Wine tasting day trip

Stephanie arranged for a van to pick up the whole group at our hotel for a day outside the city. First, we stopped at Golden Gate Park, which was completely gorgeous. We lucked out and got a super-sunny day today, which was wonderful because we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and were able to get some excellent photos. On the way to Sonoma, we stopped at Muir Woods to explore the redwoods. I have never seen a greener place than Muir Woods. I would love to go back there. We had lunch at Sonoma Cheese Factory in downtown Sonoma -- over 15 kinds of Monterey Jack cheese, and they will put any of them on your sandwich. Delicious! After lunch, we headed out to the wineries. We visited three wineries: Larson Family (which is probably best known for the fact that it is the former home of Seabiscuit), Cline Cellars, and Viansa. While we were at Larson, Dileep made a new friend, Dolly the Llama, and had an exciting photo-op. Viansa is a combination winery and Italian market. We all loaded up on our favorites as we went along. Delicious samples! Good thing we had a designated driver and tour guide. On the way back, we stopped off in Sausalito to see the lights of San Francisco. The tour packed a lot of good stuff into one day. I was thrilled to be able to explore the area before having to sit through all of those science talks.

Delicious samples! Good thing we had a designated driver and tour guide.