lazy river + wine tasting in sonoma | northern california

OUR GEAR:
- Intex double seater float (love that it has a built-in cooler component for drinks and food!): https://amzn.to/3W2Xs7s
- My Red Paddle Co. inflatable paddleboard (an investment piece that I've used for 4+ years): https://amzn.to/3RQ6nXB
- battery-powered inflation pump (strong enough to inflate paddle boards and all manner of inflatables): https://amzn.to/3W69UDG
- Airplane float (super cute and comfortable to lounge on, but ours got snagged on something and leaked air): https://amzn.to/3L7WsIV
- Margarita float: https://amzn.to/4cK6xaN
- inflatable row boat:
- drybag: https://amzn.to/4eKNH5i
- My sun hat (protect yoself from the sun): https://amzn.to/3xCU1ev

TRIP DETAILS:

📍River: Russian River, start at Steelhead Beach https://goo.gl/maps/NVZjZQ6eNvBc3Rk4A

📍Winery: Russian River Vineyards https://www.russianrivervineyards.com...

📍Food: Russian River Pub https://goo.gl/maps/XJmSfbSVgf2YcsGN6

GAMEPLAN if you want to replicate this trip:

Here’s an article with context on why you need at least two cars and the whole parking situation: https://www.7x7.com/how-to-plan-the-u...

Basically, you need to have a car parked at the end of the river route and at the beginning, otherwise ya'll need to hike 2 miles back to the original parking lot with all your gear.

So this is the optimized scenario with 2+ cars:

- Everyone meet at steelhead beach at 8:30am sharp
- Car 1 goes into the parking lot to drop off whoever is in car 1 group. These folks will start pumping/setting up the floats.
- Car 1 driver comes back out of the steelhead beach parking lot and drives with Car 2 to Mother's beach (which is the parking lot at the END of the river route).
- Park Car 2 at mother's beach and everyone hop into Car 1 to drive back to steelhead.
- park Car 1 car at steelhead
- You all float down
- At the end of the route (you end at mother’s beach) Car 1 and Car 2 drivers get into Car 2’s car to drive back to steelhead to pick up Car 1’s car
- Both cars drive back to mothers beach to pick up everyone else and the gear

Packing list:

- floats
- duct tape in case any floats get punctured (yes this has happened before lol)
- air pump
- waterproof speakers for vibes
- rope to tie your floats together
- BYOB
- lots of water
- BYO breakfast and lunch, and lots of snacks
- umbrella for shade -- you will be BURNEDD without one. Trust me.
- water shoes if you have them - river is VERY rocky and some stones are mossy slimy
- swim shirt if you have it (gonna be hot and sunny af)
- hat for shade - you’ll be exposed for 4 hrs
- sunglasses
- towel
- waterproof bag if you have it
- bug spray
- sunscreen
- trash bag
- dry clothes to change into

#summer #outdoors #winetasting #california #bayarea #summeractivities #summerideas #nature