Busy Traveler

Grand Tetons N.P. Jenny Lake Area

Jenny Lake is the most popular area of Grand Tetons National Park. Trails wind all the way around the lake, with beautifully situated campsites.

We decided to catch a boat across the lake…

…and hike up the side of a mountain!

The trail was steep, rocky, and treacherous. We were scared for those without hiking boots.

After much huffing and puffing, we were rewarded with Inspiration Point.

Then we headed along the crest. I found the perfect place to meditate by a rushing stream.

Steve scouted ahead and came back to get me to see this amazing canyon.

It was magnificent. I harvested many delicious wild raspberries, and we wanted to keep going, but clouds were gathering. As were hoofing it out, we came upon a moose happily resting. Unfortunately,  I wasn’t able to get a good shot. We made it on the next-to-last boat of the day just as the rain hit. We were happy, wet, and tired!

 

First Look at the Grand Tetons, September 2011

I’ve always been fascinated by photos of the Tetons. Something about their jaggedness and the glaciers makes them different from the southern Rockies. So, for my birthday this year, I got to see them up close! The first day we took an aerial tram to the top of a ski mountain (10,400 ft).

  

We could see Jackson Hole (the valley) even with the haze from forest fires.

We were almost even with the Teton peaks. They were as magnificent as I imagined.

We hiked along the ski trails and access roads along the crest. Opposite Jackson Hole we could see a high valley among the mountains.

 

There are several glaciers on the peaks and Steve headed uphill to get a closer look.

Great first day!

 

Driving Southern Idaho, September 2011

We flew into Boise and drove across the southern part of the state. Lots of potato fields…what a surprise! There are beautiful areas in Idaho, but there is a lot of nothing:

Between Hell’s Half Acre:

And God’s Country:

 

This is Swan Valley, truly one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

I’m ready to learn fly fishing! I’ll pretend I’m standing between Robert Redford and Brad Pit in “A River Runs Through It”.

 

Vince Young Steakhouse, Austin, TX

We've wanted to check this place out, but it's super expensive. So, to celebrate our anniversary (and the start of the football season) we decided to splurge.

The decor is very interesting, contrasting a dark, clubby atmosphere with UT bling.

We had superb steaks, outstanding sides, and a Mt. Veeder cab that I liked a lot, but Steve wasn't so enthusiastic about. Guess that's why I drank most of it!

Our waiter brought us a fabulous dessert on the house.

All in all, a great indulgence!

Can we get eight friends interested in booking the Room of Ten?

We have to agree to spend $1000. That's only $100 each. Easy to do in this place!

Vince Young Steakhouse
301 San Jacinto
Austin, TX

 

San Francisco Victorians

One of the most charming things about San Francisco is, of course, the famous Victorian homes. From the Six Sisters with their lovely view of the city…

…to the amazing details you see in any block.

As usual, I was fascinated by the doors.

     

Even the kids get into the act!

The owners of this Victorian showed us tourists what they thought.

Never mind, I don’t mind being a tourist as long as I get to enjoy these painted ladies!

 

Lovely Napa, Part 4

This is the last post about this trip to Napa Valley. We hope to go again next year. Fingers crossed!

Although the tasting room was closed, we enjoyed exploring the grounds at the Beringer winery. The historic Rhine House (completed in 1884) is full of Victorian flourishes. I’m not crazy about their wines, but would love to return and see the wine-aging tunnels.

The gardens were in bloom. I decided this is where Emily should have her wedding reception (in 10 years or more!). Wonder what she has to say about it?

In the past, the town of Napa wasn’t much of a destination…a few hotels and restaurants and that’s about it. Several years ago, the city leaders starting making the town a destination for visitors to the valley.

 

Our hotel was close to downtown Napa and we checked out a few things:

• Oxbow Public Market – a collection of restaurants, food shops, and wine bars with live music and other events. It’s not as impressive as markets in other cities, but we loved Model Bakery (had their goodies every morning for breakfast), The Fatted Calf (beautiful meats and pates), C Casa Taqueria, and Kara’s Cupcakes.
• ArtWalk - Several sculptures are installed downtown and we saw a couple of them.

