Thank you and good night!

My dearest blog readership,

When I started this blog so long ago (last Friday), I never could have imagined the joy it would have brought so many people. I know that I have changed many of your lives and that is the greatest accomplishment of my life so far.

Though I may have changed your life, the toll it has taken on me has been great. I am not sure you can imagine the pressure I have faced to entertain the masses of people who read this (one time there 61 page views in a day!). Because of this and the second job I will have to get to buy a new Iphone and to support my newly expensive wine drinking habbit, I will have little time to continue blogging in everyday life. Also, I was expecting book deals and movie offers, but those offers have not started rolling in yet.

What I can tell you (truthfully and sincerely) is that Mike and I had a great vacation exploring Yosemite, Wine Country and San Francisco. It was a perfect break that both of us needed and we are equally excited to get back to the routine of our every day life. Having the opportunity to share some of the experiences with all of you has been fun way to document the trip and even allowed me to reconnect with some olf friends. I am glad you guys enjoyed it!

Until my next vacation or until I feel like blogging again -

Yours,

Scott

PS. 6.5 hours to dessert and french fries.

Absinthe + Truck = No Iphone

Well here it is folks, the sad end to a storied vacation. As you can tell by the title: it ain't gonna end well.

We headed out to the Hayes Valley area of San Francisco to have some dinner at Absinthe. Since we arrived about an hour early, we decided to look for a bar to have a drink or 2. Note to all of you: there are no bars or restaurants with bars in Hayes Valley. OK maybe one. And we finally found it. But it wasn't even a real bar. I wish I could explain it you better but I am cranky, on a delayed flight home and without my Iphone. I hate to ruin a good story but you all knew it was coming.

Dinner at Absinthe was great. Food was well prepared and presented. But for some reason, I felt the need to end the meal with a shot of Absinthe. The last time I had absinthe was in the Czech Republic and I don't remember 3 days of the trip. Also, I don't like black licorice on crack so it took a while to get it all down -- even with the water, sugar cubes and Mike's obnoxiously girly raspberry lambic. I left Absinthe feeling good and with my Iphone. We caught a cab near the restaurant and headed over to Truck on Folsom Street. Now I have been to Truck one other time with my good friends Kristy and Scot. Truck is the type of place where if you straight doctor friends hang out in his boxers, you will drink for free. Not saying that happened, just saying it could happen.

Mike and I grabbed a beer and chilled in the back. Ok, Mike chilled I jittery acted absinthefied and probably very annoying. I do remember continually trying to be inconspicuous and pouring my beer in Mike's glass so I wouldn't have to drink it. I also remember taking a picture of the Truck logo on our table and texting it to Scot and Kristy WITH MY IPHONE. Within a short time we were ready to go. We walked a little and found a cab and headed back to the Hilton for our last night in Cali.

One thing I don't remember very clearly is where the heck my Iphone is right now. So I am leaving San Fran phoneless and cranky. A few thoughts:

1. For those of you that are empathizing with me, I appreciate it.



2. For those of you that may be getting rid calls and texts from my number right now, it is not me.



3. For those of you that want to offer up suggestions like "Did you call the bar?": "What Taxi company did you use?"; "Maybe they can trace your phones whereabouts", thanks for the suggestions but I tried those.



4. For those of you that are thinking, God that was the most amazing blog I have ever read, I should buy Scott a new phone, that can be arranged.

So we are on the plane after a 2 hour delay and heading back to NYC. I sprung for wireless since I don't have an Iphone or its many apps and songs to keep me busy. I will save my trip wrap up for my closing post. Oh and if you are still unclear, I lost my phone. And I will never drink absinthe again (until someone dares me to).

Sorry I have been gone so long

I haven't posted since yesterday and I apologize to the faithful followers.

Just a quick update...after a great dinner at Hurley's in Yountville we hung out at Luca with some of the Hotel folk. There was a local couple and two friends from Vancouver Island in Canada. We shared stories and some drinks by the outdoor fire. Cool night. I had kinda hoped for more hotel commoradie on the trip--you know like camp or something? This was our only dose and still very enjoyable.

