What's Happened in the Past 2+ Years

Since I last posted, a lot has happened in my life.

1. I moved to Denver. 2. I married my best friend, Kent, who was mentioned in blogs before. 3. Two years ago, the Logel family had 11 people in it and now we have 15. 4. I've been mediating for three months now and am striving to be more mindful. 5. While I still love craft beer, my love for wine has grown. 6. I now have a new passion for food that has led to many unique experiences.

I'm writing this two days after Anthony Bourdain passed away. His death hit me hard. I never expected a TV personality to have such an impact on my life, but yet, as many people remember him, we realize that he was much more than a TV personality. Through his show, he became like a close friend. Kent and I have had many talks over the past few days about how he had such an impact on our life. While I've always had a desire to travel, he elevated that. Showed that there are so many unique and interesting people all over the world, who are just like us. He introduced us to the world of cuisine, encouraging us to try strange food we may have never been open to before. I could write a whole post about his influence on our mentality and actions. Which has led us to make some of the decisions we have in the past year. 

To continue with what has happened in the past years, in October 2017, Kent and I got married in our hometown and shortly after took a week-long "mini moon" to Sonoma and Lake Tahoe. I took no notes during our trip and now that I am writing this eight months later, I don't have all of the details but did want to call out some of the highlights of our trip!

Sonoma
We spoke with my friends and colleagues about the best places to go in the Napa/Sonoma area, and from those recommendations we decided to stay in Sonoma. It has a less pretentious vibe and is therefore, more affordable.

We found a lovely place to stay with a kitchen, hot tub and vineyard view (linked here) that had everything we needed for a few nights. While it was not in walking distance to town, we were able to ride bikes to nearby wineries and Uber was active in the area.

We drove a bit north and did a food and wine pairing at St. Francis Winery and rode our bikes to Gundlach Bundschu. This was shortly after the massive wildfires that ran through the area, so it was interesting to see the damage, how the vineyards handled the fires and the next steps they were taking after that difficult time. 

Preparing for the rain as we biked to a winery!

One evening we took an Uber into town and had an amazing dinner at Tasca Tasca, a Portugese tapas restaurant that Kent had found online prior to our trip. It was definitely a highlight and an experience we continue to talk about, because of the variety of food offered and its authenticity. Due to my time in Spain, I have a sweet spot for tapas, however many tapas places in the US are overpriced and therefore it's only reasonable to purchase 3 or 4 dishes, but does not enable a full tapas experience. Tasca Tasca may not be Michelin-star food, but it provides a unique experience in a care-free, easy going atmosphere that is sometimes hard to find in this area.

Some of our tapas at Tasca Tasca.

Before we headed on to Lake Tahoe, we went to a few wineries in Napa, and were reminded why we did not stay in this area. We visited Castillo di Amorosa, a winery that looks like a castle. The owner had materials imported from buildings and castles throughout Europe to create his own castle in the Napa Valley. It was quite unique and over-the-top. Then we went to Del Dotto winery, recommended by a friend. We immediately regretted reserving a tasting here, as we walked in and felt out of place, followed by members in our group having $600 worth of wine shipped to their house. While Napa is high-end we know there are better, more reasonable wineries. So, if we ever go back, we will be sure to seek those out.

The view from Castillo di Amorosa.

In Lake Tahoe, we hiked, drank craft beer and spent a lot of time relaxing in our charming cabin. Since it was offseason, there wasn't too much going on in the towns, but we enjoyed the relaxing time there, making us eager to go back when it's warm to take a boat out on the lake. 

Lake Tahoe

I say this was our "mini moon" as we had planned on taking a larger trip to Italy, but wanted to wait for warmer weather and ensure we had enough time to take a sufficient vacation. More posts to come from that adventure!





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