Taos Ski valley

Finally got to go skiing. The mountain was beautiful. There's not a ton to do compared to other ski resorts, but enough to occupy you. And the skiing was phenomenal! There was one incident where I "accidentally" went down a black diamond that was way too hard for me! I tried to ski to another slope but ended up in a glade run and couldn't get out. So, I ended up sliding down the hill to a point that was not as steep and I could get my skiis on. Fun times.....normally I wouldn't go on such hills, because I don't like to fall when I am skiing. But sliding down the hill on my butt was a blast!

Lucky for us, there just so happened to be a beer festival at the ski resort after skiing was closed. I have to say I have been to a few beer festivals in my day, but this one was great because it was mostly all colorado and new mexico breweries I never heard of. The best was marble brewery in albequerqe (spelling?). They age their special blend in old bourban barrels, so you got a coconuty flavor. It was so yummy, I had to keep going back for more.

Santa Fe

Santa Fe is a pretty city for sure. Had a great dinner at Pasquales. Best food and wine of the trip. Went to the Georgia O'Keefe museum and the Museum of Fine Arts. If you've never been, I suggest heading to Canyon Drive. There are more galleries in one area than I have ever seen. There weren't any other people in the galleries we went in, so it was a very special and personal experience.

UFOs.....

So, since I used to have a fascination with UFOs and aliens I of course had to make a stop in Roswell. Didn't see any aliens though :( However, did go to the UFO museum. I BELIEVE.....

White Sands

White Sands National Monument was awesome! The pictures don't do it justice. If you ever go, I definately recommend not purchasing saucers to slide down the dunes. It was way more fun just to jump or roll down!

Juarez is a no no

So, the big plan today was to go to Juarez, Mexico. Drove all the way to El Paso, TX to walk over the border. Needed an oil change, so stopped into Pepboys. The guy was asking us where we were heading and I mentioned Juarez. He is actually from there himself but now lives in Texas. He enlightened us on all the violence currently going on in Juarez relating to the warring mafia members. I was unaware of this but since the beginning of the year there has been hundreds of murders. Apparently not a good place to go and decided against it since I did not feel like being hit by a stray bullet or getting kidnapped and held for ransom. Since we had been looking for a place for an oil change for the last couple of days and suprisingly couldn't find a place to go, I felt for sure it was divine intervention that we ended up at this Pepboys and found out what had been going on there. So, I am safe and sound and now in Almagordo, NM. Heading to White Sands tommorrow.

Chirahachua and Coronado Natl forest

Decided to visit Chirahachua after Saguaro (btw i am in Arizona). Got there around sunset, so got a quick hike in and got to climb some rocks. Since we couldn't have campfires, we decided to find another camping location other than Chirahachua. Ended up in Coronado Nat'l forest. I've never seen as many stars in my life (it beat out Tahiti). When we woke up the photo pasted is what I was suprised to see. Both beautiful spots that are not well travelled by tourists. I highly recommend.

Saguaro National Park

Had a nice hike in Saguaro national park. A pretty mellow, relaxing hike, until I encountered a naked man running through the park. Sorry, ladies and gentleman, no photos.

puerto penasco

So upon leaving Vegas I decided I really wanted to go to the beach, so we took a slight detour and headed into Mexico to Puerto Penasco, a beach town on the Sea of Cortez. I have only been to Tijuana in Mexico so it was fun to have another Mexican adventure. We ended up staying in probably what is considered the red light district (it was cheap). Luckily all went well except for 1) the lipstick on my pillow (was this place frequented by prostitutes?) and 2) noisy people outside most of the night including a nice wake-up call from the man at the desk when he blasted mexican music louder than any music I've ever heard (even at a concert) from his truck outside. I didn't take any photos of from where we stayed, but here are some nice photos of the beach. A cool thing about the town was that it was all sand, even most of the roads. There was no distinction between the beach and the rest of the town. The tourist part of the town was fun to walk around and the beach of course was great! Sarah and Tommy look forward to an awesome x-mas/housing gift! And if you are ever there definately rent an ATV.
P.S. You now need a Passport to go back into the US from the mexico border

The Palms

So, last time I was in vegas it was for my Bachelorette party and I really wanted to go to the Palms to the Ghostbar. Cause it was so far off the strip and there were so many other fun spots to hang we never made it. So, this time I was determined to go! Before hitting up the Palms, we went to see Phantom of the Opera. I fully enjoyed it, except for the indian man sitting next to me who kept talking the whole time...but I still enjoyed the show. I think we were 6th row. So we had a great view! Earlier in the day we were trying to figure out a plan to get into the clubs at the palm for free and without a wait. Luckily I found an obscure link online that allowed me to sign up to be on the guest list. So, we got in free to the Playboy club and Moon (with a roofdeck overlooking the strip from the top floor). I opted against ghostbar since the two clubs we went to, are actually newer. We had lots of fun and danced all night!