We left Napa early this morning and started the drive to San Francisco. We took the least direct route opting to stop for some photos of the Golden Gate and Alcatraz. We then drove to the Hilton Union Square where we parked the car and did some touristy things around the area (City Lights Bookstore, Union Square shops, the Castro). We decided to have lunch some where in the Castro with our "family". There were plenty options - Catch (seafood) and The Sausage Factory (Italian) but we opted for Squat and Gobble (Sandwiches). Now for those of you who read that and think dirty thoughts, how dare you?!? I was just literally telling you our lunch options. Now if I told you the name of the nail salon/spa we saw, you could rightfully be offended.

Needless to type, we are both exhausted. It has been a great week but we are ready to get home, see Cody and head back into our routine. We rested a little this afternoon but headed out to Chinatown to look for Alcatraz for nieces. Ha.

Went to the gym (seriously yesterday I had huevos rancheros, In and Out, 5 Wine tastings, several glasses of wine, an appetizer pizza, blue cheese salad, Risotto...with healthy spring vegetables).

Headed out to Absinthe for dinner now and maybe back to the Castro to see the "family" again. Can anyone say "Truck"? They aren't requiring a password tonight but its still worth the show.

Until tomorrow where I will make sure you all get a great wrap up from the trip. I also will make a decision regarding my blog retirement. Stand by.

Fake Francis Ford Coppola Sighting

We are sitting outside our room having a beer and a the bar next to us I spot a guy who I was sure was Francis Ford Coppola. I know realize he looks nothing like Francis Ford Coppola and a whole lot like George Lucas. Now I can see why FFC would be here but Lucas, nope. Bummer. I love famous people sightings.

Getting our Wine On: Day 3

And what a day it was....this was our "let's go to every winery we haven't hit but we don't want to miss and who cares if they are no where near each other" day. You know everyone has one of those.

The day started early as usual...I actually slept to the extra late time of 5:15 AM. We decided to head out to breakfast towards Healdsburg because we had a winery appointment at 11 AM there. We found this little breakfast place in Calistoga called Sarafornia. The name comes from Samuel Brennan. When he settled the town in the late 1800's he wanted to make the town similar to his home in Saratoga, NY. Get it. Saratoga - toga + California - Cali = Sarafornia. If you need some extra help with the naming I can meet with you separately. Though our food was great, our favorite part of the visit was the guy sitting next to us with the handlebar mustache. He was like 80 and he definitely spent his life perfecting it. Unlike his date who had a horrible time drawing in her eyebrows this morning.

After breakfast, we ran to Seghesio in Healdsburg. If you know Seghesio, it is probably for the Zins, but we found some other unique Italian like vintages that we loved - including another Barbara. Even better the place had bocce courts on premise. Bottle Count: 3.

Next we went to a winery that was recommended to us by several friends - Michel-Schlaumberger. They do organic reds and we took a tour of the grounds. It was really cool to see how they do things so differently than most vinyards to produce the wine organically. The tour would have been great if we didn't have to be with the other couple. Mike had passsed these people driving into the Dry Creek area. They were going 15 miles below the speed limit and swaying to some music. Of course when they showed up for the tour, you could say we were both estatic. The male portion of the couple could be described in so many ways but none of the ways would be positive. I hated how he asked questions that he knew the answer to but just wanted to ask so he would prove to all of us that he knew. He also talked about his Greenhouse and chickens that he has in his house in Brooklyn. Yes, Brooklyn NY. He mentioned his greenhouse 5 times (I literally counted.) and his wife showed us a picture of their chicken. I can't even tell you how much we wanted to leave them. Luckily we tasted an awesome Cab Sav from 1998 and bought 2 bottles. It was the best we tasted in the area.

On the way into the Mic-Schlaum ( That is what us wine geeks call it, and by us, I mean me), we saw a sign for a winery called Williamson Wines. For those of you who do not know, my last name is Williamson. Just in case I was some how related to these people, I felt I had to go. Of course, I told them immediately upon entering that my last name was Williamson and just as immediate they told me that they get countless Williamson's coming through he door. They had a great little set up though and they paired all the wines with a dessert or cheese. The Williamson's in my life are getting these wines as gifts. Hope they enjoy. Bottle Count: 4

The wine hostess asked if we would like lunch recommendations at one of the little restaurants in town and we weren't the least bit embarrassed to tell her that we were driving to the nearest In and Out Burger. You can't come to Cali and miss In and Out. We ordered off the secret menu because we are just that cool.

