Travels

Jessica Jet Sets to Cali: Part V

Well I never thought this day would come… the conclusion to my California trip.  I know, it seems like it’s been since 1987 since I went on the trip, but instead was just a few months ago.

So on our last day it was all about biking to wineries in Sonoma.  I’m not going to lie, I had a little bit of anxiety because I haven’t been on a bike in years and I’m talking about a stationary bike at the gym.  Would I remember how NOT to fall off? Would they have a bike for someone who isn’t the tallest, but isn’t a child’s bike? Only time would tell.

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Meet my bike from Napa Valley Bike Tours. It came with a built in fanny pack for all my things!

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The good news: I remembered how to get on the bike and pedal!
The bad news: the bike was still too big for me. #shortgirlprobz

I’m not going to lie, I was a hot mess express the whole day so I honestly couldn’t give a proper recap on the day except for the following:

  • I was not made to ride bikes. I looked like t-rex trying to ride a bike. It wasn’t pretty.
  • For someone who hadn’t hopped on a bike in about ten years, I managed to bike a little over 13 miles (even if some of that time was spent “walking my bike”)
  • I’d never been so excited to reach each winery so I could sit + numb the pain with wine.
  • I also threatened to call Uber on multiple occasions because I literally thought I was going to pass out in the middle of nowhere.

The 3 wineries that we biked to were Gundach Bundschu WineryBuena Vista Winery + Sebastiani Vineyards.

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Despite thinking I was going to die biking around Sonoma, it was absolutely gorgeous.  It was a perfect ending to a fun + memorable trip with some of the greatest friends.

My Bucket List of Bands

The National

FINALLY!! After a few years The National made it back to Raleigh.  I can officially now mark them off my bucket list of bands I want to see.  P.S. AMAZING show… I would definitely go to another one of their shows.  I’m absolutely smitten with Matt’s voice, he could totally have his own radio show with that deep, smooth voice of his.

Ok, back to the show.  I honestly wasn’t sure how the weather would pan out since we had thunderstorm warnings/ tornado watches out the night of the show.  The skies cleared as soon as we arrived (I missed the first act) and it was smooth sailing from there!

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Despite buying seats I still couldn’t see over all the tall people.  They need to make a section at Red Hat Amphitheater for fun size people like myself.  I always get stuck behind a guy that’s as tall as Shaq.  Not cool.  That’s what I call, “short girl problems.”  Luckily I was able to shuffle around since there were some unsold seats around me and I got a good spot to see the band.  Not only did I get entertainment from the band, but the 50-something year old man in front of me was dancing his heart out and was super crazy.

Here’s some highlights from The National show:

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The National at Red Hat Amphitheater
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The National at Red Hat Amphitheater
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So Matt came out into the audience + walked right by me. This is a photo of him and since I spazzed out taking the picture this is what I got. Fail.

 

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The National at Red Hat Amphitheater
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The National at Red Hat Amphitheater
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The National at Red Hat Amphitheater
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The National closing the show at Red Hat Amphitheater

The National closed out the show with Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks.  You can check out the full video here (I didn’t record the whole song and let’s get real, I’m not a professional videographer).  They are truly a beautiful band… amazing show!

xoxo