Vegas baby!!!

Finally made it to Vegas. Was pretty exhausted from the last couple of nights so we decided to take it easy for our first night. We went down to fremont street since I've never been and saw the Fremont Street experience. Found a blow up crown bottle and ate a deep fried twinkie (boy did I have powdered sugar everywhere). Drove amelia around the strip a bit and checked out the adult stores and wedding chapels (checked out meaning drove by them...). Tried to buy something at a pawn shop but it was closed. How does a pawn shop in vegas close at 4:30pm? Now we are nice and rested for a fun night tonight at the Palms! Also, going to see Phantom of the Opera at Venetian. Yeah!

Finally in my favorite city

Made it to LA! Again, only have one day so had to make the most of it. Met up with a friend from high school and went for a fancy dinner at Koi. Another celebrity siting...David Spade with a bevy of beauties of course. The food was awesome. I highly recommend. After dinner we met up with my friend Charlie and he took us to a bunch of cool dive bars. Had to hit up El Pollo Loco for breakfast, then it was off to vegas! I didn't really take many photos in LA so the ones posted are on our trip to get breakfast in Charlie's van. Amelia got the back with the bean bag chair!

Malibu!

Malibu...another place I have never been. So nice. And had a Gary Busey siting.

Santa Barbara

The cool thing about my trip through Cali is that I am getting to go to a bunch of places I have never been, even though I've been to California 4 times I believe. So, our next stop was Santa Barbara. We only had a night so we had to make the most of it. We ended up finding a hostel (the Motel 6 was pricey here!) so we could spend our money on enjoying SB instead. Checked out the pier, had a great dinner then explored the bars of SB. Saw a reggae band, sang some karaokee, and end up at the shitty kitty club. Made a few friends along the way and had fun times. The Mexican prostitute who tried to pick up Amelia was not that fun, but I told him we were a couple, so he finally left us alone.

Paso Robles and Sideways!

Had a big day tasting in Paso Robles. It is so beautiful out there and since it is still being established quite a few wineries have free tastings (although for us, it didn't matter of course). Loved Napa but really preferred Paso, because all the wineries are down these beautiful winding one lane roads in the middle of nowhere. We went to a number of wineries, but the fav was Justin. We even got to taste the 2005 isosceles...although not for purchase unfortunately because it is sold out! After Paso we drove to Buellton for our dinner at the Hitching post II, yes, the restaurant from Sideways. I can totally understand why they choose that spot for the movie. The food was awesome and the staff even better! We had a lot of fun. The next day we had to make our way to Fess Parker...where Paul G. is drunk and drinks out of the spit bucket. Definately the last two days were my favorites for wine tasting!

Christmas time!

Although it has been pretty warm (especially compared to pa), I've still been able to get in the christmas mood. Don't worry, I have been picking up presents along the way :) Only question is....will I have a christmas tree this year????

Napa nightlife

So, we stayed with one of the interns in downtown Napa. He grew up there and his mom lives there. Drank lots of wine and went to a few of the local spots. Good fun, although I feel bad for Zach's mom because the house turned into a party space! We thanked her with Blockus, ha ha!

Wine tasting

Our first stop was Roederer in Andersen Valley. We took our time in the morning and had a great Mexican lunch, so only had time for one winery. Roederer is mostly sparkling, so it was a good start for us! We stayed in Motel 6 again (we decided that we should get a frequent guest punch card since we've been staying in so many Motel 6s) and next day was Napa! Started off at Opus one. The receptionist was so nice to us. She said next time we should have called ahead and could have gotten a tour of the winery. Oh well, we aren't planning too much in advance this trip! Anyway, one taste of Opus one was $30 - which we got for free for being in the industry!

Caming in the Redwoods

Our first real stop was the Redwoods. It was a little chilly but we had a great time camping. We of course did it in style by drinking a magnum of Jerusalem hill!

A little jam packed

A picture is worth a thousand words....obviously you can tell from the photo that it was hard to fit everything in the car! Poor Amelia stuck in the back!