We then headed to Gundlach Bundschu, a winery I came to the last time I was in town. We had a great visit through the caves and our visit today was quick but we tasted some good reds. Bought a Cab Franc that we both liked.

Our final winery of the week was Elise outside of Yountville. We had a great bottle at Redd from here and wanted to try to fit it in. The wines did not disappoint. We really enjoyed Elise's little brother's label (Jacob Franklin)and bought the two wines in that label - a Petit Syrah and a Charbono. Of course we ran into some folks there from Canada and sadly we hated them too. Why would some one find it appropriate to say: "Your not like other New Yorkers. We like you." and then wrap it in a bow with the statement: "This is a compliment." Luckily Mike didn't get in to his aggressive stance since this was our 5th winery of the day. But really people of the world: It's probably best not to open your mouth at a winery unless you are tasting or you say "boy Scott, you are handsome, smart and funny".

Total Bottle Count:11
Grand Total bottles:29

No dessert for you

Last night we went to Michael Chiarello's Bottega in Yountville. I almost didn't want to go because he was such a jerky pants the times I have seen him on Top Chef. And we all know that reality TV portrays everyone completely accurately so I knew had to be a poo head to all his staff too. But because I will always throw aside my values and morals for food, I went.

The restaurant was in the Villagio/Vintage Inn complex where Andy and Leigh Blum were married and had a cool rustic feel to it. We had a great server who have us some cool recommendations but I think we already knew what we wanted. We decided that none of the Secondi looked that great to us so we would just do starters and pastas. I had the brussell sprout and egg salad with a citrus vinaigrette and Mike had the some crab salad that I refuse to describe on grounds that I officially still hate seafood. We also split the burrata and spring pea dish as well. I love the brussell sprouts and was very disappointed with the burrata dish. For dinner we had a Bolognese pasta and a potato raviolo filled with ricotta, spinach and black truffle. Notice I said raviolo because that sucker was the size of my head. Both were great and we each became a member of the clean plate club.

Mike did a sweet thing where he ordered for us. He did a great job but I he had some help since I had been studying the menu for 2 days and talking to him about every dish. The ordering for me produced the most awkward moment of the dinner though when he brought out dessert menus. Mike loves Panna Cotta so he ordered a really good looking one on the menu. When the waiter turned to me to ask if I wanted any dessert, I just said "I wish" in a depressed and heartbreaking voice. Somehow this came off really wierd and uncomfortable. The waiter looked at me then looked at Mike like "Can't you let this little guy have some dessert. He behaved." He walked a way and shook his head thinking that I was a prisoner and was probably going to have to go back to my dungeon after dinner. He brought one spoon and was careful not to put it near me. I guess I could have mentioned I gave up dessert for lent but what the heck?

More wineries today. More dangovers. (Has that word caught on yet?)

Getting our Wine On: Day 2

And get it on we did. I am just saying, we visited 4 wineries before lunch. Here is the run down:

Kevin our driver picked us up right at 10 AM. He actually ended up being pretty cool and really did want to take us to wineries we liked and introduce us to some small, family wineries

Arger-Martucci - This was a small winery that was in back of a family house. We actually sat out by the pool. We tried several wines but really enjoyed the Cab Franc and Cab Sav. We also enjoyed Cinnamon, the boxer dog. She hung out with us by the pool. Fun fact about Cinnamon - she is Ms. February in the 2010 Wine Dog calendar. Bottle Count: 2

Peju - Sadly this was a our least favorite winery of the trip so far. Nothing special. We talked the server to let us taste the Zinfandel Port. It was good so we bought it but the Cab Sav was boring. Bottle Count: 1

Rubicon - This was our fast food visit. We ran in and ran out. Great property and owned by Francis Ford Coppola. We did taste the famous 150 dollar Rubicon and enjoyed it but not enough to splurge. Instead we loved the Pinot Noir and bought that. Bottle Count: 1

Cakebread - This was one we were really looking forward to. And we enjoyed. Everything we tasted was great and James, our host, really liked us because we got to taste a lot of extra wines. We also hung with four fun ladies from Southern California. So we might have needed to take a break tasting at this point because I actually poured my left over tasting in the community water jug rather than the spit jar. This poor woman went to drink it. Glad she had a good sense of humor. James told me to put it there. Oops. Um, we ended up with 5 bottles (two are gifts) and BONUS - we joined the wine club.

