MONDAY | It was a non-eventful morning in Sonoma as we packed up and headed on our way north. We were however excited for the day because May driving up from San Fran to take us winery hopping. She selected Matanzas Creek Winery as our meeting point but was running behind scheduled so she encouraged us to get started without her. In our own private dining room overlooking the vineyard we went the wine & cheese paring option. Midway through our taste sensation May arrived and joined us with a glass of wine. As we enjoyed our beverages & cheese we caught up on all that happened in the few days we'd been apart. After dropping the car at our Airbnb in town May kindly chauffeured us out to J's Winery Estate. Known for their array of Sparkling’s we concurred the only appropriate option was to try a few of the them. We were ushered into a fancy tasting room and where we watched us our flight was prepped. Then came the tasting portion of the afternoon. With nothing but time for us three ladies of leisure we took our time sipping our sparkling and gasbagging about life. By the time, we were done the day was well on its way to being over so back into town we ventured where it was unfortunately time to say goodbye to May. On the lawn of our Airbnb we hugged it out and made promises to be reunited again. Our accommodation for the next couple of evenings was a room inside a art-deco styled bungalow. Hosted by Hermine the decor reflected her eclectic and bubbly personality. Once we'd scoped out the room we were up on our feet wandering through the neighbourhood on our way to dinner. It was pleasant walk to Bird & The Bottle given the size and character of the homes in the area. Dinner was an array of tapas dishes we enjoyed at high table whilst people watching the locals that occupied all the tables around us. Post meal we swung by the Grocery Outlet for some toiletries and we couldn't help snag some chocolate for our walk back through the pristine hood. We munched on sweets as we strolled past the manicured lawns and sprawling homes. With only the space of our bedroom to occupy in the house and no TV in our room, we were tucked up in bed just after the sun had disappeared. TUESDAY | The day got off to a semi-rough start due to a run in with the Airbnb host. She's advertised that there were bikes available to be ridden and so in the morning I ventured out to the kitchen to enquire about borrowing a couple for the day. I caught her in between phone calls and as she snarled at me that she'd "deal with me and then bike request later" I realised that perhaps we'd caught her in the middle if something. I retreated to the room feeling like a scolded child before hitting the showers to wash away my unease. Whilst that was happening in her huffy mood she came and showed Ash where the bikes where. Over and over she reiterated how expensive and important they were, demanding that we don't let them out of our site for second, even when we lock them up. The instructions were lengthy and delivered in a way that made us feel like we were the most inconvenient people in the world. When it finally came time to ride them neither of us really could be bothered. But given the horrendous trouble we'd caused Hermine we cruised out onto the roads of Santa Rosa. After navigating some side streets and couple of main roads we made it to our brunch destination, Direk’s midtown cafe, in one piece. We managed to locate a bike rake that could be seen for our table (if you stood up and cranked your neck to the side). Stomachs full and bikes where we left them we were back out causing havoc on the streets of Santa Rosa. With no destination in mind we rode up and down the placid streets and parks of the area for a couple of hours. When we got home mid-afternoon we returned the bikes as we found them then spent some time in our chilling ( aka hiding from Hermine). As the day tipped over into twilight we headed into town to check out its downtown offering. After breezing through the shops our evening venue of choice was Red River Brewery where after the crazy of Hermine and bike adventure we treated ourselves to a beer flight made up of 18 beverages. Midway through we paused for some food before continuing to polish off our drinks. Not ready to call it a night we headed to the nearby town of Sebastopol to soak in some live music at their open mic night at Hopmonk Tavern. As the first singer took the stage and whinged through two covers we knew it wasn't going to be good. As the only people in the room who weren't preforming we felt the right thing to do was stay for an hour. Just as our time was up we were treated to an interval in the form of some spoken word (aka slam poetry aka ansty angry sentences). Once that was wrapped we were out of there and on our way home. We were glad to find the place empty upon return but just as we were prepping for bed Hermine returned home and summonsed us to the living room. In the giddiest of moods she introduced us to her daughter, whom she'd been at a dance class with. Ash eagerly pulled ash in and shimmered against her we were informed it was a Zumba class. She apologised briefly for the mornings clash saying we'd caught her at a bad time and just like that all was well again as she bounced away with her daughter. We happily had an early night as we had a big planned in the morning with a trip to the redwoods planned then into Ashland by dusk. WEDNESDAY | In the morning when we woke to leave we didn't loiter for breakfast, instead we said a brief goodbye to Hermine and piled into the car ready to tackle the miles ahead - but first maccas drive threw for a mcmuffin and hashbrown.
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