A Whirlwind of a couple of weeks...

The start of our time in San Fransisco, bright and early on Thursday morning. Unbelievable weather. NO HUMIDITY :)

Kendall requested we find the "painted ladies"- the homes shown of the old TV series "Full House". This is it!! Right in Alamo Square. Afterward, we walked a couple blocks to a cute breakfast diner run by the sweetest Asian family, who of course fell in love with Keith and didn't want us to pay for our breakfast!!

The view from the bottom of Lombard Street- the crookedest street in the US. We walked down and enjoyed the views. Walking back up from one block over- Holy Cow- what a workout for the backside :)

One of the things I most wanted to see, this view of the cable car coming up over the hilly street, with fisherman's wharf in the background. We hopped on this particular car and had the best ride!

The cable cars were so crowded that we had to wait for room to hang off. It was something I really, really wanted to do. I was so happy here in the spot I wanted to be in watching San Fran as we rode by.

After walking back to the hotel to meet up with Jon & Vicki, we ate lunch together and then started our journey towards Sonoma County. The golden gate was just outside downtown San Fran and on our way to Sonoma. We drove across the bridge, then stopped for pictures and a walk 1/2 way across the bridge. The views were amazing. It was extremely windy. And so very cool to see!

A view of Alcatraz and then San Fran behind it from the bridge.

Keith and Jon knew of an area on the pacific ocean side of the bridge to go over and look down on the bridge. So windy, so chilly, but amazingly beautiful.

Arriving at Korbel in Sonoma County. We got to stay on the property (something very special). After arriving at our cottage, we enjoyed some of the champagne and cheese and crackers provided by Korbel before taking a stroll through the vineyard and then after sunset, we headed out to dinner at Chef Pat's- a local, casually elegant restaurant with really good food.

This is our cottage at Korbel. The plants and flowers all over the property were amazing. The entire experience was amazing. One of the highlights of the trip.

The next morning we took a walk around the entire property. I also had to run through the vineyard- so here I am!

After leaving Korbel, we drove a short distance to Sonoma-Cutrer...one of my longtime favorite wines and owned by Brown-Forman. We had a tasting scheduled, but they wanted to give us the VIP tour. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. I learned so much about what makes my favorite of the S.C. brands taste as oak-ey and butter-y as it does. I've been sharing my knowledge with anyone who will listen ;-) This was a very happy day!

My empty wine glasses from the tasting. We tasted six different varieties, I loved them all but especially the third one in from the left. If you look closely, you may see lick-marks on my glass from not wanting to waste a drop of it. We now have an entire case of it in our garage :)

Straight from Sonoma Cutrer, we drove the four hours to South Lake Tahoe. Through the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, another gorgeous drive. This is the view from our hotel room!! Amazing, isn't it? I worked out in the room one morning looking out the window at this view. Quite motivating.

This is Keith playing poker in our hotel's casino. Sitting to his left is Tommy Lee Jones. Stars were crawling all over the place. We were there for the celebrity golf championship which Korbel sponsored (the whole reason for our trip). We had stadium tent seating on the 17th green while the likes of Michael Jordan, Ray Romano, Tony Romo, Dan Quale, Steve Spurrier, Jack Wagner, Charles Barkley and many others putted right in front of us. I took pictures of them all. Keith shook hands with Charles. Very exciting stuff!

Right at the golf course, was the lake, with hundreds of boats this day. I had to go in ankle deep to feel the water. It was chilly but so clear.

Look who I found in the hotel!! Guy Ferrari (am I spelling that last name correctly?) from the food network- think 'diners, drive-ins and dives'. Kendall loves this guys show, so we had to get a photo.

On our second and last night in Tahoe, was the Rascall Flatts concert. Kelly Pickler opened for them. We had VIP seating, because that's how Brown-Forman does it, and therefore were very close to the bands. With Kelly, I was literally right at the stage. I fought tears the whole time because I watched Kelly's journey on American Idol and loved it. She is so deserving of success after a rough life. She's a nice, down-to-earth girl and was so fun to see.

Keith and I enjoying the concert, and no, he isn't drunk. Just a flash getting to him ;-) Stone Phillips was seated in front of us. I got a picture with him, but I can't put everything on this blog!

RASCAL FLATTS= awesome, awesome, awesome!

After the concert, we go back into the hotel and spot "Carlton" from the "Fresh Prince Of Bellair" back in the early 90's. He won the long drive competition on Friday. Me and two brown-forman gals asked for a picture.

So, after a first class trip home to Raleigh...we had 12 hours at home to repack and load up the family, including Keith's folks, and head to Myrtle Beach. This was on our first night there. After arriving at 5pm, swimming for awhile (with a shark no less. Keith spotted one right beside him), then watching the outdoor movie "UP", we had dinner in our room with fireworks being set off out on the beach right outside our balcony.

Justin took great pleasure in burying Kendall in the sand...

The view from our side balcony. Very nice! Though I didn't enjoy the water here as much as Wrightsville Beach. The shark was one reason (a boy got bit the morning of the day Keith spotted the shark beside them), but the water was also murkey and very rough.

So, after our rough start of arriving 12 hours early for our flight to San Fran, then learning my gramps has passed away, I almost didn't make it on the trip west. I was loosing it in the airport and almost went home. I am so glad I didn't. It was the best trip I think I've ever had. We saw so much. The weather was great. Keith was so understanding of my sadness and we really had a good time.

Myrtle Beach was also nice. Relaxing. Keith's parents were possibly a little worn out from watching Justin and Kendall while we were in California. Keith and I were tired from the time change, arriving home late due to longer layovers in Atlanta. So, we relaxed and played and relaxed some more.

I spoke with my gram on Tuesday while at the beach. She was going in to see the doctor due to a foot infection that she said was quite painful. I told her I'd call in two days after we got back from the beach. When I tried to find her two days later, I got no answer. I kept trying and still no answer. I became very concerned. I was just going to call the police dept in Clearwater when my uncle returned my call to let me know she was in the hospial. That foot infection was so bad that she had to have part of her foot amputated. The surgeon said if she'd waited a day longer, she would've lost her entire leg. So...even though I was looking forward to some time at home, I think I will be heading to Florida in the next few days. It remains to be seen if it will be with the family, on my own or with part of the family. Need to figure that out. The past two weeks have been a roller coaster for sure. Some serious lows alongside some excellent moments. This week has been spent getting back into workout mode and school mode for Kendall, with soccer and football starting at the same time. Whew!!!