On the Road again...our California Trip

 On the road again….

Day 9 – Head to San Jose the Winchester Mansion….I have seen several documentaries on this Mansion (mostly because My husband watches the History channel and I grew up watching Unsolved Mysteries) and who doesn’t like a good mysterious Ghost Tour!! Stairs that go to nowhere..this is up my alley…

We will then drive to the beautiful city of San Francisco…talk about perfect timing…we have seen it all over the news about the Bay Bridge Light Display…that should be pretty cool to see as well as, the Golden Gate bridge that is actually an Orange color. (I remember first seeing this when I watched Full House on TGIF..that was when television was good on Fridays!!).

 

We will check in our Hotel and play the evening by ear…I didn’t plan too much because, I wasn’t sure what we would come across on our journey to San Francisco.  We will eat some place Magically Delicious I am sure!!

Day 10 – We will do a Self Tour of San Francisco…we will try to be at the Sunday Farmers Market, Fisherman’s Warf, Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, We have to see the St. Martians Hotel (from Interview with a Vampire), Market Street, China Town for Dim Sum, Ride a Cable Car, watch the Seals at Pier 39 and the Painted Ladies Victorian Homes (as seen from Full House – the Tanners)…Take the 21 bus from Union Square to Steiner & Hayes. Then we will hop on our Nimbus 2013's and fly to hogsmeade for a mug of Butter Beer.

Our last stop will be at Alcatraz for the Evening Tour…should be pretty cool!!

Day 11 – We say goodbye and we each fly back home. Momma and I talk everyday and go over our plans and what we will bring…we are both very excited to get to do this together!!  I know this is a trip we will cherish in our hearts!

Thank you for reading our trip to Forks, WA and our Trip to California.

Again..most of the pictures I posted so far... I got from google images.  I altered a few with good old paint. Please don't copy for retail.

Next on the Agenda...Momma-Daughter Trip to Forks, WA

Our Mother Daughter Trip planning continues…

Day 5 – Port Angeles…whatever we didn’t get to do the day before we will do this day. 

We will check out the dresses at the “Prom Shop” Black Diamond Bridal.  My mom & I are avid thrift store junkies…we LOVE a good thrift store..so I have found a few in Port Angeles…Salvation Army, Port Angeles Goodwill (or as we call it back home the “GW”), St. Vincent De Paul.  I read the Dazzled by twilight store burned down..so I don’t guess we will get to do much shopping there…

We will have Lunch at “Edward & Bella’s” date place – Bella Italia (for mushroom ravioli).  I have a note on the agenda to keep an eye out for “the Alley” where Edward saved Bella in his “Stupid Shiny Volvo”.After that..we will drive back to Seattle and check in our hotel..get freshened up and explore the evening keeping our eye out for a good place to eat.

Day 6…See Seattle in a Day…this is the plan..enter the places in the GPS and EXPLORE!!

Boeing Field

Tour Fremont

West Seattle View Point

Lake Union Houseboats

Home Stadiums for Mariners and Seahawks

Pioneer Square

Pike Place Market

Seattle Down Town

Space Needle

Queen Anne Hill

Ballard Locks

Fisherman Terminal

We will return the rental car..

Day 7…Amtrak Day…we will take the Amtrak to Sacramento, CA (this is the Harry Potter experience of our trip) even though we are diabetics..we will have to have a little bit of Chocolate (chocolate frog, package of droobles  or  pumpkin pasties to make us feel better from the Dementors ~Professor Lupin said so)…but we won’t say it in the cute Harry Potter accent..but our Southern Belle ones..” bless your heart”..

We will be staying in a sleeper cart, since the ride is over night.  I’ve never done this before...another check mark off my bucket list. 

Momma & I plan to watch the movie ‘The Woman in Black”..just because J  We are excited to eat on the train too…such a neat experience!

Day 8..we should arrive at 6:30 AM “JEALOUS” IN Sacramento, CA..we head to pick up our new rental car. 

I found a Knitting store just for Momma called “Rumpelstiltskin”..cute! and I found online Beverly’s Scrapbooking store in the downtown area~ just for me...we should check it out!! We then will drive to Vacaville and Fairfield, where momma can show me where I was born at..pretty exciting!!  We will also eat at a Red Robin..they show commercials back home of this place and there is not a Red Robin anywhere near either one of us. We want to see what is so “Yum” about it.  Another stop to a yarn store called Spin a yarn.  Then it is off to Napa Valley.  We will stop at a Trader Joes and the Oxbow Public Market (this store looks pretty cool online) Momma saw this on Oprah. We are going to try it out..we are staying at the Napa Valley Railway Inn. (Momma says there is a great bakery near it...YUM!)

 I left this one up to my mom..but we are going to visit a winery (I gave her a list to pick from)..

here is my list;

Napa:

Robert Mondavi Winery

St. Supery

V. Sattui Winery

Beringer Winery

Castillo de Amorisa

Sterling winery – gondola ride

Sonoma :

Buena Vista Carneros Winery

Iron Horse Vineyard

Ledson Winery & Vineyard 

Might stop for a Delicious Tasty Beverage (aka “DTB”) at Dean & Deluca 

Come back to see what we have planned next…

The planning continues...Dorks from Forks trip

Since we are staying in a Cabin we plan to take full advantage of the camping atmosphere…so we are planning our recipes and shopping list…

The Packing List…I am a super packer!! I am prepared for anything and everything!! This list seems to grow and grow and my luggage is running out of room!

