Muir Woods & Napa Valley

My mom was unable visit San Francisco this summer, so she graciously let Henry and me take a weekend to ourselves and plan a road trip adventure on her dime. We decided to travel to Muir Woods National Monument followed by a night in Napa with a winery tour the following day.

Henry and I set up a rental car reservation and received a lovely fire engine red Dodge Journey. Here is Henry modeling with the car during a pit stop to Chick-fil-a! ​

Since Henry and I do not have a car in the city, every time we get to travel in one now is a crazy adventure for us! Being able to travel long distances is really something I don't take for granted now that I've been walking all over the city this summer as my main form of transportation.

We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, missed a turn in Marin, and got to take a lovely scenic detour which allowed us to see residential neighborhoods and beautiful houses in the surrounding area. About 45 minutes later, we found the correct turn and headed towards the parking area for Muir Woods visitors.

Unfortunately, we didn't arrive before about 80% of other travelers did, so we ended up parking 2 miles away and walking along the side of the road to get back to the main entrance. ​

Upon entering the park, we were immediately surrounded by giant Redwoods that were hundreds of years old. We traveled about 3/4 of a mile before splitting off from the main path to travel the Canopy View Trail. This adds about 2 hours to your total hiking time, but it is totally worth it!

​We traveled over bridges, underneath trees, and climbed a decent amount of elevation on wood planks nailed into the ground that serve as makeshift stairs. We even ran into another WashU alumni whom Henry knew on the trail! ​

After Muir Woods, we continued driving north into Wine Country. On Sunday, we visited Robert Mondavi Winery. I had visited this same winery when my family traveled to San Francisco in 2004, so it was cool to be back, even though I didn't remember most of it. ​

Henry and I chose the 30 minute Discovery Tour & Tasting, which included a brief history about the winery, a tour of the cellars and aging rooms, and 2 tastings of the vineyard wines, one red and one white. ​

We hung around the property for another 30 minutes after the tour, since it was such a nice day out (and was much warmer than downtown San Francisco!).

#hiking #nature #SanFrancisco #food #wine