Waffles. Sweet, golden waffles. Waffles oozing with butter and rich syrup. Is there anything more enjoyable on a vacation morning? Not in this girl's opinion.Francis and I enjoyed a quick vacation to the Russian River in the last week of August. We stayed at a wonderful hotel that offered a pool and a vast array of breakfast foods (served until 11:00am on weekends!) I had just stayed at this same hotel the week before with my mom during her visit to check out neighborhoods in Santa Rosa.
We enjoyed the pool on one particularly hot afternoon.
We packed a yummy picnic lunch from Trader Joe's and rented a canoe to float down the Russian River. The river is cold and clear. It is lined with picturesque rock formations and large bushels of bear grass, which I buy at the flower market to use in flower arrangements. We had to stand up and lift the canoe through a few shallow areas since it is the end of the summer and the river is low. I taught Francis everything I know about canoe paddling. He bravely acted as "captain" in the rear of the canoe and safely negotiated us through rapids and away from scary tree stumps hidden in the water. He did get one of his running shoes wet though, and it smelled something fierce for the rest of the weekend.We also stopped for a swim at a deeper area of the river that had cool rocks...
The water was cold! I only got in half way. Francis went completely under. It was really hot that day, but there was a good amount of cloud cover (which is strange for California at this time of year). We totally lucked out because the sun would have been unbearably hot.
We'll call this series "Isolation on a Rock Island". Dramatic.
And of course, in the Tao family tradition, we had to splurge on some great meals out!
We treated ourselves to some pints and dinner at an Irish pub in downtown Santa Rosa. Francis had the fish and chips and I had the pulled pork sandwich. My mom and I had loved this place when we ate there the week before.On the walk home from dinner at the Irish pub, we stopped by Macy's to use up some gift cards I'd been lugging around forever. I bought a stylish purse for only $7.00 after I used the gift cards! It is much larger than my old purse, which I've been squeezing stuff into for almost three years.
After Macy's, we happened to walk by a lively Italian restaurant. The noise from inside spilled out onto the sidewalk as we walked by. It looked like so much fun in there,we returned the next night for dinner. I had four cheese fettuccine and he had lasagna.
We went on a hike in Austin Creek State Reserve on the hottest day of our vacation. It was in the 90's for sure. We were dripping with sweat after a short 2.3 mile hike up the hill and back. Luckily the last leg of the hike went through a deep redwood forest that was cooler than everywhere else. Some of the trees in that stand were between 1000-1300 years old.
We had another Trader Joe's picnic in Austin Creek Reserve. You can't tell by our smiles, but we are covered in sweat. Just sitting there...sweating.
We went bowling on our last night in Santa Rosa. It was disco bowling night at Windsor Bowl! Black lights, music, and disco balls. After nearly two years of marriage, I discovered a new fact about my husband. He bowls without using his thumb.In the photo below, Francis captured my second shot after the video. I got a strike!
We had such a relaxing time, even though Santa Rosa is only an hour and a half north of where we live. We felt rejuvenated, our marriage was rekindled, and we are ready to attack our work with renewed energy.
