Northern California Instagram Roundup

Wow, it sure has been a while since I last sat down to publish a travel blog post on Corking Around!  Time flies when you're busy planning your wedding, getting married, honeymooning, and meeting deadlines at work!  For those who don't know, my now husband and I got married at the end of June at a local winery with our closest family and friends.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect, the food was delicious, the wine flowed all night, and we had lovely company!  A week after we got married we jetsetted off to Northern California for our honeymoon!  I finally have some time to share my Instagram photos with you from our trip.  Don't worry, there will be more substantial posts in the future!

We started off in San Francisco.  One of my "must do" activities was to finally try a real bowl of ramen for the first time--none of this instant noodle stuff from the grocery stores!  I loved it!  And spicy sure does mean spicy!

We also rented a tandem bike for a few hours in the city to do bike across the Golden Gate Bridge and back, which is something everyone should do when they visit the Bay area!

Then we drove off to Sonoma where we tasted wine at Matanzas Creek Winery where I actually found a Sauvignon Blanc that I like!  Let's just say New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs just aren't for me.  To add to the obviously well balanced wines Matanzas Creek has a splendidly idyllic lavender garden, which the bees and I just loved.

Of course, when visiting Sonoma you also have to check out Napa.  One of our stops was at Chateau Montelena, a winery that put California wines on the map at a blind tasting in 1976 against French wines.  I recommend that you watch Bottleshock for a dramatized account of that event.

We then took a canoe trip down the Russian River.  It was our first time canoeing together (we usually kayak) and I was quite proud of our synchronization.  Plus it was nice to get a little bit of exercise after drinking all of that wine!

If you haven't been to Mendocino, a small coastal town, do it.  It's so quaint and the views from the cliffs are gorgeous, even on a windy, cloudy day as seen here.  I absolutely loved it here and wished we could have stayed one more day.

Seeing the coastal redwoods in Humboldt Redwoods State Park was a giant item to cross off of my bucket list.  They are awe-inspiring in person and it's mind boggling how old they are, much less how high they reach for the sky.  Fun fact: this is where the speeder bike chase scene in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was filmed.

Another view of Humboldt Redwoods State Park.  There's one trail that has an incredible amount of sorrel as ground cover.

This is a cropped panoramic shot of Cinder Cone in Lassen Volcanic National Park.  The hike itself was easy until we had to climb up the side of the cinder cone, but the [super windy] view was worth it.

We also stayed in a renovated caboose as our hotel for a couple of nights in Dunsmuir.  What a unique experience.

Of course visiting Northern California wouldn't be complete with a trip to the infamous Lake Tahoe.

We visited Mono Lake, which is known for its tufa tower deposits, right outside of Yosemite.

The very last place we visited was Yosemite.  Let me tell you, hiking a mile and more above sea level sure isn't easy when you live your live close to sea level.  But finding this river was worth it.

And the ever iconic Yosemite Falls.  Stunning.

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