Utah - May 2013

Amangiri

A couple of years ago, we got our first taste of Aman resorts when we went to Amangani in Jackson Hole, Wyoming - the trip where we first decided to start this blog.  We later went to four Aman resorts in Bhutan, and we loved the service and the beautiful architecture of the hotels so much that we decided to go to the "other" Aman in the US for a fun Memorial Day weekend - along with Rakesh, Simran, and Ria.

Pool at Amangiri

Accommodation:
The accommodation WAS the trip for this weekend - Amangiri, near Lake Powell.  This hotel is 4 years old, nestled in the rock formations of the gorgeous desert.  The hotel is about 20 minutes from the airport in Page, Arizona.  The resort only has 34 rooms, so quite personal and boutique.  The building is made of poured concrete, using sand from the local rocks which ensures the concrete is the same color as the surrounding area.  Like other Amans, the place is simple and somewhat stark but beautiful at the same time.  The center of the hotel is the famous pool which wraps around an amazing rock formation.  We did have some service issues that are not indicative of the level of service we received in the past; however, we still had an amazing time!

Our room

Activities:
The flight left at about noon so we both went to Keith's office in the morning and then headed to the airport at 10 am.  We flew direct to Page on Great Lakes Airlines - they fly planes that other puddle-jumpers make fun of.  The 19-seat twin prop plane has one seat each side of the aisle and no bathrooms on board.  You could spread your arms and touch both sides of the plane!  It was only a 1.5 hour direct flight to Page where we were picked up by the Aman car service to drive us to the hotel.

View from our room

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a Sage Lemonade and cold towel - absolutely delicious.  We were given a tour of the entire property and then taken to room 22 which has an amazing view of the mesa.  Simran had requested the room right next to ours so that we could be close to one another.  In typical Aman style, the room is simple but elegant and comfortable with the bed at the center of the room, facing the view of the mesa.  The bathroom is also quite nice with a walk in shower with two shower heads that also had a view.  We unpacked and got settled in after Shawna took the obligatory photos of the room before Keith "messed it up".

The pool at night

We then went to the pool to read and relax until Rak/Sim/Ria arrived after their drive from Vegas.  We had a few drinks (Sage Mojitos - yum) at the pool and met a few of the other couples/families staying at the hotel.  About an hour later, Rakesh, Simran and Ria arrived and after they got settled in, they joined us at the pool for drinks.  That evening, like all of our evenings, we had some wine while watching the sunset and then had dinner at the hotel.

The gang ready for dinner

While most of the weekend involved relaxing at the pool, we did a few other activities around the resort.  Shawna, Simran and Ria joined the morning hike to the Cave (where a scene in Broken Arrow was filmed).  The hike took about 1.5 hours but part of that time was exploring the cave itself, seeing some of the paintings in the rocks and learning about the Native Americans that lived in the area.  We also learned how the rocks were formed and were amazed that all of this took place millions of years ago!  During this time, the boys went for a run/walk on the Hoodoo trail.  We also joined one of the evening hikes that took us around the back side of the resort.

The Cave Hike

The evening hike

One morning, the boys went rock climbing on the Via Ferrata climb which took them on top of the mesa where the Cave is.  This adventure took a few hours - they really enjoyed it and said that it was good that Shawna didn't go given her fear of heights!  On the last morning, Shawna and Keith did the Hoodoo Trail hike which took about 1.5 hours - the hike is beautiful, taking you around one of the large mesas on the property.

The Hoodoo Trail Hike

We also left the resort a couple of times.  One afternoon, we drove in the rental car to the Dinosaur Museum which had a few bones and history of the dinosaurs in the area.  Apparently, this area has the second to most number of dinosaurs.  Ria wanted to go on an excavation to find her own bones but was saddened to hear that she had to wait until she got taller and got a college degree (according to the guide at the museum).  After the museum, we drove over to Horseshoe Bend, which is a beautiful bend in the Colorado River that has a large rock formation made of Navajo Sandstone.  To get to the lookout point to see the view and to peer down 1000 feet to the river, there is a hike from the parking lot that takes about 30 minutes each way.  The view is stunning!

