Well, here's to the end of an unexpectedly great vacation.  Leading up to the past week, I wasn't quite sure how things would work out as my vacation plans never panned out and I felt stuck and behind- rushing to try and find something to do.  However, I think I was able to accomplish that rare balance of fun, excitement, exercise, grueling effort, relaxation, and even laziness.  Here's a short and perhaps not complete highlights list from my vacation:

• Wine tasting, mud baths/spa, swimming in Napa
• Dinner at CIA
• Wine tasting party in SF and catching up with old friends
• Hiking, pizza, and wine around Marin County
• Spontaneous solo day trip of a night hike to Half Dome (maybe last time I do this for awhile)
• Biking around UCD undergraduate campus and town of Davis, watched lacrosse for the first time in ages
• Kayaking and dinner in Tahoe
• First family-style Chinese lunch in quite some time with friends (including old college friend I haven't seen since graduation.. nine years!)
• Mini-shopping spree at Vacaville Outlets for new work clothes and other misc items
• Watching reruns of Kitchen Nightmares and Gary Vaynerchuk, tasting homemade beer with an old med school buddy
• Wine tasting in Amador County (Extremely pleasant surprise of a place to visit and so close by)
• Golf at Emerald Lakes GC in Elk Grove
• Tuned-up my bike, practiced some basic skills in my neighborhood (apparently, I don't like turning sharp and tight right turns down slopes)
• And of course, I was able to sneak in a fair amount of shut-eye as well despite some late nights

Whew!  Now that's over, it's time to get back into the swing of things.  Still a lot to take care of, but hopefully I'll chip away at it all.