Then we took a break for lunch at Taylor's Refresher. This is a great burger stop in St. Helena. Definitely a must stop.

Feilla - Feilla was recommended to us by Kevin our driver. We told him that Mike really likes Pinot Noir's and this place did not disappoint. The wine maker came in and hung out with us. He was an awesome guy - Aaron Jordan. Great Pinots. And another wine dog. Lola. Guess what? Lola looks exactly like Lolly, my parent's dog. Sisters from a different mother.

Chase - Chase was recommended because we love old vine Zins. They were OK. We ended up buying a Petit Syrah that was great. And some Chocolate Zinfandel sauce. Bingo. I didn't try it because of my dessert deprival. But 4 days and counting.

All in all a great day. We really found some different wineries that were fun. I would definitely recommend going to some of the smaller, mom and pop wineries if you are ever out here.

Sadly other than almost making some lady drink my watered down spit, nothing too crazy happened. Just and enjoyable day
Pics here
http://www.facebook.com/scottjwilliamson#!/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10100967704673891.3369040.2026229

Early morning musings...

Since I can't seem to sleep past 5 AM on this vacation I thought I would muse to you a little.

• Have I told you we are staying at the Hotel Luca in Yountville. It is a great new hotel that looks like a little Tuscan Villa with a great courtyard. The hotel only has 20 rooms and neat features like a heated bathroom floor and turn down service with cookies (that I cannot eat for 5 more days).


• Yountville is a great little town that my friends Andy and Leigh introduced me to when they got married. Thank you Blums!


• We spoke with MarieElena (our house mate) who is watching our dog Cody for the week. Supposedly he is being a little angel and sitting in the living room and watching the door, waiting for us to come home.


• We miss our friends Aaron and Diana who were supposed to come on the trip with us. And Heather and Jon who I forgot to invite.


• I am just typing Kristy's name in here because she would be ticked if I didn't mention it after referencing other friends.


• Headed to more wineries today with our driver Kevin. Kevin called yesterday and asked for some wineries that we wanted to go to. He basically said all our wineries choices were bad and he could do better. I kindly asked him to follow the map I provided. He also asked what my wife's name was. I said "Mike". He said "Just the boys today, huh?" Should be interesting.

Redd Redd (Wine), you make me feel so fine.

I have had that little catchy title in my back pocket to pull out all week. I thought it would be a great way to describe a drunken wine tour, but instead an even better way to tell you about out dinner from last night.

We went to Redd in Yountville by Chef Richard Reddington (a 2011 James Beard nominee) and it did not disappoint. I had a crispy chicken thigh, gnocchi, pancetta and wild mushroom ragu appetizer and NY Strip/Short Rib entree. The portions were huge and everything tasted amazing. Mike had an appetizer of sauteed sweetbreads and parsnip puree. For those of you who are wondering, sweetbreads are not sweet bread but rather the neck, giblets and glands of a piglet or lamb. Sadly, pan fried up they are freakin good. His dinner was equally as interesting as it included duck confit and foie gras meatballs. Again I enjoyed the foie gras meatballs. We both enjoyed a great (fairly inexpensive) bottle of red wine from Elyse winery. It was called C'est Se Bon and had the front end of Pinot Noir and the backend of Zin. Zexy.

But of course you could care less about the food and wine and are actually looking for me to add my sarcastic tone and keenly negative slant on a generally enjoyable evening. And that comes from guest contributor Mike. (Raucous applause). Since our waiter had the less personality than a rock and seemed to go missing for long periods of time, most likely to stand in front of a mirror trying to remember his name, we had time to play everyone's favorite game - "People Mike Hates." Mike's empty stomach and penchant for keeping on East Coast time made tonight's list particularly fruitful ( or fruit forward in honor of wine country).

