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!): amzn.to/3W2Xs7s
- My Red Paddle Co. inflatable paddleboard (an investment piece that I've used for 4+ years): amzn.to/3RQ6nXB
- battery-powered inflation pump (strong enough to inflate paddle boards and all manner of inflatables): amzn.to/3W69UDG
- Airplane float (super cute and comfortable to lounge on, but ours got snagged on something and leaked air): amzn.to/3L7WsIV
- Margarita float: amzn.to/4cK6xaN
- inflatable row boat:
- drybag: amzn.to/4eKNH5i
- My sun hat (protect yoself from the sun): amzn.to/3xCU1ev
TRIP DETAILS:
📍River: Russian River, start at Steelhead Beach goo.gl/maps/NVZjZQ6eNvBc3Rk4A
📍Winery: Russian River Vineyards www.russianrivervineyards.com...
📍Food: Russian River Pub 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: 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

[@danieljimenez8735]

Def gunna do this I been looking for a nice lazy river but didn’t want to drive over to Sacramento from the bay thank you

[@iriswoohoo]

The river at Mendocino (Big River) is also great for kayaking/paddle boarding! It’s definitely deeper so maybe not as great for floating, but that’s another option.

[@bchin324]

Thanks for sharing!

[@iriswoohoo]

Thanks for watching!

[@chantyebuensalido4470]

Looks so much fun. How did you guys get back to your car?

[@iriswoohoo]

Check out the description for a full step-by-step guide on how we planned this trip! But 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.

[@D.E.O.]

This is awesome! What time of year was this? And how deep does this water get?

[@iriswoohoo]

This was in June, and the water level varies depending on which section of the river you're in, but it gets really shallow at some parts (when you have to get off and drag your floats) and in other parts, you can actually swim a bit.