, of course, be right there in case I totally flipped out (and, as a side note, I asked and in fact some people do need to basically be saved because they freak!)
After some protracted laughing and asking him if he was ready, I counted to three (“one” …. “two” …. gigglegiggle….. “twwwwoooooo”…… “two and a half” …… giggglee……. giggle….. “twoooooooooo ok”) and did it!
Half Moon Bay is cold.
Turns out I don’t have the arm strength to get myself and my giant life vest back in my boat so he taught me another method on the fly. I finally got back in, yelled “I’m alive!!” and paddled back to shore to trade spots with my two big-eyed comrades.
And, I found out, Chris recorded the whole thing!
Chris was next and he, unsurprisingly, did in fact have the strength to get himself up on his kayak. Blah blah who really needs upper body strength anyway?
The best part of the experience was definitely what happened next – partner rescue. So basically instead of rescuing yourself you enlist the help of your partner. I volunteered to go first and Chris was supposed to come rescue me. (romantic, I know). Well, turns out Prince Charming can’t hack it! As he got his boat next to mine I guess my boat (and I’m already in the water holding onto my capsized boat at this point) started floating away from him. So, instead of paddling to it, he just reached out to grab it. Well, he lost his center of balance in the process and capsized himself!
So there we were… both in the water.
I was laughing. Freezing, but laughing.
I then waited until the other girl came over to rescue me while the instructor got Chris. By the time it was all over I was in that friggin ice water for way too long because I swear I couldn’t reattach my spray skirt thing to the lip of my kayak because I couldn’t feel my fingers well enough!
So that was sea kayaking! It was fun and I think we’re going to try and rent some and practice a bit before taking the next class.
Biking
Route: Chris’ – Stanford (to pick up Christina) – Alpine – Old la Honda – then I think we descend the other side of it (?) – ????? – Pescadero and DELICIOUS food!!! – Stage Rd. – ?? – Tunitas climb of doom – Kings – Woodside – home!
Distance: 67 miles
Time: all day (left at about 10:30 and got back at, I believe, 6!)
What can I say? It was my first time riding with Chris and Christina together and I was a bit nervous I’d totally suck. But, it turns out, I did alright. I was the slowest going up Tunitas but other than that we were all together the entire time. (Well… Chris stayed with me on Tunitas because he’s sweet and values his life, but you know what I mean.)
I love cycling and all that but what really makes long all day rides like that worth it is the food. Seriously. The Pescadero bakery place is so delicious I could shed a tear. I got an awesome turkey sandwich made with the freshest sourdough roll and a carrot cupcake-muffin thing that puts even Sprinkles to shame! Oh, and we got a blueberry scone, too. Food tastes so good after biking.
So I made it back alive (though that descent down Kings scared me a fair bit) and was super proud of myself!
That’s, for better or worse, the longest ride I’ve probably done since Eric and I last rode to Pescadero! And I’ve got to pick it up if I’m going to survive the AIDS ride come the end of May!
El fin!
Napa! (and by Napa I really mean Yountville!)
March 3, 2009
This past Saturday Chris’ friend Ming invited Chris and a bunch of other Stanford Immunology geeks up for the Make Our Garden Grow Napa Youth Symphony fundraiser. Ming is the conductor for the youth symphony and his girlfriend is a year above Chris in Stanford’s Immunology PhD program.
Chris and I decided it’d be fun to make a mini-vacation of it, so I took Thursday and Friday off from work and we headed up early for lots of drinking, ungodly amounts of eating, biking, and a generally merry fun time! I had actually never been up to this so called “wine country” before, so I was super excited!
I’ll go over some of the highlights
Wine
My favorite wine stop was, without question, Silenus. Silenus is a custom crush facility, which basically means a bunch of smaller producers can actually crush their grapes and make their wine there. This is all super great for me, the wine drinker, because I got to try lots of different makers’ stuff all at once. And, with the assistance of Erica, the awesome wine hostess we had, we got to hear lots of first-hand accounts about the winemakers. Oh, and they had great wine, too! I ended up getting the MOST delicious wine by Scott Harvey called “Angel Ice”. It was good. So good in fact that after I finished my taste I kept smelling my glass. Embarrassing really. But the nose on that thing! And it was like liquid heaven on the palate! Oh, and if you decide to buy some I recommend serving it super DUPER cold. It’s just totally meant to be that way.