• Wine - There are several wine bars and tasting rooms in downtown Napa. You can buy a Downtown Wine Tasting card for $20 and hit 12 tasting rooms for 10 cents each. We thought this would be great, but ran out of time to try it out. Back Room Wines has an extensive selection of small production boutique Napa wines.

We reluctantly said goodbye to Napa Valley. We could have spent a couple more weeks there exploring.

We decided to take the scenic route into San Franciso, driving through Sonoma Valley to the coast. Sonoma was startlingly green, with the most content black-and-white cows I’ve ever seen.

Crazy Bikers fought for space on the Pacific Coast Highway and we were really scared for them.

We had a lovely picnic at Point Reyes under huge oaks. We reveled in our Wine Country cheese, bread, wine, and chocolate picnics in beautiful settings!

And then we arrived at the beautiful Pacific Coast!

Links

Beringer Vineyards: www.beringer.com

Downtown Napa: napadowntown.com

Oxbow Public Market: www.oxbowpublicmarket.com

Model Bakery: www.themodelbakery.com

The Fatted Calf: fattedcalf.com

C Casa Taqueria: myccasa.com

Kara’s Cupcakes: www.karascupcakes.com

Back Room Wines: www.backroomwines.com

Point Reyes National Seashore: www.nps.gov/pore

Lovely Napa, Part 3

Thanks to input from friends and family, we knew that the wine train was a must-do. We decided on the lunch jaunt to make sure we had enough sunlight to enjoy the views. The food was a disappointment after the luscious dinner the night before, but the views were wonderful.

 

The leisurely ride took us up the valley from Napa to St. Helena. At that point, the engine switches to a bypass rail and moves to the other end of the train to take us back to Napa.

 


The décor was perfect for old-fashioned train riding and the wine tasting bar was raucous with vacationers. This was a fun way to get an overview of the southern end of the valley (and to drink more wine!).

 

During the train ride, we enjoyed the quaint look of St. Helena and decided to go back and look around. There were many precious, expensive shops. We tasted the olive oils at Olivier and admired the chocolates displayed as jewels at Woodhouse.

 

Next, we ventured up-valley to the Culinary Institute. This huge stone building was built in 1889 as Greystone Cellars and, later, Christian Brothers. The Culinary Institute of America purchased the property in 1990.

 

 

Several well-curated displays explain the history of this fabulous place. Steve really liked the corkscrew collection that Brother Timothy amassed. In fact, the labels for today’s Greystone wines feature corkscrews from the collection.

Unfortunately, it was the end of the day and we didn’t get to experience the flavor bar, but are planning that for the next trip! Either the happy hour special of 5 bites + glass of wine for $10 or the olive oil tasting or the chocolate tasting or the dessert sampler…hmmm, maybe all of these!

Links

Napa Valley Wine Train: winetrain.com

Olivier: www.oliviernapavalley.com

Woodhouse Chocolate: www.woodhousechocolate.com

Culinary Institute at Greystone: www.ciachef.edu/california

Greystone Cellars Wines: www.terlatowines.com/wines/california/greystone

 

Lovely Napa, Part 2

Our second day in Napa Valley was sunny and warm, so we took advantage and went hiking in the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. We climbed and climbed through Douglas firs and the easternmost stand of redwoods in California. Beautiful.

After picking up our friends, we went to a tasting at Hess Collection Winery. Entering through the lovely garden, we toured the high-profile modern art collection (which we didn’t understand) and sipped some delicious wines (which we did understand).

Our splurge of the day was dinner at L’Etoile, the restaurant at the Domain Chandon winery. The grounds were gorgeous (of course) and we marveled at the beautiful flowering plants that grow well in that climate.

