The Napa Valley

  

We woke up this morning to rain showers.   We decided after breakfast to just sit tight at our hotel in Santa Rosa till the weather cleared.   Worked out perfectly as they had a guest laundry, so we were able to wash some clothes.    The weather has thrown us a curve-a good curve.   We haven't even used a single long sleeved, cooler weather item!   We certainly could have saved some room in our suitcases!    

We left Santa Rosa about 11 and made our way over the hills from the Sonoma Valley into the Napa Valley.   Our first stop was in the charming town of Calistoga at the Twomey Cellars Winery.   It was a rather unassuming place, but the wines were so amazing! The sun had broken through, they had amazing cheese and bread to pair with the wine and needless to say we were feeling awfully happy when we left.   Headed to a little park in Calistoga for a picnic lunch and then crossed over to the Silverado Trail.   We stopped at several more wineries as we worked our way south.  As you can see in the picture below, many vineyards in the Napa Valley were still heavy with grapes.   So beautiful with the green vines, purple grapes, blue sky, and trees turning color.   Heavenly.

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We worked our way back over to the main highway going south toward Napa.  We passed by so many famous wineries.   Mondavi, Cakebread, and Menage A Trois to name a few of our favorites.   We decided to make two final stops.   First one is pictured at the left.   The Beringer Winery is one of the oldest in the valley and this is their original home. The property was beautiful.

Our last stop took us off the beaten path up into the hills to the Hess winery.   It too was quite amazing and the views down into the valley were wonderful.

We are now settled in our very unassuming Super 8 hotel in Berkeley.   It is not fancy, but serves our purpose as it is close to where we will turn in our rental car tomorrow morning and make our way into San Francisco.   We are looking forward very much to seeing the city.   Our suitcases are a bit heavier with our wine purchases, so we will be enjoying some of that each evening during our stay in Frisco.

Toodles to everyone.   Heard the UW won their football game today.   Go Badgers!   We already have our Packer shirts out to wear tomorrow to hopefully give the Packers our good luck.  

We are California Dreamin'

Bob and Deb

Wine Tasting Day 1

 Well, we figured out our blog issue.   Apparently I hit "zoom 150%" without realizing it.   Seemed fine when it was online, but it was sure strange on the computer screen.  Anyway, all is good now.

At the right is the courtyard area of our lodging in Guerneville.   So charming and well-maintained.   We wished we could stay two nights.

But that was not to be.   By 10:30 we were swigging Korbel California champagne!    We figured it was 12:30 back home so we were ok.   This is such a historic place.   They Korbel brothers started their undertaking in 1886.   In fact, the building at the right was one of the first they built.   They had to clear acres of redwoods to create their vineyards and they had to leave those huge stumps until their was technology to clear them in the 1950's.    They just planted the vines around them.     They are most famous for their champagnes, but also make several wines (not that good by our standards) and of course, brandy.   Every step in the process takes place on their property here in the Sonoma Valley.

After a couple other winery stops, we headed for our lodging tonight in Santa Rosa, California.   Checked in, relaxed a bit, and then headed for the downtown.    At right, you can see me by a statue of Charlie Brown.   He is everywhere in Santa Rosa because this is the home of Charles Schultz and there is even a Charles Schultz museum here.   We strolled the streets of the old town and ended up having supper at a neat brew pub.   Who knew beer was big in wine country?!?.   Just fine with us.   We sampled six different beers and had some great fish and chips and sliders.

Back in our hotel room now.   Relaxing, reading, and planning our day tomorrow.   We are heading a bit west to the Napa Valley.   We will work our way south through that area and end up staying in Berkeley tomorrow night.   We will turn in our rental car on Sunday morning and head into San Francisco for part two of our California adventure.

Hope all is well with everyone.   We have been thinking about Scott and Sam and wondering if they are sleeping in their new house tonight.   Also thinking about our other two kids as their two families are together in Green Bay for a visit.   Hope brother John is recovering from his broken ankle and brother Ralph is doing well in his stroke recovery.   Great big shout out to everyone else as well.

Hugs,

Deb

More of Highway 1

As we worked our way north on highway 1 we next came to the Point Reyes National Lakeshore.   This is a huge area along the coast, but also extending inland.   Our hope was to drive to the westernmost point and view the lighthouse there.   Unfortunately, it was closed on Thursday, so we opted to hike to an area which has been restored to resemble what it looked like when the native Miwok people who lived there.   Bob is peeking into a replica of their dwellings.

 The next pic is just a representation of the wild and beautiful California coast.   We passed wild remote areas, areas that were obviously surfer haunts, and peaceful little bays.   The sun sparkling off the water was quite something and we were glad it actually even showed up on our photo.

