Temecula Adventures... A Christmas Visit

No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. ~Elbert Hubbard

Off For A Day Of Frivolity And Friendship 12/02/2013 (Page One)

Page 1 - Faulkner, Lunch, and Leoness Winery | Page 2 - South Coast, Van Roekel, and Home

A December in Temecula with family and friends

This will be fun as we have the Roberts, the Duda's, and the Zaitz...  The giggle-o-meter will be falling off the pegs.  The Robert's met us at our house so we could drive together.

In Summary


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First Things First... Falkners Winery And Lunch!

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Tasting room   and great dining... Right together

A December in Temecula with family and friends
We be spotted by Shelly ...  After he passed out he checked us in

A December in Temecula with family and friends
You have how many???

A December in Temecula with family and friends

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Right on time....


Robin, Kathy, and Donna

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Every heard of a "Two fisted drinker"?
Shelly is a "Two Fisted pourer"!

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Yeah! Yeah! The gang is all here... Official tasting may start

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Bob was having difficulty in selecting what to taste

A December in Temecula with family and friends
You can almost hear the sound of the wine....

A December in Temecula with family and friends

A December in Temecula with family and friends
The staff is quite serious about the wine tasting activities

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Shelly's hands are quicker than the eye

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"P-s-s-s-s-t Shelly! That's the good stuff!"


Time to pick up our orders


He he he


We are really enthisiasts


Wanna join???


So... Where is the Starboard???

A December in Temecula with family and friends
We are dressed for the occasion

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"Dang... I think we have hit the bottom of the glass.... Time to filler up!"

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Robin - Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to keep Dad out of trouble!

Do You Remember? - Mission: Impossible is an American television series that was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicles the missions of a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF).

In the first season, the team is led by Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill; Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, takes charge for the remaining seasons. A hallmark of the series shows Briggs or Phelps receiving his instructions on a recording that then self-destructs, followed by the theme music composed by Lalo Schifrin.

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Mikki Bowers joins our group.... A friend from the Boeing Company!

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Mikki and Robin reconnected while shopping and the rest is history

A December in Temecula with family and friends
The kid celebrates her birthday (but she will be out of town!)

A December in Temecula with family and friends

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Trinket has some unknown talents... Excellent picture!!!!

A December in Temecula with family and friends

A December in Temecula with family and friends
When they saw us, we got put in the far corner of the room!

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Best dining in town!!!

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Ed looks so serious... and did we mention dry!

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Bob and Robin made the day special....

A December in Temecula with family and friends
...with a flick of the wrists... Transformed into the perfect pose

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Kathy says "Ah ha" .... No Kathy, it's "Ahi"

A December in Temecula with family and friends

A December in Temecula with family and friends   A December in Temecula with family and friends A December in Temecula with family and friends

Did You Know? - The yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide.

Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from the Hawaiian ʻahi, a name also used there for the closely related bigeye tuna. The species name, albacares ("white meat") can also lead to confusion: in English the albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) is a different species, while yellowfin is officially designated albacore in French and referred to as albacora by Portuguese fishermen.

A December in Temecula with family and friends
The staff is perfect... Takes care of the smallest detail

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Donna gets ready to attack the salad....

A December in Temecula with family and friends
The doctor is always right

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Paul had the special... Braised spare ribs with brussel sprouts in a wine-reduction

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Bob took the easy way out

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Merry Christmas all

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Sue is thinking about our next destination

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Kathy listens to the plans being developed

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Bring on the sippy cups!

Did You Know? - The sippy cup is a spill-proof drinking cup designed for toddlers. It works by way of surface tension that prevents liquid from being spilled even when the cup is upended. The critical element is the sippy top being firmly in place on top of the cup, preventing spills.

The modern Sipster® spill-proof sippy cup was invented by Richard Belanger, who licensed the design to Playtex.

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"OK ok... We go out and then turn left at the right, follow the dotted lines in the street,
and stop at the first gas station for directions!

 

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"Hey... I found it!"

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Bob gave Robin some new glasses

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"I am a bit worried about Donna's map

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Heading out...

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Ladies... Thank you for a great lunch!!!

A December in Temecula with family and friends
We pack up (with assistance from Shelly) and off we go!

