The Hiltbrands Invade NorCal

My parents escaped the Texas heat for cooler days in NorCal. We had the best time together and spent four full days exploring various parts of the Bay. The only person missing was my sister, Lauren, but she'll be visiting for a few days in September.

Day 1


We explored the shops in China Town and enjoyed a delicious, authentic Chinese lunch at a lil' dive called the Hong Kong Clay Pot.

These painted hearts can be found all over the city. This one if my favorite because it portrays SF so well...it's located in Union Square which has tons of shopping and dining.

We made a pit stop to Ghirardelli Square...my dad's favorite food to consume is chocolate.

Day 2

Our first stop of the day was to Muir Woods National Park to admire the enormous redwood trees.

My dad spotted this pretty owl.

I purchase a magazine called "Sunset" that features outdoor activities to do on the West Coast. A recent article featured creamery tours around the Bay Area and this particular tour interested me because it was a sheep farm. So, we paid a visit to the sheep...they are so cute!

This lil' gal actually had the pendant from my necklace in her mouth. I had to pry it out of her mouth. I also had sheep nibbling on my jacket and one even untied the laces on my mom's tennis shoes.

After the creamery tour, we went to an adorable Sonoma County town called Healdsburg for lunch, and then onto the Mediteranean-like seaside town called Sausailto. Check out the fog rolling in!

Sausalito is an adorable town situated right on the Bay across from San Francisco. It has cute shops and restaurants...all with pretty views of the water.

Day 3

Day 3 was our Napa day and the first tasting of the day was at Pride Mountain Vineyards. I don't drink wine so our tour guide handed me the gigantic bottle of wine to hold...haha. Oh, and one thing to note, we saw a mountain lion in the middle of the road on our way to this winery...the guy was huge! It's unusual to see a mountain lion at all, but especially during the day because they're nocturnal hunters.

Barrel tasting in the caves.

Father-son photo.

Pride Mountain Vineyards has spectacular views for folks to enjoy while picnic-ing (spelling?) on their property.

Beringer Brothers Estate and Winery

Castello di Amerosa Vineyards and Winery....one of our favorite places to visit in Napa.

The castle!

Castello di Amerosa does a wonderul tour of their castle, including a visit to their caves and "torture" chamber.

Day 4

Lombard Street....known for its brick-paved, SUPER winding road.

We took the ferry across the bay to Sausalito. Along the way we passed Alcatrez.

We visited Saualito again to enjoy a seafood lunch overlooking the Bay. I love how the homes in this photo are built up the mountain to maximize the view of the Bay.

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Yosemite for the Fourth

Mike and I spent the Fourth of July weekend in Yosemite National Park. It was our first and definitely not our last visit to Yosemite....the park, particularly Yosemite Valley, is beautiful! It took us about 4 hours to drive there due to traffic, but only took 3 hours to drive home. We can't get over how diverse the Cali landscape is and the bonus is that it's all so close.

Here are just a few pictures followed by videos of our adventures. Anyone want to plan a trip out to Cali and go "glamping" with us? "Glamping" is the new term for camping a bit more upscale...if you know me you're aware I'm not down for sleeping in a tent. The last time I went camping was in college and I slept in the car. :)

The Sierra Nevada Mountain range experienced a late snowfall this year...through the first part of June. I couldn't believe how much snow was still on the ground. Part of Yosemite didn't even open to the public until mid-June.

Wow, what a breathtaking view of the Nevada and Arenal Falls cascading into Yosemite Valley. Check out the snowcapped mountains in the background.

Famous Half Dome...Mike and I plan to hike this next year. It's 16 miles roundtrip and apparently an amazing hike. But, we must first prepare by climbing the Lyon Street stairs several times a week.

I think I have an obsession with waterfalls....they are so amazing to me.

Lions and tigers and A BEAR, oh my! We saw a California Black Bear eating something in a field. I was so excited to see a bear....that was on my wish list for the weekend.

Bridal Veil Falls

We decided to hike a 7-mile round-trip hike up to the top of Nevada Falls. This hike is called the Mist Trail and is labeled as "strenous" for a reason...it was tough!! You're literally climbing stairs for 3.5 miles up to the top of the mountain. Quite an accomplishment. And did I mention this trail is part of the 16-mile Half Dome hike? This picture shows you the rocky steps you climb right on the edge of the falls....as beautiful as it was, it was a bit scary. Because of the late, heavy snowfall in June, the waterfalls and rivers were raging. The reason this trail is called the Mist Trail is because of the heavy mist that wets you as you walk past the falls. Mike and I were absolutely soaked by the time we passed this waterfall called Vernal Falls.

A view of the trail and the raging river beside it.

It was unreal how fast the water was raging. Don't worry, I'm actually safe where I'm standing.

You may have heard on the news this week about the 3 hikers who died in Yosemite. Unfortunately, they climbed over a barrier right before the crest of the Vernal Falls waterfall to take a photo on a rock. All three are presumed dead as it's impossible to survive the fall of Vernal Falls and the raging river. So tragic.

We still have 1.5 miles to go to reach the top of the mountain. This photo features Nevada Falls.

We had to cross a bridge over Vernal Falls to continue the hike.

Another view of Nevada Falls...this part of the hike was so exhausting...we were in direct sunlight climbing huge, uneven stones. We stopped about 10 times to let me catch my breath.

We made it to the top!!

Beautiful photo, but I was not happy with Mike posing on the rock like that.

So proud and so tired. I felt as though the climbdown was almost as hard as the climb up. My legs were shaking so bad from exhaustion.

Beautiful sunset view from the valley. After our hike, we feasted on a buffet dinner at one of the campsites, then sat in the car for a couple of hours and waited for the sun to set so we could gaze at the stars. I've never seen the sky so beautiful at night....the number of stars visible was absolutely amazing.

Below are several mini videos from the trip.



Video of the black bear grazing in the field.

The raging Yosemite Falls which only flows from May thru July when the snow melts.

Hiking the Mist Trail to view Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls.

The top of Vernal Falls.

Raging river!

We made it to the top of the mountain...Nevada Falls!

A wonderful greeting from our fur babies...I love coming home to this every day after work!