People Mike Hates - April 19, 2011:

(Update at 6:56 AM PCT on April 20, 2011: Mike does not really hate these people. They might get on his nerves a little but Mike does not hate any one. Thank you).

1. Europeans who say they are from New York.



2. People who wear white clothes before Memorial Day - unless it is the classic white dress shirt



3. People who drink white wine at night.



4. People who change their cell rings to sound like rings from land line phones of yester year.



5. People who are on Pacific Time



6. People who blog (He thinks they are self important which I have continually owned up to. This one only came up because I was taking notes as he told me the people he hates and I mentioned I would be blogging this. I am sure he actually doesn't hate me.)

Oh, and I wish I could of eaten dessert (silly lenten promise). Redd had to have the best dessert menu I have ever seen. One read something like peanut butter/chocolate donuts with caramel sauce and another was a vanilla bean/strawberry bread pudding.

Getting our Wine On: Day 1

I am happy to tell you about the wineries we went to today. Since we arrived to Yountville by 11:30 AM, we decided to start early and drink often.

Paraduxx Winery - This was our first stop on Silverado Trail. We stopped here because it was our the first winery we saw on route. They focused mostly on Reds and all were Zinfandel mixes. We really didn't love the wines but the view was nice. It did have an awesome patio and we were able to relax after the drive. Bottle count: 1 (Parajaxx - a Zin/Cab Franc blend).

ZD Winery - We found some OK wines here. I was particularly interested in limited edition Barbara they made. This is a grape usually only found in Italy. It was very fruit forward. I was told to type that by the uninterested server. Bottle Count: 1

Miner - This was a winery I visited last time I was in Napa and also happens to be my buddy Scot Brown's favorite winery. They had some awesome wines. We bought a Pinot Noir, a Temporillo, and a Petit Syrah. All were great. Bottle Count: 3

Domaine Chandon: I love sparkling wines and they wineries always seem to have some heavy pours. And by heavy pours I mean four tastings, four full glasses of wine. I am sure this is why I saw two old men running into the bathroom, making large grunts and sighs because they "had to free the pee". I stepped out of the bathroom at this point and let them free in peace.
Bottle Count: 1

We also stopped at St. Helena's Olive Oil Company and bought some great oils, spice rubs and vinegars.

All in all, a great day. Resting at Hotel Luca and headed to Redd tonight for dinner. Reservation is at 9 PM PCT. Meaning that since we have went to bed at that time for the last two nights we may be in trouble. Or we can rally and head to the happy hour at the Hotel Bar.

Looking forward to my dangover (day hangover) that is just starting.

Where Yosemite Ends, Napa begins

So we close a Chapter 1 of our vacation in Yosemite. I can't believe how awesome the park was. I watched a 4 million hour documentary this summary with Mike and until you visit you can't understand how cool it is. I recommend you seeing it. Mike and I are trying to see all 26 in. The only bad part... we never met Yosemite Sam. He was such a spit fire with that wascally wabbit but I am sure in real life he was great to grab a beer with.

And before I forgot again, I wish I could put my finger on the what is off with the staff at the hotel we stayed at. All I can say is if I had a blog devoted to each of the staff members we met there, I would have a lifetime of stories.

And so begins that freaking annoyingly winding drive to leave Yosemite. No lie but there were a million turns. My best bud Kristy asked for more drawings so here is my professional depiction.

Some other highlights from the drive include...

1. XM Radio - Thank you for XM Radio. I got my fix of Country music while Mike slept. Mike got to play Lithium. That is like 90's Rock. We both jammed out to Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People". Mike knows it from his "gothic, industrial" phase. I know it from my entrance sung for being a College Swimmer. Similar experiences I am sure. I also introduced Mike to 20 on 20. This is where XM counts down the 20 most popular songs and it is on channel 20. I am calling it 2 on 20 from now on because all we ever heard was "Born this Way" and "S&M".


2. Before we left the park we got a "Warning Citation" from the Park Rangers for leaving garbage in the car. This was not "bear aware".


