Highway One in Northern California

One of the best things about living in the California is the weekend driving.  My family grew up with the Sunday Drive, where we all piled into the back of the Mercury station wagon after church and drove somewhere. If we didn’t fight too much we would get an ice cream.

A wonderful day for a big family like mine or just you and your dog, is a drive north from San Francisco along the misty Highway 1 coast. A favorite destination of ours is Sonoma Coast State Beach, which you can reach from the town of Stinson heading north on Highway 1 or if you drive west from Highway 101 and Sebastopol. Did you know that Sonoma Coast State Beach is actually many beaches rolled together along thirteen miles of coastline stretching from the Russian River to Bodega Bay? Read More »

Sonoma Grapes

For Valentine’s my boyfriend and I went to Sonoma, CA for a long weekend of wine tasting and eating fantastic food. Before stopping in Sonoma (where we were staying), we kept driving to Napa so that we could try out a few wineries before our check-in time. I am normally directionally challenged, but the beauty of Napa is its simplicity. The majority of the wineries are on the main freeway in Napa (I-29) so it makes navigating easy! Read More »

Haven’t we all read the Peanuts books or watched the television specials that showed Snoopy fearlessly flying across the fields into enemy territory? I for one recall sitting in my bunk bed when my grandmother would babysit, and pretend I was Snoopy chasing the Red Baron across France. Ra-ta-ta-ta-tat!

Last spring I got to live out my fantasy and ride in a red open cockpit bi-plane. Vintage Aircraft Company has been around for ages. If you drive to the wine country on a regular basis, you will recognize them because their sign and location is on Highway 121 just before the final turn towards Napa Valley.

They have several different vintage planes including a World War II Warbird. My choice was definitely one of their Boeing PT-17 Stearmans, and on the day I went up they had a bright and shiny red one ready for me! It can accommodate two passengers but I wasn’t about to share this ride, so I had a great time sliding about the 32″ seat.

When we got there I learned they offered aerobatics for an additional fee of $50 on any of the planes including my open cockpit bi-plane. Of course I said yes to that and I think they gave me a “famous Cuban Eight” but I couldn’t tell you because unlike regular planes, you don’t get a headset with a mike connected to the pilot. It is a bit like water skiing, just tap your head to ask them to slow down or give the slashing across the neck if you are done.

My 20 minute tour over the beautiful Sonoma Valley was the best. After I stopped thinking about the reality of my possible death, I loved soaring just a few hundred feet above the fields and vineyards.

If you want more they also offer 40 minute flights:

The Wine Country tour: Catch an Eagle’s View of the world renowned vineyards of the Sonoma and
Napa Valleys, heading east across the bucolic Carneros region to Napa, Turn north to St. Helena, West
to glen Ellen then back south through the lush Sonoma Valley. Grapes galore.

West to the Pacific: Aviate over rolling hills and open pastures of Sonoma, Novato and Petaluma;
then head out to Tomales Bay and absorb the Majestic magnificence of the Pacific Ocean.

Spires of “The City”: Drift south toward San Francisco. A panoramic outlook of the Sausalito and
Tiburon Harbors: outlying views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands,
then circle Mt. Tamalpais en route to Point Reyes and your safe Sonoma return.

And this adventure is also available for kids too. They can accommodate a child about 40 inches tall with their booster cushion, though all kids under 10 years must fly with an adult.

When your ride is over there are lots of great Sonoma Valley restaurants nearby or drive a little further into Napa Valley for world class restaurants or maybe just a slice of pie at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen.

Here is me "Amelia Snoopy Earhart" in my shiny Boeing PT-17 Stearman