A December in Temecula with family and friends

Did You Know? - The word Leoness, meaning "village of dreams," is the inspiration behind our lifelong quest to create world class wines from the finest vineyards in the Temecula Valley. Nestled in the rolling hills and vineyards of Temecula's wine country, Leoness Cellars offers a warm, enchanting setting where visitors can enjoy great wines, spectacular views, and wonderful times with family and friends.

Leoness Cellars was founded in 2003 by Mike Rennie and Gary Winder, who together have nearly fifty years of agriculture and grape-growing experience in the Temecula Valley. Their combined experience has lead to a true understanding of growing wine grapes of the highest quality, grapes which are concentrated, balanced, and ripe, ultimately producing wines of incredible depth and flavor.

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Come on in

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Follow those people.... But beware.... There is talk

A December in Temecula with family and friends
The fall colors are even on the grapes... recently harvested

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Who needed glasses???

A December in Temecula with family and friends
One must shop!!!

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Say what?????

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"It's a bird.... It's a plane.... No, it's super grape!!"

A December in Temecula with family and friends
We convinced (without a lot of effort) the ladies NOT to climb up the wine stalk

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"I don't think they were going to really try it.... Were they?"

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Meanwhile on the patio

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Notice.... No wine glasses for the drivers! We guzzle responsively

A December in Temecula with family and friends
On the other hand... It does NOT apply to back seat drivers

A December in Temecula with family and friends

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Dang... The glass has gone dry???

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Back inside we polish off the last of the next-to-the-last tasting

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"Slurp.... This is good!"

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"She will sleep on the airplane tonight"

A December in Temecula with family and friends
The camera is in perfect order... Bob is fuzzy

A December in Temecula with family and friends
The last clink

Did You Know? - According to various apocryphal stories, the custom of touching glasses evolved from concerns about poisoning. By one account, clinking glasses together would cause each drink to spill over into the others' (though there is no real evidence for such an origin).

A December in Temecula with family and friends
A perfect California December day... 75 degrees

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Great oils for your breads

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Mom is resting.... Big night ahead

A December in Temecula with family and friends
We just calls her "Hollywood"

Did You Know? - In prehistoric and historic time, Inuit peoples wore flattened walrus ivory "glasses," looking through narrow slits to block harmful reflected rays of the sun.

It is said that the Roman emperor Nero liked to watch gladiator fights with emeralds. These, however, appear to have worked rather like mirrors.

Sunglasses made from flat panes of smoky quartz, which offered no corrective powers but did protect the eyes from glare were used in China in the 12th century or possibly earlier. Ancient documents describe the use of such crystal sunglasses by judges in ancient Chinese courts to conceal their facial expressions while questioning witnesses.

James Ayscough began experimenting with tinted lenses in spectacles in the mid-18th century, around 1752. These were not "sunglasses" as that term is now used; Ayscough believed blue- or green-tinted glass could correct for specific vision impairments. Protection from the Sun's rays was not a concern for him

A December in Temecula with family and friends
The iPhone saves the day!

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Joined at the shoulder

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"Now remember Bob, I want Robin home safe and sound!"....
"Geeeez Dad... We have been married for years now!"

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Silly face time.... They both won

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Do not ask... We surely will not tell

A December in Temecula with family and friends
We were awaiting the arrival of Repunzel and the hair....

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"Hey Dad... I got out early and walked three miles home!"

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Through this door walks all sort of people... Are you ready??

A December in Temecula with family and friends
"OK gang... Follow us... We are going to South Coast next!"

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Donna is laughing because she does NOT know the way!

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Gentlemen... Strut your stuff

A December in Temecula with family and friends
That's enough strutting... Look like a group of elderly roosters

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Now we be talking..... A bounty of beauty

A December in Temecula with family and friends
How did Robin get so tall???

A December in Temecula with family and friends
Lick up you heals ladies

A December in Temecula with family and friends

A December in Temecula with family and friends

Sound: Red Red Wine

Did You Know? The lyrics are sung from the perspective of someone who finds drinking red wine the only way to forget his woes, his family feuds, his work and mainly (as sung from the song itself) a woman who lingers constantly in the mind of the one who drinks.

By drinking, apparently, his woes go away and he feels a little relief—only to find that the same woman who caused him to go drinking arrives at the bar and makes him feel even worse. After drinking too much, he is tumbling on the street where he is found by his presumed father and offered a helping hand to get up.

Page 1 - Faulkner, Lunch, and Leoness Winery | Page 2 - South Coast, Van Roekel, and Home