3. Our navigator took us on California Rte. 12. It was recently renamed to Safety Route 12. On Safety Route 12, speeding over 55 include fines that are doubled. Also every 1/2 mile you get reminded that you should buckle up, not talk on your cell phone, avoid aggressive driving, not drink and drive, and various other safety road violations. Apparently everyone takes Safety Route 12 very seriously. We drove in a long line of cars going 50 MPH. I don't think I have to spell out how I felt about Safety Route 12.


4. I learned Mike really likes cows and sheep. Since we passed a lot of cows and sheep on the 4.5 hour drive and Mike yelled "COW!" or "SHEEP!" every time we drive by one. You learn a lot about a person on vacation.

And we didn't waste a second to get our wine on...

Whoa Ahwahnee Forgotee

This is big. I forgot to mention that I tried a bite of Mike's crab cake during dinner last night. Still hate seafood.

This land is your land...even with all the annoying people in it.

Mariposa Grove holds some of the Great Sequoia's you have probably seen pictures of. They are really neat. We decided to get up early (or our bodies have not adjusted to the time change) and drive to see these trees.

I of course thought this would be a great opportunity to sing to Mike so he heard many verses of "This Land is Your Land". You know that whole thing about redwood forests, gulf stream waters, New York Islands. Mike sure does love when I sing to him, and who wouldn't?

When we arrived at the Grove there were only three cars there. Some annoying Germans who we saw at breakfast and a couple from Florida. They started to walk up the trail with us and only stayed for some of the tree viewing. We pretty much were sick of them when they made their typical Southerner comment -- "Who wouldn't want to get out of New York City?"

So we trekked the four miles up to see the Grove and it was freaking Awesome. It was all up hill but it was worthy of the pain in my legs. Those trees do not disappoint. Strangely, it was just us on the trails again and we didn't see people until we headed down. All of the sudden the trails were full of annoying tourists. Not savvy, sexy tourists like Mike and I. They were stepping over the roped off sections of the trees, throwing snow balls at each other, and generally being annoying. This just proves the point that I hate most people.

But here are some pics that you will enjoy taken by two sexy, savvy tourists.

Driving Miss Cranky

I asked Mike to drive the Mariposa Grove this morning. We were planning on seeing the giant redwoods. I hate driving and would rather be chauffeured in most cases.

Of course the road happens to be 35 miles long to the Wawona where the Grove is. I forget that this is not just a straight shot like driving from Watertown to Syracuse or something but rather between 5000 to 6000 feet on the side of a mountain. There are no guard rails - just inches between me and certain death at the bottom of Yosemite Valley.

Now Mike will tell you that he was driving the speed limit and paying attention to the winding road but some else my truth/imagination will tell you the exact opposite.

For 35 miles, I continually told Mike to stop looking away from the road, drive slower as I leaned and swayed, gasping for air. This is a trick I learned from my mom. When she becomes anxious while my Father drives, she gasps and literally takes all the air out of the car.

For my part, I took some pictures of the signs to prove to you that my rental car had become a death trap on the way to the Sequoias. Each of these signs were repeatedly located on the road and I swear some were specially made just for this route.

Surprisingly we survived both parts of the trip.

Sue the Waiter Assistant

I know some of you are looking for the drunk postings. I missed my chance after dinner at the Ahwahnee hotel last night. We started with El Capatini's at the bar. This is some overpriced martini created in honor 0f the El Capitan. Notice the little carabiner that I may or may not have pocketed.

Dinner was awesome. This restaurant was described as the "Jewel of Yosemite restaurants" which doesn't do it justice since the other choices here remind me a lot of the food Cody (our dog) eats every night. I had a pasta dish and might had a pork dish. I wish I remembered more. But I also had champagne and we had a great bottle of Seghesio Zinfandel.

Here is what I do remember clearly from dinner. I was obsessed with Sue our Waiter Assistant. No slight on our actual waiter Bill, but Sue was special. Sue smiled the entire dinner -- not matter what she was doing. I couldn't take my eyes of it. Once I caught her resetting a table and when she got everything perfect, she sighed and giggled looking at her successful table. She loved her job and for that I love her.

