Calistoga under the clouds

Castles are just awesome. That's a fact. Unfortunately, America is not brimming with remnants of medieval knights and courts. We don't let that stop us though, why not just build a modern castle that looks really old? Problem solved.

Dario Sattui had the grand idea to build Castello di Amorosa as an Italian inspired winery. Located in Calistoga, CA the castello (castle) is modeled after a 13th century Tuscan castle and hosts both wine tasting and tours. 

For Mom's birthday weekend we began with a venture to this not-so-ancient relic. While the whole gang enjoyed walking around the structure and grounds, Mom and Dad got to also enjoy some fine wine. 

The cold gray day gave the castle an eerie out of its time feel. You could turn a corner and nearly forget you were in the center of California in the year 2014. 

Castles do pose the problems of tiny windows, but I like to peek anyway. 

There is also one thing every proper castle needs that we can't forget...princesses! 

Especially princesses that know how to wave properly (thank you Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway). 

Keeping with authentic Italian style, the castle features a small chapel off the courtyard. 

There are also lots of excellent hiding spots throughout the castle (hide and seek anyone?). 

The Castello di Amorosa, though likely (in my opinion) the coolest winery in Calistoga, is definitely not the only one. Napa Valley is home to over 300 wineries and you could shuttle around all day week month long tasting wine. However, Dad's not the happiest wine man, and we were on our merry way to San Francisco, leaving time for only one more stop: Beringer Winery. 

Beringer is over one hundred years old, making it one of the largest wineries in the area. It's long history has made it infamous, and well known to many Hollywood stars, including Mr. Rhett Butler himself, Clark Gable (my favorite fun fact of the day). 

As the sun settled low in the sky, the winery portion of Mom's birthday trip came to an end and it was "onward and outward, kiddies" to San Francisco. 

Yours, Kenna 

A day on Apple Hill

As much as I adore the nearly ever present sunshine and warmth in San Diego, it tends to really just put a dapper on the whole atmosphere of the holiday season. Is it really fall, nearly winter, if I can still wear sandals? Not really. With this ever present "#socalproblem", I really appreciate going home to enjoy some actual seasons.

After a properly crisp Thanksgiving, I rounded out the end of fall with a trip with the fam-bam to Apple Hill. Located in Northern California, near Placerville, Apple Hill attracts a wide variety of hungry guests looking for some wholesome fun. Being honest, we all know I was basically just in it for the food. However, I also got a pretty good kick of stomping on some crunchy leaves and enjoying the cool crisp air of fall. 

The whole Apple Hill "process" essentially consists of driving from farm to farm and eating various products, mostly apple flavored (they were really clever with the title). There are various farms (some small some large) each offering there own specialty. 

We started with one of the largest, known as Boa Vista Orchards, which, though they have a whole smorgasbord of items, is not my favorite. It tends to be a little over crowded (I really hate queuing) and more commercial then I enjoy. Nevertheless, here's a little peek at the marketplace. 

Summer days

Despite rising temperatures here in San Diego, the inevitability of Autumn is near. Even living in Southern California, where our seasons lack the extremity of the rest of the world, summer ends. We've gone back to school, bought our books, and are already eying this years boots. And even though Autumn has its perks, does anything really compare to the electric air and freedom of summer? 

As Anaïs Nin said, "We write to live twice, in the moment and in retrospect." So with that ideal I've been holding on to some of my summer memories, trying to make them last just a little bit longer, while avoiding going back to reality. However, I'm afraid that the time has come to accept that it is, in fact, somehow (where did the time go?!), September. So here's to the lasting memories of summer and the joy of retrospect. 

If you've read previous posts (Welcome to Oregon, Tree climbing and other shenanigans, and Bye bye blue), you'll know that I spent time in Oregon early on in the summer. Well, on that trip we had just so gosh-darn-much fun, we decided to go for round two. My parents, younger sister, and I all made the trek up to the lovely coast in early August and galavanted around, making more than a few memories.

Coming back

Bad-blogger Kenna here. I've obviously been lax in telling you lovely people my summer stories, so I'm going to consolidate a few adventures, all about a troublesome trio aka myself and my besties, Brooke and Lindsey. 

When you've been friends with someone your whole life, or at least since high school, you expect your friendships to change as you get older. You graduate, go to college, move to new places, meet new people...things do change. If you're lucky, though, some things always stay the same. 

Tree climbing and other shenanigans

If you are not at least slightly inclined to enjoy the outdoors, I do not suggest you visit the Oregon coast. Trees, beaches, rocky coastlines, wildlife, all things outdoor-recreational; these are the kinds of things you find along the western coast (that is until you hit mid-Cali, then it is an entirely different story). 

Prior to actually moving to a city, I called myself a city-girl. Post-move however, it became apparent that while I love living in a big city, I am still, as my mom would say, a "country bumpkin." I like being among tall trees, out in the mountains, camping, exploring, playing with wild critters, and most of all, tree climbing. 

Now I cannot say my tree climbing and exploring skills are top notch, but my adventuring spirit is there and you can bet if I see a proper tree for climbing I'll be up it. Oregon has a lot of trees. 

We went on a walk along the coast our first night back in Coos Bay, and Jewel & I thoroughly enjoyed the foliage.