Wooo Hooo! Went surfing for the first time! Sam and I thought it was about time that we see what kind of surfer dudes were. Well, we soon found out how much of a workout it is! Neither of us actually got the hang of it, but we both stood up on the board a couple of times. We lasted for only about two hours (including a couple of long breaks) and turned in. Later we drove to the architecture firm where Sam works and he showed me one of the projects he's working on... a huge house! Cool! That night Lisa joined us and we all went to a local restaurant/bar called Cha Cha Cha's. The house was packed, and the food was awesome. Sangria was the house specialty, very good.

After a lazy morning, we all packed into the car and drove to Napa, about 2 hours away. We took a tour of one of the wineries and sampled some of their concoctions. Later, we found ourselves at another winery and picked up a bunch of picnic foods. We then headed for the mountains to a little winery up away from the hustle and bustle. There we sampled some more wines and found a great little spot for our picnic, overlooking the valley.

The next day, Sam and I went down to Half Moon Bay and picked up a fresh salmon and some oysters to smoke in his grill. The fileting task was a little sketchy starting out, but Sam managed to salvage my poor attempt. Sam and Lisa invited some of their friends over and we had quite a feast with all of the excellent food... including the best salmon I've ever had as well as the first time I'd ever had smoked oysters. Yum! Afterwards, we drove down to a little cove, hidden from heavy traffic. Very pretty piece of beach. Then Sam and Lisa took me to the airport and it was back to good ole Texas.

It was a terrific trip, but a short one... just three days. Sam and Lisa did a great job of showing me around, though. California is an amazing place.