On a side note, the employees at these places out here are interesting to say the least. I can't put my finger on it but there is something a little off. Many of them living in rooms/dorms here for 30+ years.

Still it was a great night and we are having a great time.

We're not in Queens any more Dorothy.

As previously mentioned, we decided to rent bikes and drive around the park this afternoon. Here is Mike on his bike. What gear was he in? Its called Only Gear. How was he breaking? Like he was in 2nd grade and pedaling backwards.

We asked about locks for the bikes so we could walk up to Mirror Lake on the trails and they said " No need for locks--just leave your bikes at the bottom of the trail. No one will take them." That is exactly what we do with our bikes in Queens too! Sure enough, no one took them.

Finally the wicked rest. And we are having dinner at the Awannee hotel tonight. Whoohoo!

Hope your enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it. All 9 of you.

Things that I questioned on my hike...

Since me complaining, b*tching, and whining entertains so many people, here is pure crankiness:

1. Why didn't I get waterproof hiking boots? Why are there babbling brooks running through every hiking trail we went on today?


2. Why do people smoke in Yosemite? Do they no notice the devastation forest fires here?


3. Why would someone throw a dirty diaper on a trail?


4. Why were the only hikers? I hate that we saw 3 other hikers the entire morning. Instead we saw car after car, of families getting out at the sites, taking pictures of the view, then getting back into the cars and driving to the next. I wonder why we are an obese nations. "See America First on Feet" should be the new slogan for the National Parks.


5. Oh and speaking of using the cars...why would you hitchhike? We saw all these hitch hikers today. Why don't we call them "hitch riders"?

A post for my Sister-in-Law

I have a wonderful sister-in-law - Katie Williamson. I have learned throughout the 10 years that I have known her that she is obsessed with trees. If you get her talking about trees, she won't stop. She has this deep, intense love for trees and at first I thought she would love Yosemite because of that...but on my hike this morning, I realized otherwise.

There are several trees that have been murdered by forest fires here and I know Katie would be completely devastated to see this. Here, I have posted my devastation for her. Katie, try not to look at these pictures for too long as you need to stay strong for my niece and brother.

Being too "Bear Aware"

Today I realized that I might stress about things too much. Because every where I walk here in Yosemite I see signs to be "Bear Aware", I was basically sure as I hiked through the trails that there were a team of trained attack bears lurking in the shadows ready to eat me alive. Every deer or burnt tree stump I saw made me jump about 4 feet high. At one point, I saw some one inch in diameter tracks in the snow and pretty much sure we were marching into the bear's trap. Mike explained to me that if we do see a bear I should take a wide stance and charge at him. Right. The is exactly what I would do. Right after I drop to the ground in the fetal position, crap my pants and cry like a two year old for my Mommy. At one point a was enjoying a great conversation with Mike about how much better I am than his Ex (one of my favorite conversations to have) and I became bear unaware. It was very enjoyable to not be bear aware.

Four Mile Fail

So at 7:30 we are ready for a day of hiking. We wanted to get a great view of the valley so we decide to go to Glacier Point by way of Four Mile Trail. Here is me realizing where we are going.

So we start up Four Mile Trail...

And 15 minutes later this is what we see:

This seemed to be the theme this morning as we continued to Hike throughout the Yosemite Valley. We did to a 4 Mile Hike to Bridalveil Falls. Guess what the Falls looked like?

Then we hiked to the base of El Capitan and Finally back to the Lodge. Close to a 10 mile hike and it is barely Noon here.

Biking to Mirror Lake this afternoon. I have plenty more to blog about from this morning. Don't worry.

Don and Edna

We just met the coolest couple at breakfast. They must have been in their 80's and were here for the weekend. Interesting facts about Don and Edna:

1. They were from the Northeast and used to live in Queens.


2. Don's mother died of TB when he was young. His father had him go to an orphanage in upstate NY.


3. Don's father painted the Triboro bridge. Don like all good NYers is disheartened that they changed the name of the Triboro to RFK. Also, he said that when a painter fell of the bridge, his father would get to go home early. The guys he worked with used to joke that that they should draw straws to see who would fall of the bridge each day.