We visited with the maitre d' and discovered that he owns a B&B in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (Las Terrazas San Miguel). We'll have to check it out! 

This was my first meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Of course, we started with a bottle of the Domain Chandon bubbly. The menu is limited and pricey, as you can imagine, but it was a real culinary experience. The Dungeness crab salad (90% crab, a bit of vinaigrette) was artfully served with an olive oil and Oregon truffle drizzle. The scallops and veal chops that followed were amazing. (By this point, I stopped taking notes and just enjoyed the experience, so the details are forgotten.) For dessert, we shared a dense molten-chocolate cake and a pastry filled with caramelized pear and crème brulee. Just as we were groaning that we’d never eat again, out came a plate of handmade chocolate truffles, caramels, and rose-infused marshmallows. Gilding the lily, indeed!

Links

Bothe-Napa Valley State Park: www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=477

Hess Collection: www.hesscollection.com/experience/visit.html

L’Etoile: www.chandon.com/etoile-restaurant.html

Las Terrazas San Miguel: www.terrazassanmiguel.com

 

Lovely Napa, Part 1

Although we were prepared for wet and cool weather in the latter part of April, we enjoyed gorgeous sunny days in Napa Valley.

First on our agenda was a gourmet lunch at the lovely Auberge du Soleil. The views over Napa Valley were breathtaking.

To celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the luxury inn, they offered a two-course prix fixe lunch menu for $30 that I couldn’t resist. First up was a cream of (very fresh) asparagus soup served over crème fraiche and Parmesan. Definitely the best I’ve ever had. Next up was a perfectly cooked halibut fillet over braised fennel (not normally my favorite, but amazing here) topped with a tiny quail egg.  Needless to say, I was swooning. Lest you think Steve was left out, he enjoyed a salad of huge lobster claw meat, hearts of palm, almonds, avocado, and luscious “Moroccan vinaigrette” over greens. We imbibed delicious De Sante Old Vine Sauvignon Blanc 2008. I never had old vine sauvignon blanc before – it was smooth and perfect for rich seafood. A most fabulous splurge!

We drove the Silverado Trail up to Calistoga and walked some of the lunch off. The town was pretty quiet and we didn’t linger.

We checked into the Westin Verasa Napa, a wonderful place close to downtown Napa and across the street from the wine train station. Our room had a sitting area and large kitchenette, where we enjoyed goodies we bought at Oakville Grocery: local cheese, sourdough bread, Napa mustard, chocolate, and great wine (of course!). They offer a wine tasting in the beautiful lobby every evening (and on the patio when the weather is nice). Due to construction around the train station, we got an excellent deal on our rooms but heard very little construction noise.

All this on the first day!

Links

Auberge du Soleil: www.aubergedusoleil.com

Silverado Trail: www.silveradotrail.com

Calistoga visitor site: www.calistogavisitors.com

Westin Verasa Napa: www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1997

Oakville Grocery: www.oakvillegrocery.com

 

 

Wedding, Austin Style

When Carolyn Wonderland (local singer/songwriter) announced her wedding plans to tie the knot with A. Whitney Brown (former SNL'er), officiated by Michael Nesmith (Texan and former Monkee) I just chalked it up to a typical day in Austin. Luckily, Janis really wanted to attend, so we hoofed it over there.

It looked pretty strange to see the circle of people at the top of Doug Sahm Hill on this pleasant, but overcast Friday afternoon.

But Janis charged right up there!

Nice view of downtown from the hill:

I'm a shrimp, so could barely see what was going on. Here is the groom (in white) and the back of the bride's head. I assume the guy in the blue blazer is his best man:

Janis might have gotten a photo of Michael Nesmith, but it's probably enough if I just tell you he looks exactly like LBJ!

Here's a photo from the Austin Chronicle:

And what does one wear to an outdoor wedding in Austin? Pretty much anything you like.

Local coverage: http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2011-03-11/off-the-record/

NY Times coverage: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/fashion/weddings/13VOWS.html