Bye bye oregon

Tuesday, the 2nd of December was my last day at Domaine Serene. Here's a pic of me waiting to leave (I took a half day while the other two interns had to work til 8pm, so we had a late start). I'll miss working at the winery and the great people I meet however, am definately ready to go back to Philly and get back to normal life. Of course we only made it an hour out of Dayton before we had to hit up Taco Bell!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving weekend! I've had 4 days off and it has been sooo nice to be off of work. We had a great Thanksgiving at the Ritz. We started with a carrot soup....and ended with pumpkin cheesecake...yummy! Only 3 days left til I leave :( But my trip cross country is going to be awesome so stay tuned!

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Harvest party

The end is near indeed. Just a photo of our harvest party. 4 days of work left. Sad but good. Unfortunately each intern had to give an impromptu speech....wasn't really prepared for that one! Did get a signed magnum of 2005 Jerusalem Hill pinot though! Hmmmm, who will get to share it with me?

Beach weekend!

Our first weekend off since the beginning of harvest. We were so excited. Finally I remembered what it felt like to enjoy a saturday afternoon! Myself and a couple of the interns headed to Lincoln city, the weather was typical oregon....cooler and a little overcast, but it was beautiful for sure! Rented a house and enjoyed the beach.....good times!

Rite of passage

Well I got to dig out my first tank! I have mostly been in the lab and not too involved with the cellar work since there is so much to do lab wise, but I was told I had to dig out a tank. So, I did. It was alot of fun. Kind of reminded me of shovelling snow when i was a kid and we would solicit all the neighbors for jobs. I had to get hooked up to a harness just in case I passed out from too much CO2 - this way they could pull me out. Also wore an O2 meter, as a warning, so I could get out before I passed out. We have open top fermentors, so I was not so worried, but safety is always best :) Just in case you were wondering, you shovel out the skins in the tank after fermentation is complete and you have drained off all of the juice. Then the skins go into the press.

Interns gone wild

This is what happens when

1) You work too much

2) You drink too much grain alcohol and 151

3) You live with an Italian named Loris

Halloween Party #2

So party #2 was being thrown by us, however, we were told we weren't allowed to have the party at our house, so the boys that got us in trouble for having the bonfire and hence why we can't have people over anymore, offered their house for our party (sorry long story).

Since we have a reputation to uphold, I of course made jello shots in varying levels of toxicity, and we made a stellar punch with dry ice lifted from the winery. Needless to say with the vodka, 151 rum and everclear used in our concoctions everyone had fun! Since I was the oktoberfest beer wench, I drank german beer all night...and of course a few jello shots (after all I made them!). Since Zack was still wearing my dress I felt he also needed to add make-up to his costume. He gladly said yes and I got to put eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara, and lipstick on him. He said no to the nail polish though...oh well, maybe next year. I also got to paint rob's clown makeup on both nights and liz's make-up friday...boy were they too trusting!

Night shift was supposed to get off at 12pm, so they could join us, but had too much work to do. Can't wait til everyone is on the same shift again, so everyone can have fun together again!

If you can't tell, the pink finger is from the jello shots.

Halloween party #1

We had a long day at work but we were still super stoked to dress up and celebrate halloween. We went to a neighboring intern house for a small gathering. Since most hadn't really had much time to plan costumes (too busy working), I found two of my roomates costumes from my closet...namely dresses and wigs. Can you guess who I am?

Dolly Parton in working 9 to 5! We stopped by the winery to say hi to nightshift before we were off, but we at least left them with a present.

The Aussies find a new holiday

So, since I am the biggest Halloween celebrator and I wasn't going to be home this year for it, I had to get all my roomates involved in my favorite holiday. That meant planning a party, getting decorations, and of course pumpkin carving!!! Our vineyard manager brought us to his uncle's pumpkin patch late one night after work so we scored free pumpkins! The night of the pumpkin carving everyone was pretty sleepy, but I convinced my two Australian roomates to carve pumpkins with me. Now they love halloween (they never celebrated the holiday before obviously). My pumpkin is the one on the right. I decided to give him ears.

My home in the lab...

Thought I would share a photo of what I have been doing every day.....lots of spec work! Ammonia, Primary Amino, Glucose/Fructose, and Malic! Do you like my cuvette?

Last day of fruit

I know, I am a bit late again. But last thursday was our last day of fruit. We brought in the rest of the chardonnay! Here's a photo of the champagne toast to celebrate our accomplishments taken with the day staff. Sadly our night crew buddies are not in the photo :( We are a bunch of misfits though, that's for sure!