Day 3 Highlights and the final Surprise

 

Sunday we went on a nice drive.  First we went to the beach at Bodega Bay.  At this beach the roadway sat up really high above the water and there was a cliff dropoff.  We had to walk down this really steep and slippery embankment to get down to the water.  When we got down the hill we took off our shoes and walked up the beach a ways.  There were tons of surfers in the water.  Scattered on the beach were seaweed flower remnants that had washed up on shore.  The video below is Aaron playing with one of them like a whip.  The sand was super soft and the water was freezing.

 There were these crazy little birds that were eating stuff in the sand that had been washed up by the surf.  It was so funny to watch them because they all would run away from the water each time that a wave came in.  And then as the water rushed back out they would frantically start pecking at the sand and chasing the water back out.  They just kept doing this over and over again.

 There were a bunch of dead jelly fish washed up on the shore as well.  They were about the size of a softball and looked like a breast inplant thing.  They looked weird and I did not know if it was ok to touch them so I just kept my distance.  This little guy still had his tentacles attached.  They weren't very long, so I am not sure what that means.  I have heard however that the bigger the jelly is that the less of a punch that it packs.

After our drive out to the shore we took all the back roads back to Napa.  It was so pretty driving through the country side.  We saw tons of apple orchards and pumpkin patches.  We stopped in hippie towns and had a lot of fun seeing the country.  After arriving back in Napa we met up with Jay again and went to the Miner, Folie a Duex, and Silverado wineries.  All very different wines and very different atmospheres.  Loved it.  Next I knew that Aaron had made dinner reservations for us somewhere, so we abandoned Jay and went to go have dinner. 

We parked in town next to this market that we had gone to the day before.  This market had a nice restaurant and so I was pretty excited to go there, when Aaron started walking in the opposite direction.  I had no idea where he was taking me but it didn't take long to figure out that we were walking towards the train station.  We were going on a dinner train ride up the valley.  I was sitting in the lobby waiting to board the train and listening to the guy give his spiel  about the history of the train.  He said that they just built this bridge outside on the way to the train platform and decided to do something called a "love lock" with the bridge.  Apparently this is a big thing in Europe.  What you do is you have a pad lock that symbolizes your love and you close the lock on the bridge and throw away the keys.  This way your love is locked forever.  So I immediately jumped up and went back into the gift shop to buy one of these silly locks.  Aaron engraved it with our names and the date. 

  We locked the lock on the bridge and then headed out to our fun train ride. The dinner was amazing.  We started out with a meat, fruit and cheese plate.  Then we had a salad with walnuts and goat cheese and other goodies.  Next came the Italian ice stuff to "cleanse the palate".  For our entree Aaron got the lamb (gross) and I got the yellow tail something or other.  Aaron claims that his was delicious, but eating a baby I am not really sure how that is possible and mine was melt in your mouth good.  The fish was such the perfect choice.

 After dinner this man walked by us on his way to the dessert car.  As he was walking he knocked over a class at the table across from ours.  It was really hard to walk in a straight line on the train.  Aaron got up and set up the glass.  I thought that he was going to come over and sit with me so I started clearing off the chair next to me.  Instead he moves the chair out of the way, starts pulling something out of his pocket and gets down on one knee.  This all happened so quickly and I started crying.  I knew what was coming.  Aaron grabbed my right hand and started to say "Kara Jones will..." and I interrupted him and told him that he had the wrong hand.  He grabbed the other hand and said " Kara Jones will you marry me?"  I was crying so hard at this point that I was not even able to answer him I just grabbed him and hugged him and shook my head yes into his shirt.  He said I take that as a yes and I pulled away from him and told him that yes I would marry him.  I was laughing an crying.  By this time more people are walking by us on the train and they realize as Aaron is sitting halfway out in the aisle that he just proposed to me.  And they are all ooohhing and ahhhhing.  It was so funny.  About this time our waitress comes back and she asks if she just missed something.  Aaron told her what happened and she started crying.  She was so sweet and came over to give me a hug.  It was a really nice romantic moment and setting for the two of us.  I am so happy that I am going to be Mrs. Brown.  I could not have made a better choice in a lifelong partner.

 

We have been talking for the past year on what we want to do for a wedding. We met on a camping trip where we 4wheeled to the top of Mt. Bross.  This is a 14er in the central part of Colorado.  We thought that it might be fun to take the whole family and whoever else can make it and drive to the top of Mt. Bross get married come back down and do a big reception and party in Alma.  So the tentative plan, hopefully it is feasible, is to do this in August of next year.  I want to just thank everyone who knew about this and kept it a secret for so long.  It took a lot of planning on Aaron's part and I was completely surprised and excited when I found out what he has been up to these past few months.  I love him so much and am so grateful to have such a wonderful loving man in my life.

Take care everyone.

Love, Kara

Day 2 Highlights

Day 2 was a whirl. We went to napa and toured the valley with Jay. He is working at Plumpjack winery  and it was really great seeing our old friend so unexpectedly. Jay was present when Aaron and I first met over two years ago. It was fun catching up. I stomped on the grapes like Lucy at the Grgich winery. Personally not a big fan of the wine but getting my feet dirty was fun. I got to make a souvenier t shirt with my feet prints. Then Aaron and I ended out the day at Chevys for a quick meal. I like their cookbook (thanks Jim) better than the restaurant. Nice relaxing, early night after that. I can't wait to see what Sunday has in store.

