Citygirl/Farmhand/Adventurer pt. 2

Wow, Slavedriver Tim (aka my Husband) is really working me to the bone and not letting me write. Sorry to draw out the suspense in getting to Part Deux, Sarah, but The Man (aka my Husband) is making me work hard to pay off my rent. Ah yes, and now the real joys of unemployment begin to settle in...anyway...

Back to the continued tale of our amazing Bay Area Motorcycle Trip Extravaganza (and Couples Therapy) ((and tapeworm ingestion))

The Adventures of Citygirl/Farmhand and Tim

Part Two

Saturday, August 7, 2010

After having breakfast with our generous host, Craig, we were off! For the fashionistas out there (don't be shy), here are my last minute DSW fauxtorcycle motorcycle boots....

And my Century 21 Michael by Michael Kors leather jacket pickup (what? stop your judging, I have to shop for bargains these days and no, I couldn't even spring for Kors by Micheal Kors)

p.s. do you love the drama of that shot? And don't be fooled by my seemingly rogue, rebel without a causey stance and expression- that is actually the look of a person who just finished hugging the toilet bowl all morning long. And no, I'm not pregnant nor was I hungover. It was that bloody Bad River Water Sickness. But I'm getting ahead of myself and this photo is totally out of sequence because that is from Day 8 but FU Penguin, I don't care.

Here we are in our helmets...

I can't believe my father in law's helmet fit me so well, but I guess I have a big head. And I'm not saying you have a big head, Dean, I'm just saying that my head shouldn't be the same size as a tall, grown man's head. But I guess all that is really laughable is that Tim's helmet is custom painted baby blue.

So anyway-

Our first leg of the journey took us up through the amazing Oakland hills, then into the Berkeley hills, both of which boast not only amazing views, but amazing houses nestled in among them, then over and down the other side into a magical redwood forest that I think actually sparkled with sunlight when we drove through. And the smell, oh the smell. If you've ever spent any time in Northern Cali, there is nothing like the smell of the trees out there. I miss it already.

From there, we headed up into Napa where we actually camped out in the tent our first night. Crazy, I know, but the campsite wasn't exactly deep in the forest or anything so it wasn't totally rugged. Really the only thing that was rugged was sleeping on the ground and the subsequent back and neck pain that it caused, but waking up to the sight and smell of redwoods all around us was worth it. We even went for a brisk, early morning (read: nerdsy) walk through the trees.

Oh yeah, that's right. I did it. I included the cliched Man vs. Redwood shot. Look at me, ma, then look at these enormous trees! Wow! Whatever. I am not too jaded to take a picture of my cute husband staring up at the big trees. Get over it, bitches.

Oh! And I should really be truthful and add that our stay REALLY wasn't very rugged because we met up with some friends for wine at this not too shabby hotel called The Carneros Inn close to the Sonoma border. um, yeah, not rugged.

And then we had dinner at this "farm to table" restaurant cleverly named FARMSTEAD on the way back to the campsite. It was amazacrazy delicious and cost more than a hotel room so we basically undid all of our plans to roll cheaply pretty much right off the bat. And continued as such for the rest of the trip but um, yeah, it was my last trip maybe EVER (did I mention that I'm recently unemployed?) so I had to splurge. And of course I had to make Tim splurge also.

I had the sole, in case you were wondering.

The Adventures of Citygirl/Farmhand and Tim

Part Two

Sunday, August 8, 2010

After an overpriced breakfast in the town of St. Helena, it was back on the old motorcycle! Just when we thought it couldn't get any better than those fairies and pixie dust in the redwoods, we hit this amazing desert road in Marin County that took us through some of the most incredible ranches I've ever seen. Yes, Lucas' Skywalker ranch was among them so maybe we weren't pulling any Lewis and Clark moves, but once you actually see that freaking thing, hot damn, you want one for yourself. Now all I have to do is come up with the next Star Wars. Simple.

Some of the sights included:

Nicasio Ranch

Church in Nicasio

St Vincent's Catholic School for boys in San Rafael

And many more that I won't bore you with.

The drive got even better as we got closer to the coast and closer still to Tomales Bay which might be one of the most eerily beautiful places on earth. Or at least earth as I have seen it up to this point in my life. And I say eerie because it is almost always shrouded in fog, a fog that makes it that much more dramatic and mysterious and what's best is that the temperature is always like fall. And fall is my favorite season. In love with Tomales Bay. In love.

More on that tomorrow as we continue with Part 3 because I am tired and I'm certain that a certain Slavedriver that is my husband has some more chores that begin when he wakes up (I'm guessing 6am call time) so I can earn my keep. Oh yes.

Good night.