The last couple of days have been awesome and as
year of 2014 is coming to a close I feel that I deserve this time off and just
be happy and merry for just no particular reason.
This year 2014 did not start so great for me. I was
grumpy and moody and I had lots of valid reasons for that too. Of course it was
much better off than 2013, so am not complaining much. Still lots of things
happened in 2014 and it will be always a very special year for us.I was wondering how this year end up would when a couple friends decided that they will stay over for about a week and just go around the bay area. To add to that delight was a sudden self-invited guest who was a bachelor. I felt as if Santa Claus was coming to my home as it was a big surprise for us .So thus began our so called happy holidays which were a blessing for us because we never planned any for ourselves , otherwise.
So the couple friend reached late evening though
they were planning to come to our home around lunch time. Also, we picked up
the bachelor guy from the airport and so the more the merrier ….
I had prepared only vegetarian food and later felt
that was such a bad choice as they happened to be pure non vegetarians! Anyways,
later we did order lots of non-veg food and had a good late night dinner
enjoying both veg as well as non-veg food along with some good booze .The next day being the Christmas Eve, we decided that we shall go see the Napa valley. We started from home early and Napa was only about 2 hours’ drive from the starting point. The weather was so beautiful. We played the game ‘Guess who “ on our way which was a game were one person has to guess a person and the others had to find out who that person in about 20 questions …it was so much fun and we didn’t realize how quickly we reached the destination . We went straight to a place called “Calistoga “and went to the castle there. We didn’t take any tour as none of us were in a mood for it. But we were all so excited to taste the wine. I too tasted wine I guess for the first time in my life! Of course I had sipped wine before but was never so fond of it. I thought I should not miss the opportunity to taste the Napa valley wine and oh boy! It was magical … I don’t know if it was because of my first time feeling tipsy, ha! But altogether the whole experience made me so happy! We tasted reserve wine along with the normal ones. I enjoyed the sweet wine a lot though I don’t remember the names of any of them now … The guy who served us was so graceful and kept telling us how it was made etc. , and I was so impressed with his knowledge . I was happy that all the sweetness of wine is not by adding any artificial sugar but from the gapes itself .I asked him for suggestions as to which are the wines I needed to try first and the sequence of checking out the wine list so that I could enjoy the taste the most. I figured out that I enjoyed the sweet wines the best! And H seemed to enjoy a strong taste, better. He asked us if we were a couple and married and we said yes. Immediately he said that soon we will be blessed with a child! I didn’t know what to say! I was so touched by his statement. I was so over the board with happiness and got slightly emotional that I blabbered and muttered something like “thanks “, “ I hope your words come true “ I wanted to say something like “ I hope you have sugar in your mouth “( there is a saying in another language which meant something like –“I hope your words are true “, and I was just trying the raw translation, how stupid !, I guess I got so excited ) , I started the statement and later on realized that I was not making any sense , and kept quiet feeling slightly foolish and the guy would have wondered why this silly girl is gleaming with his comment !!!! Ha... but I was indeed happy … We were all pondering as to whether we should buy any wine or not as they were so expensive crossing 80 dollars/ wine. Of course they were too good and I felt the price is reasonable but all of us opted out, finally. Also the others were little concerned as to how they will carry wines in flight and will it break etc. etc... I have definitely vouched myself that I will come back soon and will buy some wine and enjoy the taste of Napa from the comforts of the sofa at my home …. I hope that day comes soon.
I don’t know what to write about Napa … everything
is so beautiful... it’s like a country side I have never visited but have seen many
a times in movies... Food is expensive; hence we didn’t do any proper dining.
We found a Nepalese restaurant, and decided to try out their food. The food is
very similar to Indian food. We ordered garlic naan, along with mutton and
chicken curry. Along with that we ate some rice and everything was simply delicious.
It was slightly expensive, but thought may be that should be expected in Napa
considering that it is such a tourist destination. We wanted to try out another
wine place but it was getting close to 5 pm and it was Christmas Eve, so all
the shops were closed. We did travel down to another place and found that place
closed... Anyways having decided that we should now head back home , we bid bye’s to Napa and its serenity and started our
“guess who “ game which we continued till we reached home . The guys went to
pick aapam and lots of non-veg curry from apakadai , and the taste was just out
of the world! … They went on to make it a party happening night with drinks
while I was so exhausted that I slept after dinner... I slept off in the car
too and I wonder now if it was due to the tasty wine or the sumptuous food we
had in the Nepali hotel …
The next day we got up slightly late. It was
Christmas day and we knew that all the restaurants were closed. We had some
bananas as breakfast and then headed out to see SFO down town. We saw the
golden gate from marinas, but it was dark, so we couldn’t take lots of pictures.
We just drove around SFO downtown but there was too much traffic by night we
decided to wind the day getting some food again from apakadai and had a nice
relaxing dinner. We went to sleep little early as we were planning to go to Yosemite
the next day ….We got up early and rented an SUV. We played the “Guess who “game and stopped along the way for food and coffee.