Day 1 Highlights

Day 1 was a blast. Toured the city. Hit up a museum and the wharf and a lot of walking. Having fun at Stinton beach right now with a long ride ahead of us back to the hotel.

Part 2 secret vacation

I was filled in on the next part of the plan. So exciting. Aaron told me that we are renting a car and touring wine country for the weekend. I love my boyfriend and am so glad I made good clothing choices. We are going to tour San Fran tomorrow. Does anyone have any suggestions? Or must see's?

Aaron told me that next time he is going to tell me the full plan up front because I was jumping up and down in the airport. He said I wad embarrassing him in public. I told him that he wouldn't love me any other way.

Tomorrow we are still working out a plan but it looks like we will come back down to San Fran to tour the city. We will go to the wharf for sure and ride on a trolly car. Maybe we'll get some salt water taffy. Yum. on the way back to our hotel in Vacaville we will take the coastal highway. I am so excited I want to pee myself.

Saturday we will drive to Sonoma and go to different wineries. Maybe I will get to tour the vineyard like I've always wanted to do. See the process from dirt to cork. Sunday is our two year anniversary and we are spending it in Napa. Aaron has dinner plans for us that night in Napa. After that we will head back into San Fran to spend the night and dully come home on monday. I already wish we were staying longer. So much fun to be had. I will post pictures in the daylight. Have a fabulous weekend everyone.

Part 1 secret vacation

Aaron spilled the beans finally. We're flying to San Francisco. From there the surprises continue. Aaron said that is not our final destination. Whoo hoo!!!

Super Secret Special Trip

Aaron has been planning a trip for me/us for a while.  He started planning it right before I graduated from school.  He says that it is a celebration of all that I have accomplished and that I deserve a nice vacation with just him and I.  We always go to visit family or drive somewhere to stay, but this time it is just us.  We are flying to some secret location and going to have a fabulous time.

Here is the plan as I know it.  Aaron is going to tell me tonight what to pack.  Tomorrow we fly out about 6 pm.  So as soon as we are at the airport I will know our location.  Hard to keep it a secret when we are sitting in front of a gate with the destination on it. :-)  So from there he says that he has a bunch of ideas for what we will be doing during the day, but I can have some input on that.  He booked us a hotel and has changed the reservations twice trying to get it just the way that he wants it.  I know that it is going to be great where ever we go and whatever we do.  Aaron is a very good planner (sometimes).  But he has his mind set on this one so I am sure that it will be great.

Stay tuned and I will post more info as I get it dished to me.  Take care and have a nice weekend.

Kara

Boston

It would have been really great if I would have learned to do my blog by phone before I left for Boston, but alas I did not.  I am writting now though.  Aaron and I went on a 5 day, 4 night adventure to Boston.  It was a great time and we got to see a lot of sites.  I will post some pictures later as soon as I have a chance to download them.  But in the meantime I will give you a synopsis of our trip. 

On Thursday we flew in and found our hotel (beautiful view from the 23rd floor).  Then we went on a walk up to Quincy market and the North End.  The north end is the italian district.  It was so cool with everyone out in the streets.  It was a very lively place with streets that smelled like heaven (aka garlic and bread).  We went to a place called Ristorante Ricardo.  The food was good, but unfortunately I did not like what I ordered.  Then we went to the place called Mike's Pastries.  We got a cannoli and a lobster tail.  They were both cream filled goodness.

On Friday we took the Emily tour (the friend that we stayed with the rest of our trip) of Boston.  We did most of the Freedom trail and had lunch in Qunicy Market.  When we left town we rode the subway back to Emily's car and headed out to what she called "the country".  I am still convinced that it is basically a suburb of Boston.  The only difference between what we call a suburb in Denver and what they call the country in Boston is the fact that you cannot see anything past the road that you are on because of all the damn trees.  While I am on this subject - I do not like the fact that you cannot see anything past the street that you are on.  I mean I like trees and all but there is no real change in elevation so you never get over the tops of trees to see anything.  It feels like you are constantly going through one of those hedge mazes.  It was getting to the point of being claustrophobic for me. 

On Saturday we took a drive to the north shore and got to see some fishing towns.  We went to Rockport and Ipswitch.  Rockport is apparently where they filmed part of the movie The Proposal and Ipswitch is famous for their "Crabshack".  I would not recommend it however unless you want a heart attack on your way out the door.  My only regret to the north shore is that we did not get any fresh seafood.  I wanted them to cook a live lobster in front of me and chow down on it.  Next time.

On Sunday we went to relive history.  We went and saw where Paul Revere did his night ride and saw where the first shots were fired.  Seeing the birthplace of America's freedom was a very cool thing.  And knowing that they are trying (now) to preserve this history is an amazing thing.  We also went to a farm.  There are actual farms there and they make and harvest everything and sell it out of their shop/barn thing.  They are super busy places and have the most tastey apple cider donuts and fresh apple cider.  Aaron and I decided that if we lived there we would be broke and fat.  The Nashoba Winery was a fun place to visit.  They are still new brewing their own beers, so they are yucky.  I would give them a few years to get better at it.  The fruit wines were delicious and refreshing.  I would also recommend the spirits (mostly the brandys, but not the vodka).  The peach brandy is so refreshing and crisp that I really wish that I could have one on a hot day while sitting in the shade.

On Monday Emily took us to the airport prior to the sun being up and then we headed home.  Our flight landed 50 minutes early.  Must have been good weather.  Anyway if you have not been to the Boston area I would highly recommend it, but make sure that you get the lobster!