I am also working on a playlist for our trip..lots of Twilight Saga music to get us in the mood!

Day 3… We are planning to visit Forks, WA (Forks Outfitters, the Swan House – have a Picnic in the HOH rainforest.  There is a Sheep yarn farm across from the cabins we are staying at & we are going to try to sneak a peek. We also plan to visit La Push (Old Mill Trading Post, The treaty Line, First Beach / Ruby Beach)

Day 4…Because we are close to Canada and I have never been there (check mark on my bucket list) – We are going to Victoria Canada…bring the passports!! We are taking a Ferry to Victoria…We plan to eat at a place called Red Fish Blue Fish (I though the name was cute like Dr. Seuss) for Fish and Chip

…there is this adorable store called ‘Button & Needlework Boutique‘ just for momma…we might check out the Fountains at the Provincial Government Buildings and a short walk from downtown is supposed to be one of the most beautiful parks…Beacon Hill.

(Depending on we do with time we may take a cab ride to Hatley Castle or Fort Rod Hill. 

We will take the Ferry back to Port Angeles and while there, visit the Odyssey Bookshop (where Bella bought the book about the ‘Quileute Tribe and the Cold Ones’. We will also check out the Bay Variety Store and Armory Square Shopping Mall. 

We might cook in the cabin or we might eat at the Downriggers Restaurant..just depends on how we feel that day. 

Stay tuned to see what we have planned next!!

note: I am not taking any credit for the pictures right now, because none of them came from my camera & I didn’t take any of them ‘YET’ but I am sharing them from other web sites…so please don’t copy for retail

The Dorks from Forks – our Momma and Daughter Trip in March 2013 (Southern Belle’s visit Forks, WA to San Francisco, CA)

So my mom & I have planned our trip to the West Side of the USA for the End of March…she is flying in from New Orleans, LA and I will be flying in from Savannah, GA. 

How I start to plan...

I started the planning by getting a basic idea of what we want to do. From there I use Google to help me plan the rest.  To get ideas on what you can do in these places you are looking to visit... search other peoples trips, by typing in “my forks trip blog” in a search site…there you can read about what other people did on their trip…  Then write down a list of the places you want to visit, I use Google maps – directions.  I put in each place we want to visit…then I organize them by the most convenient route.  Now you have a plan…(you’ll want to research hours of operations on the places you want to visit, because it can become a bit of a pickle.)  To make your trip even more planned out...zoom in on the street map near a place you would like to visit and see what is near or around...you can see restaurants, shopping or even places to stay. Another good tip is to search the City's Web site and see what they suggest to do. I also like to search "thing to do in ____" and "things not to do in ____" & "best kept secrets of ____"...by organizing and planning your trip you will be surprised how much you can do in a place and always leave room to add on and/or change your plans..you are on Vacation!

The Dorks from Forks – our Momma and Daughter Trip in March 2013

I am so excited about our trip...I love to do research, create binders, labels, tabs, maps, charts..you name it…I LOVE to plot and plan our trips..if my momma would let me I would do it by every second..but she requires me to leave some down time and not so much planned back to back (I learned this from our Las Vegas trip in 2002) So I have made us a Red binder organizing our flights, tickets, maps, reservations, packing list, important phone numbers etc..  I also made Forks themed luggage tags and a Fun activity book with Coloring Pages, Puzzles and matching Crayon box I decorated in a Twilight theme (I wanted to re-label the crayons with Twilight verbiage..but I stopped myself..might be going too far there).  We have a smaller Agenda flip book that is laminated, so if it gets wet (no panicking)..it is still safe and conveniently travels in your pocket book (aka-purse). I already packed my suit case and carry on & we still have 16 days to go.  It too is organized by pants, leggings, skirts, sweaters, shirts under shirts…I have an order I need to have it in..it just fits better)

So..here is our plan for the first couple of days of our trip…We are calling it the “Dorks from Forks – Mother & Daughter Trip”…(I’ll share the inside joke on this..as my mom & I are decent obsessors of the Twilight Saga…my momma ordered us baseball shirts from the actual High School Forks…well when the Movies came out in the theaters..we were wearing our super awesome shirts..and for some reason, one of the days we went..we were the ONLY ones wearing MATCHING Twilight type shirts…(my dad, my mom & I)…so my momma called us the “Dorks from Forks”..we all got a giggle out of that)…ahhh Good times!!

Back to our trip…

The plan is to arrive in Seattle, WA and spend the night, because my momma’s flight gets in really late.  We will drive from Seattle, WA towards the Forks area – heading to Sappho, WA.  We are staying at the Beaver Creek Cabins in Sappho, WA.  Along the way, we will stop for a bite at the Fat Smitty eatery in Port Townsend, WA…our next stop will be to the town of Port Gamble (visit the General Store..because it is too cute for words!) After that we will continue to drive  and then stop in Sequim, WA to see the Lavender Capital of North America..maybe stop at the Purple Haze Lavender Farm…Once we check-in the Beaver Creek Cabins and get freshened up…we may go take a peek at Forks, WA. The evening agenda...we must take our picture by the  Forks Sign, Forks High School, City Hall/Police Station & Forks Community Hospital.

-Stay tuned to see what we are planning next!!