When you last heard from the Bullingtons, they were flummoxed over where in the world they were going to rest their heads for the night.
After some searching, we managed to get THE LAST room at the Marriott in Santa Rosa, CA. There are Google Conferences, Marathons, and Iron Man races, Oh My! But, it was in Sonoma County so it fit the bill. We slept late because, well, we really didn't have any confirmed plans and we are real tired this trip. I have had a hard time keeping up with the blog because I fall asleep sitting straight up every night. And, fall asleep sitting straight up in the car every day. I'm not as young as I used to be, y'all.
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| D.O.N.E. |
After our daily loading of the bags, we headed to Sonoma in time for lunch. After exploring the cute little downtown we settled on a lunch spot, The Sunflower Cafe. Mr. Bullington and I had no trouble deciding on what deliciousness to choose, but trying to persuade Master Thomas to choose between the Smoked Duck Bahn Mi and the Roasted Garlic Hummus Vegan Wrap proved more of a challenge. He chose to dine on dreams and fresh air, washed down with a Mexican Coke.
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| Panzanella with Feta foam! Yum! |
Mr. Bullington and I have very fond memories of our last trip to Napa/Sonoma, but that was 18 years ago! We remembered a few of the wineries that we'd visited back in the day and then I cross referenced those with a list of "family friendly wineries". It turned out to be a pretty short list, probably due to the groups of mamas on lady away days that don't want crumb crunchers underfoot at the wineries. I get it. If there'd been a Care.com Sonoma hotline, I would've been burning it up. This was day 9 after all. Only one day short of day 10, when mama or daddy has a hissy-fit and has to time-out themselves because sometimes being in a car for 10 days just makes you want to poke your eye out or the eye of a loved one. So anyhoo, we settled on Viansa. It is a lovely winery that resembles a Italian Villa but built in California. It has lots of "outside" space. You know, so we can teach the children about farming and agriculture as well as limit the disturbance to our wine-loving comrades. Fun was had by some! And I can rest easily having provided an opportunity for my children to be bored and displeased. Building character ALL up in here! When they pay for vacation, they choose the destination!
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| These are grapes. They aren't just for Jelly. Lesson adjourned. |
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| We'll just sit right here..... |
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| Alright children, sit right here and watch these grapes grow. Mama and Daddy need to tend to some business. |
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| Okay, you can at least sit in the air condition. |
The parents Bullington did try to redeem themselves with a Safari! Say what?!?! You are saying, "Fool, you are a long way from the African Savanna!" One would think that, and one would be right. But, if you travel to Safari West right outside of Santa Rosa, you can experience the wilds of Africa, sorta. I try to never plan activities that resemble things that we can do at home. In this case, a zoo. "Will this look like the zoo?", I asked myself in my head voice. The website assured me that this was not a zoo! It is a 600 acre wildlife habitat that you can see perched atop of an old jeep from the Korean war. You can't get that in Marietta!
The Safari is set up so that your guide drives you through different zones, kinda like Jurassic Park but with more Antelopes and zero Velociraptors (that I know of). The only thing between you and the animals is a hope and a prayer. The tour guide did an excellent job of teaching us about the the habitats and some of the over 600 species that live on the preserve. The climate of Safari West mirrored that of the Sahara because it was hotter than Jalapeno eye-wash! But, it was a dry heat, so you didn't feel like were drowning in a hot humid sauna of death, but cooking to death in a pizza oven.
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| This lady was enormous |
We capped off the day with some Mexican food. I wonder what we will do tomorrow?!?! Seriously........
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