California Vacation: Wine, Cheese & REG ??

I recently went on an awesome vacation to San Francisco / Sonoma Valley. It was the most relaxing, most gorgeous vacation of my life thus far. (I plan on having many more!) We flew into San Fran on Saturday. We spent Saturday and Sunday being our own tour guides by giving ourselves a walking tour! What a great city! But sooooo many hills! We definitely got our workouts in. (Not to mention we did take advantage of the hotel gym a few times!)   Monday morning we woke up and headed up to Sonoma Valley.  It is about an hour and half drive. We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. What a treat for this East Coast Girl! As soon as we crossed the bridge we could immediately tell we were out of the city.  Words can't even explain how gorgeous the scenery is out there! I had my head out the window snapping pictures every time we had to drive somewhere.  I just couldn't get enough! (My pictures are now my screen saver on my home computer!)

We could tell as soon as we reached Sonoma Valley. Grapes! As far as the eye could see! For the next three days we enjoyed the scenery and attended wine tastings.  Our tasting included Hanna Winery, Alder Brook Winery and Korbel Champagne Cellars. Hanna was just a wine tasting. It was relaxing to sit on the deck and look out over the vineyards while tasting some fabulous wine. We toured the grounds of Alder Brook and then were treated to a magnificent lunch! While we ate we enjoyed the beautiful views of the vineyards. I had an amazing time at both; however, I personally had the best time at Korbel! Again, we were treated to lunch. (Seriously, the lunches consisted of some of the best food I have ever tasted!) We were able to eat our lunch while enjoying the scenery. Then we were taken on a private VIP tour. The first part was the history of the Korbel Champagne Brand. Who knew the Korbel Brothers didn't set out to make Champagne. But we are sure glad they did! This part is available to the public. If you are ever in Sonoma County I highly suggest this tour and tasting! The second part, which is not open to the public, we were able to take a look at how the champagne is made from start to the finish product in boxes ready to be shipped to the retailer. I really enjoyed seeing how my champagne goes from grapes into that delicious bubbly! These three vineyards were beyond amazing and hospitable! We had a few other wineries that we were scheduled to visit but time did not allow anymore visits or tastings. I suggest any of the wine / champagne they produce!

We headed back to San Francisco. We hopped a train and went down to AT&T Park. Too bad the Giants were away that week. We walked around the outside of the ballpark. If we ever head back to San Francisco we will make sure we either get a tour of the ballpark or go when the Giants are home! After we were done seeing the sites the outside of the ballpark had to offer we went for a walk along the bay. We enjoyed exploring the different piers had to offer. On our last day we walked the Golden Gate Park. Neither of us wanted to come home. We had a wonderful vacation exploring as much as we could fit into our time on the West Coast!

The only thing that could have made our West Coast vacation more enjoyable would be if I didn't have that black cloud of studying for the CPA Exam hanging over my head.  I did bring my REG textbook with me. I had all intentions of studying on the flight. It is 6 hours from East to West! I decided to sleep as much as possible on the way there as I was gaining 3 hours to my day and if you know me at you know I LOVE my sleep.  At night when we were sitting around the hotel rooms watching TV I pulled out my book and started reviewing multiple choice questions. I think I studied about one hour probably every other night out there. I did study on our flight home, as I knew I needed to stay awake so I could get back to east coast time more easily.  Although, studying for REG could have easily put me to sleep! I completed unites 1-4 of my REG studies while on vacation. It might not be much, but I am proud of myself for studying when I much rather be spending time with my husband on vacation. He is so understanding. He left me alone while I was studying for those few hours at night at the hotel. I know he would have rather had been spending time with me then watching TV. But that's the life of a CPA Candidate and their family!

My vacation studying may not have been hardcore but I can promise you and myself that my studies have kicked up since arriving home. I will not let REG or any part of the CPA exam get the best of me. I will give it my all and never give up!