We drove as far north as Jenner, CA and then headed inland along the famous Russian River.   Our destination was an eclectic little town called Guerneville.

The picture of Bob at the left is taken over an old bridge in Guerneville.   The Russian River is in the background.   Our short visit there was fun as they were having a farmer's market and live band in the town square.

Our lodging in Guerneville was a charming little place made up of individual cottages.   Karen and Kenn, and John and Rhonda will know what we mean when we say it reminded us of the place we stayed in Fredericksburg.
They even had a campfire for us in the evening.   We went to bed relaxed and anxious for our first day in the wine country of California.

Cheers,

Bob and Debbie

Traveling Highway 1

We began our day Thursday by heading to the John Muir National Monument.   This peaceful and beautiful park was dedicated to the famous naturalist.   It encompasses one of the few remaining old growth redwood forests on the California coast.   The trees are as old as 500 years and as tall as 200-300 feet.   They usually grow in clumps they call "families".   One unique thing about the redwood tree (also known as the sequoia) is that they are able to grow from seed or from what is called a burl ( sort of a lump on the trunk).

After we finished at the Muir Woods, we headed for the coast to have some views of the Pacific Ocean.   And what views we got!    This is just one.   It is actually quite near to the San Francisco Bay.   It is unique because it had these bunkers built into the hillsides behind us.   Apparently after the bombing of Pearl Harbor they dug the bunkers and posted men in them to watch for Japanese ships.

As you can see, the weather was spectacular!    From here we drove north on the famed California Highway 1.   Slow, scenic, breathtaking would be the descriptions we would give.

We are suddenly having issues with the look of the blog, so we are anxious to see how this looks online.   For some reason, the print is HUGE!    Undoubtedly, because as we were doing a post we hit some key and told it to do something.   The only problem is that we can't figure out how to undo it.   Any advice from you techies out there would be appreciated!

Bob and Deb

Sunset and Moonrise

 We had these two lovely views as we strolled around Sausalito.


The setting sun was so beautiful shining on the buildings of San Francisco.    As we snapped our picture a couple struck up a conversation.   They were actually "locals" who were wowed just like we were of these two views taken from nearly the same spot.   We could see the city, Alcatraz, Angel Island, and the new Bay bridge from where we were standing.   The Golden Gate was just around the corner, but blocked from our view.  


The full moon was so pretty as it rose up over the hills surrounding the area.   We are weary, but very anxious to have our first full day of exploring the area tomorrow.

Good night for now.

The Happy Wanderers

All Aboard!

We boarded our Amtrak train at 11:30 PM on Tuesday.   It was quite a comical surprise when we opened the curtain to our sleeper compartment.    To say it was small would be an understatement!   We were hoping to show it, but couldn't get far enough away to even get a picture.   We did some estimating as far as the measurements and it couldn't have been any more than 4 feet x 9 feet.   We got to giggling as we tried to undress in the 8" of space between the edge of the bed and the wall of the compartment. We probably weren't terribly popular with the neighbors who were already tucked in bed sleeping.   Once Bob got up into the upper bunk and Deb got set in the lower all was well.   Slept like babies being rocked in a cradle!

The top picture is taken in the dining car on the train.   At breakfast we were seated with a charming couple from Scotland.   We traded lots of travel stories.   Then we headed to the lounge car and chatted for most of the afternoon with a man who was on his way home from a 2 month long hiking outing in California.   Quite interesting.
At lunch we were seated with two men, not traveling together, but who both ended up being from Canada.  
The picture at the right is taken as we got off the train just outside San Francisco.  That is our car-which actually was the caboose!

Our train was an hour early getting into the Bay area, so we are headed out to Sausalito, which is supposed to be quite charming.   It is right across the Bay from Frisco and we are hoping for some nice sunset pictures.

Toodles,

B and D

Good Bye Utah-Hello California

Greetings Everyone.

Tuesday was our last day in Utah.  We spent it helping Scott and Sam work on some final preparations for their occupancy inspection.    We are pleased to report that they got that ok!!   It is a red-letter day for them.   Not sure when they will be able to actually sleep there, but certainly by the end of the week.   Lots left to do in the house, but at least they can begin to make it a HOME!

Below you can see some pictures I snapped of "school" at the ranch.   They have a charming little classroom in the lower level of the house.   

Sam is working so hard to make it a good and productive experience for the three kids.   They each have their own unique skills and likes.   Of course, when we asked Hunter and Ben what they liked best about school, they promptly said, "Lunch and Recess!"   Pretty darn normal.

  

We had a small, early birthday party for Sam before we left to drive back to Salt Lake City.   Our destination was the Amtrak station to catch our train going west.  

California here we come.

Bob and Deb