Horseshoe Bend

Rattlesnake Canyon

Another afternoon, we did the 'Three Slot Canyon Tour" with Adventurous Antelope Canyon Photo Tours which we organized through the hotel - had we known we would have saved about half of our money if we had booked directly!  Our guide, Gabriel, was awesome and apparently is the only guide from the company that works with Aman.  He is a Navajo Indian who was born and raised in the area and as a kid watched as Lake Powell was being formed.  He took us to two private canyons -- Owl and Rattlesnake Canyons and to one public canyon (the most famous one) -- Antelope Canyon.  Owl Canyon is famous for wild owls that live there; however, we did not see any.  Rattlesnake Canyon was very cool and our guide showed us techniques on how to take pictures in the canyons.  Antelope Canyon was just crazy - there were several hundred people in there so we often had to wait to get a picture with no other people around.  While it was beautiful, it was not peaceful given the amount of tourists at that time.  The tour is definitely worth doing!

Owl Canyon

One happy family!

Restaurants:
We ate every meal at the hotel.  The food was hit or miss but there were not many great options for meals in town so we stuck to the hotel.  For breakfast, we generally shared the yogurt and granola with another dish (either the eggs or the french toast).  For lunch, we tried several dishes including the fish tacos, chicken diablo (which was yummy) and pizzas (the duck pizza was our favorite).  For dinner, we also tried several dishes, including the wagyu beef (which when split only gave us about two bites each), the chicken, lamb chops (which were tasty), and fish.

Goofing around at sunset

Ria took this photo of us

For more photos of this trip:

Sonoma - May 2013

Sonoma

Shawna's mom was supposed to visit us in Denver for Mother's Day but because she had issues with her blood pressure last time she came, we decided to go somewhere else.  And what better place to celebrate Mother's Day than wine country!  We rented a house near Sonoma for 4 nights and had a great time!

Accommodations:

Sonoma Meadow House - We rented this house located between Sonoma and Glen Ellen.  It is perched on top of a hill and has amazing views of the valley.  It is a two bedroom home with one of the bedrooms in a separate building from the house (but only steps away).  The house is not huge but is really cute and rustic and the deck is very large.  We enjoyed drinking our coffee and eating breakfast out on the deck each morning and having a glass of wine out there in the evenings.

The deck at our rental house

Activities:

Shawna and her mom flew into SFO on Thursday late afternoon while Keith flew in on Friday.  When we arrived on Thursday, we picked up a rental car and then stopped by Rakesh and Simran's new home in Noe Valley.  The house is so much bigger than the last one and is beautiful with bright rooms and a great garden out back.  Keith and Shawna have already staked their claim to one of the bedrooms!  Shawna and her mom then drove into Sonoma around 7pm and grabbed some dinner, picked up some groceries and finally made it to the house.  By the time, we got to the house, it was dark and thus finding the house on the windy road was a bit tricky.  After getting settled, we went to sleep.

View from the deck at our rental house

On Friday morning, we woke up and there was fog covering the valley but within an hour or so, it burned off and we could enjoy the amazing views.  As a gift to her mom, Shawna had all of her grandfather's slides scanned and she made a photo album with the pictures - the pictures include ones of her grandparents in Germany, her mom and brother in Germany when they lived there and US pictures from when her grandparents came to visit over the years.  Shawna gave this to her mom when they woke up and spent about an hour going through the album, reminiscing with old stories.  

Shawna's mom at Rombauer Winery

After enjoying breakfast on the deck, we went to Healdsburg.  We had lunch at Oakville Grocery and then walked around the square, popping in to some of the shops.  We then went to Ferrari Carano so that Shawna's mom could see the beautiful Italian building and gardens.  Shawna did a chardonnay tasting but didn't buy any.  Keith's flight was delayed so on the way back to the house to meet him, we stopped by another winery, Ledson, to see the building but did not do any tastings.  When we arrived back at the house, Keith turned up about 30 minutes later and we had a glass of wine on the deck before heading out to dinner at the Depot Hotel Restaurant in Sonoma.

Ferrari Carano Winery

On Saturday, we did our usual routine of breakfast on the deck and then we headed out to Napa Valley to do some wine tasting for the day.  We started out in Calistoga and made our way down to Yountville, stopping at five wineries along the way.  We started out at Chateau Montelena as we knew that Shawna's mom would love the building and we just had to taste the chardonnay that beat France!  We discovered a new vineyard, Frank Family Vineyard, and enjoyed the chardonnay so much that we bought a case - our only worry is that this was after two other wineries so we hope that we enjoy the wine when we get it home.  We had a picnic lunch at Clos Pegase where my mom met a German lady who was pouring wine - they hit it off talking German for a while.  We also stopped by Rombauer and Duckhorn (one of our all time favorite wineries).  We capped off the day with a wonderful meal at Auberge du Soleil where we treated Shawna's mom.  We got a table out on the deck with a great view of the valley.

