Traveling Before The Move

With just a few days before I move, I haven't been home packing. I've been traveling and it's been fantastic. While at home I've also been trying to enjoy my last few days in Roseville and Sacramento. It began with a trip to Leatherby's, beer and pizza at Old Town Pizza, and church at Bayside with special guest, David Garibaldi.

I've also been in Napa with some large events including a groundbreaking for our newest expansion coming in 2018, a new event, Grapes & Hops that was setup like a Farmers Market and featured some amazing food paired with beer from Napa Smith and wine from Trinitas. There were also a few minutes to take friends from our corporate office wine tasting. We enjoyed an amazing tasting at HALL Wines/St Helena, followed by a lovely outdoor tasting at Foley Johnson, lunch in Yountville at R+D Kitchen, and we finished the afternoon at Chandon. This weekend there will be a dinner with Caymus Vineyards, then my mom is coming for Mother's Day Brunch.

There were also plane rides. One to Newport Beach, where the yachts blocked my view of Balboa Bay, but I was okay with that. The second set was both North and East, two directions I don't go very often. I was representing Meritage Collection on a media trip with Visit California. The trips are a great way to meet top reporters and bloggers from each market, while also having a few minutes to walk around the city to better connect with the reporters that live there. In Vancouver I enjoyed a dinner at the oyster bar of Joe Fortes that ended with the largest piece of chocolate cake I've ever eaten. The media reception was a five course lunch at the Vancouver Art Gallery ... the food was tasty, the wines were from Napa, and the connections made were priceless.

I then took a quick flight east to Calgary. In the morning I took a quick walk around town and decided to see Canada's sunniest city from the sky as I headed up to the top of Calgary Tower. The views were spectacular and I learned a lot about the city, its history, and its neighborhoods through the audio tour provided. The Craft Beer Market offered a huge selection of beers on tap (think Yard House), along with the largest cake in a jar I've ever seen ... I was expecting something small and light to end my lunch, oops. The media reception at Model Milk was really cool with craft cocktails, wine, a Popsicle cart, and, of course, some friendly media from Calgary.
See all the photos.