Dearest Scott Harvey, if you ever read this, feel free to send me more of your deliciousness anytime!! Your Jana Rieslings are delectable!
[side comment: yes, I purposely found a way to say both “nose” and “palate” – how will I become a true wino like Chris if I don’t practice my vocab?!”]
In other wine news, I’ve discovered that I’m a fan of Muscat, or at least the Palmaz Vineyard Muscat Canelli Florencia [reviewed by an actual wine blogger person here]. Palmaz ended up being our big tour experience (they have caves… though they aren’t the dark murky spelunking caves with dwarves working away in them like I imagined… sadly) and the muscat was my favorite tasting there. Chris really enjoyed their cabs… I just haven’t gotten to the point of red-enlightenment yet.
Food
We ate so much food. So. much. food. The gluttony! The glory!
Highlights
Bouchon: Chris took me out for one fancy schmancy dinner and I got to pick the restaurant. I’ve heard so much about Thomas Keller and since French Laundry seemed *just a little* out of our price range, I settled on Bouchon instead. It was soooo good. I started with a goat cheese salad followed by steak frites (we were told that the fries are cooked with duck fat and were “must haves”) and finished with an almond pot de creme for dessert (which we split…because we were about to die from eating so much that day).
Chris started with a sweet creamy garlic soup (that I wish he would have shared more of!) and had the lamb t-bone (which was seriously yummy and lean). I also ate more than my fair share of the 
warm Bouchon bakery bread and sumptuous butter that was served at the start. Oh! And Chris spoiled me by bringing one of his best bottles of merlot! It was a Blackbird and was actually on the wine list for almost $200! (but don’t worry, while bringing a wine that’s on the list is a faux pas, Bouchon (tragically) post neither their menu nor wine list, so there was no way to know.)
It’s true that we probably would have liked the meal even more if we weren’t seriously stuffed but whatever! It was fantastic anyway!
Oysters: The next night Chris and I felt like we needed to detox so we decided to venture back to the Oxbow market for a light clean oyster dinner. Now I haven’t really had oysters before (just literally one at Google back when one cafe used to do that in the evenings) so I was a little nervous. But, thankfully, it turns out I find them quite tasty. We got a sampler of a bunch of different kinds, which was fun. We also had the best clam chowder. It was chock-full of clams and the base was simultaneously creamy and broth-like. Just what I wanted!
Bouchon Bakery: As many of you know, I don’t have a sweet tooth… I have sweet teeth. And so I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I 
found it my duty to try out as many sweet treats at Bouchon bakery as possible. I’d say their best treats were their chocolate chip cookies and macaroons. The TKO (“Thomas Keller Oreo”) didn’t really do it for me. It’s like music – if the original is better than the remake, why are you remaking it?! The macaroons, though, must really be tried by everyone. Oh and their sandwiches are quite yummy, too. But their chai was really bland and generally garners a “meh” rating. Overall I still think Tartine is better (except in the chocolate chip cookie category, Tartine’s are too crispy and thin)
Other
Biking! Chris and I went on two bike rides. The first, on Friday, was supposed to be the full Ink Grade loop (~50 miles) but we were feeling sluggish (this was the morning after the I-feel-overly-full-and-super-ill night) and had to turn around early (~30 miles) to ensure we arrived at Palmaz on time for our tour. I’ve got to say, the roads for that route aren’t paved very well – and there are parts where the cars are driving a bit too fast for biker-comfort.
On Saturday, however, the gods smiled upon us! We biked from Yountville to Calistoga and back (~45 miles) on the Silverado trail and it was fantastic! We ended up eating lunch in Calistoga (I love eating lunch mid-ride) and really sped it up on our way back. 
Chris said there was a straight away section where I was maintaining 23 mph! Go aerobars! Unsurprisingly, Chris caught me on the hill. Dammit! Anyway, I definitely recommend biking up there – Silverado trail is a great road for it. The rollers get noticeably bigger as you near Calistoga but it’s very tame.
The Fundraiser-Concert: I got to get all fancy (which is always fun) and Chris looked dashing in his new Van Gogh-esque tie for this. The opera singing was ok but I wish the kids would have played more. The final song was quite lovely but the Opera singers totally overpowered the orchestra, which is so sad!
So overall we had a super great time! Yountville was adorable and I had my first Napa/Yountville wine tasting experience!