4. Don was in the military and then taught at Exeter in NH (one of my clients) for several years.

They were headed back to their home in San Francisco after breakfast or we would have hung out with them for the rest of the time here. They were great old people. I am sure they walked away thinking those two boys from the East Coast were nice.

The thing I don't like about blogging...

I can't draw pictures. If any of you who have seen my hand written travel journals know that I love drawing pictures to demonstrate some extremely important point. Earlier today I wanted to draw you a picture of that G-D winding road. Right now I wish I could draw a picture of the couple sitting next to us who were holding hands our entire dinner. Not just one hand but they were holding both hands as if they were playing ring-around-the-rosie. I would have also drawn their hair in great detail seeing as how they really should have traded hairstyles. The man had long curly hair and they woman had super short, parted on the side. You know...but that is just me, judging.

Some Pics from our first day...

Rocks: 1; Scott: 0

Ok. So upon arriving at SFO after our 5.5 hour flight,we picked up the car (or should I say monster Truck) and started our 4 hour drive. Guess who is driving...me. The drive was wicked winding uphill drive to the top of some mountain and then a wickeder winding drive down to Yosemite Valley. I made it. Several rumble strip scares but what is new. As most of you know I am not one for appreciating my surroundings but as I drove down to Yosemite Valley it was impossible not to be in complete awe. The view of El Capitan, the waterfalls, Half Dome... We spend most of the afternoon walking around and hiking near the village. For those that are counting. I tripped over only one big rock. Mike walked away. Random strangers laughed. I am sure that will not be the first time I fall on my ass. Other random thoughts:

1. The deer here are pretty much people. They just walk up and hang anywhere...specifically the large meadow. They obviously have not seen Bambi.


2. We have to be Bear Aware. No outdoor food.


3. I hate that there are so many people smoking in the park.


4. I really love waterfalls. I asked Mike if they turn them off a night. There were eye rolls.


5. More eye rolls came when i continually stressed that the loggers knocked down all the trees here.


6. We saw people hiking who were wearing clothes you would see at a club in NYC. I judged.


7. Tomorrow we are hiking. I am actually excited.

Don't go chasing Waterfalls...

Thanks TLC.

Things I "enjoyed" on the plane...

1. The guy who did a serious stretching workout in front of the bathroom. Repeatedly. Weirdly.


2. The tiny window.


3. The loud talker behind me who explained her entire sandwich to her husband for five minutes and then couldn't believe she did have a knife on the plane.


4. The hairy gorilla who told me Tina Fey was hot.


5. The flight attendant who spilled orange juice on the guy sitting next to the loud talkers. He was soooo annoyed. I obsessively tried to assess his annoyance level. He has 400 paper towels and is drying off various parts of his body while continually sighing loudly. I know all of this because I was peaking through the space between our seats.

I seriously had some good media experiences on the plane though:

1. Currently Reading: Tina Fey's "Bossypants"


2. Currently listening to: Country Music, RuPaul


3. Currently watching: the most recent episode of The Good Wife. Holy Crap

Tasting vacation.

I am so ready for vacation - I can taste it. And it tastes so good. For those of you who do not know Mike and I will be heading out west to Nortern California for a split vacation. Half of it will be spent in Yosemite National Park and the other half will be in Napa Valley. The Great Outdoors and the great pour. Hiking and drinking. And wait there is more...a bonus night in San Fran. What you can expect from this blog?

1. Random thoughts and musings. I really am a voyuer of the world and i love to share my insights. Real deep insights like: why people act stupid or comments/pictures or people falling or failing in some way.


2. Poor grammar and spelling. Even though I was an English major and I date an English teacher, I am sure you will note painful written mistakes. I apologize in advance.


3. Food and Wine. There are no two things I like more. Since there is bound to be an abundance of both on this trip you will hear lots about them. 3a. Musings that may be alcohol induced.


4. Self-depricating self-grandeur. Nothing is funnier than hearing about my clutziness, absent-mindedness, ignorance, etc. I looking forward to sharing this with all of you and I know you can't wait either...because you know you want to hear about it.