We didn’t go to the Yosemite lodge directly. We had only planned to reach there by night. We entered Yosemite from the west entrance, and saw the bridal vein fall first. We stopped to take lots of pics...We went to the nearby visitor center and collected information as to the places we could see that day. The guide told us that we could see the half dome during sun set. It was such a breath taking view that I have no words to describe. I thank the guide who gave such an excellent suggestion. We winded up that day’s trip going to the cedar lodge in el portal. There were restaurant nearby and we ordered some sandwiches. The food was not that great and they delayed the food over 2 hours!!! Not just us but all the people in that place were waiting to get food .Finally when the food came it was not that warm. I think their oven or microwave had gone bad. I saw lots of people shouting at the chef, though we quietly ate and decided to head back to the room. We have seen poor reviews of the lodge and didn’t know what to expect but we were pleasantly surprised! The room was neat and clean, had continues supply of hot water, had a lavish big bath room, tub as well as shower (I think we had paid little extra to get this room)…We watched TV for some time, and boys ended up together drinking and chatting. The next day morning we saw the Yosemite tunnel view and it was extremely serene and beautiful. I loved the drive to mariposa grove. It was snowy and slippery, but thankfully had no rains that day...The snow made it difficult to walk and heavy winds slashed our faces. In spite of the freezing cold weather, I still enjoyed the walk up to the top to see lots of points on the mariposa grove. I feel this is a must see if you are going to Yosemite...We headed back after that and stopped somewhere near by to have some snacks like bread and coffee. After that we resumed our journey and took food from paradise point. We ordered 2 chicken biryani and 2 mutton biryani and ordered it extra hot. Though we went red with the spice drank gallons of water to control the spice in the mouth, the food tasted great after such a tiring day.
The next day the couple friend had to go back to Los
Angeles and from there to San Diego. We started our morning with food from Madurai
idly kadai, which is a best way to start any day with awesome south Indian breakfast.
We took the US 1 and went to see the pebble beach. Though we didn’t get to see
the pebble beach as there was some confusion about the road, we enjoyed the
other beach points...We took the 17 mile drive and stopped at many points to
take pics. We also saw whales from far splashing water into the ocean which was
a surprise sight for us and of course unexpected. The day was bright and sunny
though cold... After that we headed to Big Sur. I had been to Big Sur before
but somehow this time it felt more beautiful. We stopped to take pics and were swamped
with tourists. We decided to travel with the couple friend along with the bachelor
friend (in our car), to see the Hurst castle. It was beginning to get dark and
the winding roads made it difficult to drive faster. Also the speed limit restrictions,
made us move very slowly. The sun kept going down and I saw a sight which I had
never seen live but seen a lot in pics. The sky got the crimson red color. My
god! I wish I could stare at it for hours together...Each minute of the sun
set, the sky threw different colors as if exhibiting its beauty and I was dumb
struck with her beauty. I have seen so many paintings but such a view is to die
for! This time around I didn’t bother taking any pics but just enjoyed those
rare moments .We had seen a Yosemite movie in the visitor center where we had
bought souvenirs. The movie tells us how important it is to preserve the nature
and I thank the government and the people for keeping Yosemite so accessible ,
neat beautiful and untouched .. Yosemite
and Napa valley are a must see if you are coming to the bay area. We didn’t
bother going to Hurst castle as we knew that it was dark and we would not be able
to see the castle anyways. Both the cars stopped half way (as they were in
their car, and we in ours) and we decided to quietly wind up that day’s evening
enjoying the setting sun. We said our byes and they headed to Los Angeles and
we three headed back home. On our way we decided to find a police station to
give back a lost phone which we got from Yosemite.
The next day H dropped our bachelor friend to SFO
airport where he was to take a flight to Michigan, H then went to work, and
also gave back the lost phone which we could not give the previous night as stations
were closed. I hope it reaches the owner. They would be so happy to get it.This time, my vacation was so different from the ones I usually take...Usually H and I would be enthusiastically zooming the places. This time we decided to take a step back and go with the flow of our friends as they didn’t want a rushed vacation. I would say I like both the types. Both have their own sort of fun.
Anyways, as I wind up the vacation time, I feel so happy and relaxed and so serene... I feel I took a little bit of strength of Yosemite, little bit of calmness from the sunset and little bit of peacefulness from the Napa valley into me. I hope that this stays with me all through the months next year .Nature always reminds us it is supreme and we need to respect and stay calm. Things will take its own course and everything will fall into place in the end. Then why do I always rush and disturb the peace in me?? Peacefulness inside is such a difficult thing to achieve and now that I feel little peaceful I hope I don’t lose it for the next year. I wish the best for myself the next year. I always wish the best for all, forgetting that I need to wish for myself too... This time around let me wish that beautiful things happen next year and I enjoy each and every moment of my peacefulness for now and for ever ….
