The Travelers wound their way around San Francisco and entered this valley, the wine mecca of California. Research indicates there are more than 1000 registered wineries in the Valley. Tiny to huge. We parked the rigs at Skyline Wilderness Park for two weeks. The Park is home to numerous hiking/biking/equestrian trails (all share the trails). We hiked four of them, each taking between an hour and fifteen minutes and two hours. Proving our endurance I suppose, but they were fun. We all have a new appreciation of those who bike these trails, some of which have grades of up to 27% , often over rocks. Serious riders!
Local Napa shopping includes the Oxbow Market where one can purchase scallops for $40.00 per pound and asparagus for $8.00 per pound. Asparagus at WalMart is $1.97. Hmm
We did lunch at one of Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives joints, Gott’s Roadside Grill. Hamburgers, etc. Good but expensive. But……we were there for the wineries!! In Napa and Sonoma we visited Pine Ridge, Black Stallion, Luna, Buena Vista (oldest in California), Ravens Wood, Madonna, Menage-a-Trois, Cakebread and Benziger Wineries. Cakebread and Benziger were remarkable both for their wines and their tours. Benzinger is unique in that is the first certified bio dynamic winery in California (and maybe the USA). what’s that mean? The entire operation uses ONLY what’s available on the property. Water, nutrition for the plants (cows and sheep keep the grass down and their waste is part of the compost returned to the ground. Amazing!!
Daughter MaryMegs and daughter-in-law Jen flew into SFO on the 17th for several days of touring. They joined us for the visits to Luna and Benzinger, a bus tour of San Francisco, Irish Coffee at the world famous (for the coffee) Buena Vista Cafe on Fisherman’s Wharf.
We also toured Alcatraz, home of some of the most unruly convicts in the Federal Prison System. Very interesting, especially the guy behind bars. Click it to see one nasty-looking character. Douglas contemplating what it might have been like. Cold and damp all the time and that’s not even solitary!!
We played sightseer and took a whirl wind trip around San Francisco on a double-decker bus. We were able to catch a glimpse of China Town, Lombard Street, Union Square,Jimmy Hendrix house and much more…
We have now unwittingly found ourselves “in town” during special occasions twice. New Orleans during Mardi Gras and San Francisco on weed day; the following headline appeared in the paper
San Francisco Accommodates Marijuana Smokers For 4/20 Holiday Event In Golden Gate Park.
They were EVERYWHERE in GG Park and Haight-Ashbury. Had to wonder how they got off work for this event.
Before departing the city we stopped by Pier 39 and saw the Sea Lions hanging out on the docks…
We took the girls to the airport on the 21st and packed up for the journey to the Redwood National Park. April 22 put us on the road, not directly to our next planned stop but to Redding, CA because of a massive landslide on our chosen route, historic Rt 101. The drive was amazing with views of Mount Shasta.
We are now at the Redwoods RV Resort near Crescent City, CA and Redwood National Park. Nice but this area has endured 90+ inches of rain since October 2016. Sodden best describes the ground but the weather is to clear on the 27th so we’ll be able to see the tallest trees in the world and hike through their magnificence. Food? Oysters and dungeness crabs are on the menu (who would have guessed THAT!) The trip from Grants Pass, Oregon (we traveled from Redding to the Redwoods via the northern route because of the difficulty of California 299). Nevertheless, Rt 199 proved to be a careful and beautiful drive.
Tallman Travelers 