Chateau Montelena Winery

Shawna and her mom at Auberge du Soleil

Sunday was more of a relaxing day for us.  After breakfast, we joined Rakesh, Simran, Ria, Jeet, Shelly  and their two kids on Sonoma square for a picnic.  We stopped by Whole Foods and picked up some bread, cheese and a few other munchies and also brought a couple of bottles of wine.  It was great to see them all.  After lunch, Rakesh, Simran and Ria came back to our house to see it and we had a few glasses of wine on the deck while Ria tested out one of the tubs that was out on the deck.  We then all went to an early dinner in Glen Ellen and they headed back to San Fran while we returned to the house.

Rakesh and Shawna's mom on the deck

On Monday, we checked out of the house in the morning and went separate ways.  It was hard to leave the house and that view but we had to get back to work so we could enjoy more vacations like this.  Keith went to see a few properties in San Fran and also had lunch with Simran so he could see their new house.  He flew home later that evening.  Shawna and her mom drove to the airport as Shawna's mom was flying out around 1pm.  Shawna was able to get an earlier flight as well and got home around 5pm.  

Restaurants / Wineries:  

Sonoma Meritage Martini Oyster Bar and Grill - A great, casual restaurant in Sonoma.  Shawna's mom had black fettuccine with shrimp and zucchini and Shawna had bass with spinach.

Oakville Grocery - Shawna and her mom had lunch at the Healdsburg location.  Shawna's mom had a chicken breast sandwich on focaccia and Shawna had tomato and mozzarella on baguette.  

Ferrari Carano - This winery is north of Healdsburg and has a beautiful Italian style building and gardens.  Shawna did the reserve tasting of four chardonnays but didn't buy any.

Ledson - This winery is north of Sonoma and is in a gothic-style building.  We stopped here to check it out but did not taste anything.

Ledson Winery

Depot Hotel Restaurant - We had dinner here in Sonoma.  The restaurant is located in an old depot a few blocks from the square.  It has a nice outside dining area but the inside is nothing special and the food was not memorable.  Keith and Shawna split a salad, the pork/veal ragu pasta and the peppercorn steak.  Shawna's mom had linguine with shrimp, artichoke and corn. 

Palisades Deli - Located in Calistoga, we stopped here to get sandwiches for a picnic lunch.

Chateau Montelena - This winery is in an old stone chateau building and is famous for their chardonnay beating France in the 1976 Paris Tasting.  And since everyone loves a story about beating the French, we had to check it out.  We tasted the wine and bought 2 bottles of their chardonnay which we later drank with Rakesh and Simran on Mothers' Day.  We wanted to have our picnic lunch here as they have nice gazebos out on a lake but the tables are only reserved for wine club members.  

Clos Pegase - A stark contrast to Chateau Montelena as the building is very modern.  We went here for a picnic but you have to do a tasting to use one of the tables so our arms were twisted and we tried the wine.  We had visited this winery once before.  We bought one bottle of the reserve chardonnay.

Frank Family Vineyard - Shawna had read that this winery was worth a try so we stopped by.  The tasting room is nothing to get excited about but we loved the chardonnay and ended up buying a case to ship home.  We also liked the pinot so we bought one bottle to have while we were there.  The owner of the winery was once an executive at Disney and the President of the Academy.

Rombauer - We had to stop here as we love their chardonnay but the tasting was all red.  We liked the cab but did not buy any.  The winery was surprisingly very busy so it was not relaxing but they did have some beautiful flowers so we enjoyed walking around the gardens for a few minutes. 

Duckhorn - We love this tasting room which is a cozy, open and airy house and of course we also love their wine.  We had visited this winery a few times but always enjoy going back.  The woman pouring was very nice and chatty.  We liked the 2010 cab the best.

Duckhorn Winery

Auberge du Soleil - We treated Shawna's mom to dinner here and had a great table out on the deck.  Shawna had the pork belly, Thai snapper and duck with rice gelato for dessert (the rice gelato tasted like sweet sticky rice - it was really good).  Keith had the lobster salad, bacon wrapped pork loin and cheese plate.  The food was awesome!

Glen Ellen Star - A cute restaurant located in Glen Ellen.  We had an early dinner where we shared some veggies: cauliflower, peppers, and fava beans and then Keith and Shawna shared the lamb meatballs.  Shawna's mom had the brick chicken with beans and we all shared peach cobbler and ice cream for dessert.  The food was quite tasty.

View from dinner at Auberge du Soleil