TRIP #2 – CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH WINES, AND YOSEMITE

September 22nd, 2008

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH WINES, AND YOSEMITE
APRIL 30-MAY 6, 2009 ~ 7 DAYS ~ GROUP SIZE: 4-6
PRICE PER PERSON $2,535.00
This tour’s focus is pampering first and then regaining perspective. Designed with working professional women in mind, and yet not exclusive, we will begin in beautiful San Francisco wandering colorful Chinatown, a back alley fortune cookie factory as well as a Buddhist Temple located in a skyscraper, and on to the glamorous shopping area of Union Square. Then we take a drive to the slower paced heart of the California Gold Rush, Sonora.  Nestled in the foothills of the mighty Sierra Nevada Mountains, we will spend two days between relaxing professional spa treatments, and tasting some of the best wines produced in this area.  Leave it to me to discover relaxing spa treatments in an historical building built in 1895. Now, that is cultural immersion! Built after the gold rush, this classic western boomtown style building with its wooden sidewalks, was the very necessary Mundorf Hardware store with the Mundorf family living above. They would probably be shocked to know that within the rooms where they raised their children, today, soft music and candle light beckon clients into the sunny,warm and private treatment rooms.

Our spa treatments will be divided between a one hour body massage that is designed by you, and another glorious hour-long European facial. Whether you prefer a Swedish, sports, or lighter aromatherapy massage, it will be tailored to your achieving an all over “wet noodle” experience. I have spoken at length with, and experienced first hand these professionals, and they understand completely what my goal is for each of you traveling with me on this trip. Pampered excellence and a long lingering memory of travel with Art History Alive.

Then, on day 5, we will drive into Yosemite National Park and check into our beautiful rooms at the historic Ahwahnee Hotel. This beautiful hotel, built in 1926 and like no other in its massive grandeur, still cannot compete with the drama and majesty of Yosemite Valley.  You will feel your life slip into perspective as we quietly walk the pathways of Yosemite with its enormous granite cliffs surrounding us and as its magnificent waterfalls crash; all outside troubles and pressures seem to morph back into perspective where they should be.  All my life I have been visiting this natural cathedral and always have the same response to it.  It makes me quiet, thoughtful and enormously thankful.  If you have been before, maybe it is time to go again, if this will be your first time, brace yourself for a powerful experience.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” John Muir

From Yosemite we will drive back to sparkling San Francisco for our final night.  Within walking distance of our hotel we will toast our new friendships at the Carnelian Room on the 52nd floor of a soaring skyscraper with a 360 degree view of San Francisco before a delicious dinner and our farewells and flights home the next day.

Physical Level: Moderately Strenuous.

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