March 31, 2008

Hello all!

I am sooo behind - perhaps I should stop going on
vacation so I can write to you...

we left Oakland at 11 am - with a dead scooter
attached, and I have to say that I was very
excited about the day to come. We were headed for
wine country - which way to turn, Napa or
Sonoma????

Years ago I joined the Benziger Winery wine
club...this was during a trip in a limo, on my
birthday, with Sarah (oldest daughter) and her
roommates and co-geologists Carrie and Elowyn.
How we ended up in a limo doing a tour of wine
country is still beyond me, but we had a blast!
And after we toured the no longer memorable first
vineyard (something about the moon - had a nice
label) the limo driver said why not go to
Benzigers, its right around the corner? So we
did. He also told us that if we were lucky we
would get to go to 3 vineyards and tasting rooms
in that afternoon....

Well, we were all very impressed at the time with
Benzigers - they had an offer to join their club,
get wine delivered 4 times a year, have free
tastings that day (all 4 of us) and get invited
to their wine-club-member-only once a year gala.
Well, I didnt think too long about it, since you
could cancel at any time, and the first shipment
of wine cost about the same as the tastings would
have for 4 people....so we bacame members. Our
third vineyard that day was Imagery, which is a
sister vineyard to Benzigers - really nice wine,
known for the original works of art on the labels
- hence the name...we only drank 3 bottles of
wine in the limo between and after the
tastings...

And I have been reluctant to cancel ever since -
its really nice wine, far too expensive - but a
couple of years later, Sarah and I went to their
annual gala. Let me compliment them on their
sales strategy here - crab legs, eggplant and
garlic, gelato, shrimp and scallops, beef, all
with a taste of the wine to go with it..music by
local musicians - all at no cost to members - the
only thing they didnt provide was a place to
sleep!

So - when the choice was in front of me, I
decided to go back to Benzigers in Sonoma. In an
RV with potentially no place to park, a partner
who could care less about wine, an old dog, a
dead scooter, all at about 4:30 pm. Please,
please let them be open til 5 I kept saying!

And they were. And "we" bought a case of wine
after "we" tasted in the tasting room. This
company has decided to add an entire biodynamic
line.....its not good enough to produce organic
anymore, now you have to plant lavender around
the vines so they become infused, etc. Well I am
holding off on my opinion about all that - but
the wine is still delicious!

We were headed towards Healdsburg after, and a
possible visit with a friend.....and when we got
to Healdsburg, we discovered that the RV park in
the RV park book was closed for renovations
....it was now about 9 pm

So, we drove all the way back to Sonoma, and
stayed at the Windsorland RV Park - right next to
the highway on both sides! But it had a grassy
area for Allie, and when the lights were out it
didnt seem quite so noisy.

The next morning, which by the way was December
11, we drove back up to Healdsburg, and after a
poll of my best wine buddies, decided to stop at
the Simi winery for their tasting. Ken decided to
stay in the RV with Allie - ok, a lone tasting.
Turned out it was way fun - some 95 year old guy
doing the pouring, lots of stories about
grapes....bought another case to bring along,
sent some to the book club.....

ok enough about the wine tour....we drove north
to Eureka, CA that day - we took the Avenue of
Giants detour through the Redwoods - was very
impressive, those trees are massive! And tall! We
went as far north as Trinidad, CA - and decided
to park for a couple of days at the "Sounds of
the Sea RV Park" - we assumed it would be on the
ocean. It was not. It was across the street and
down the road a piece, which we didnt know until
the next day because it was dark when we arrived!
But really a very nice park, and you could hear,
but not see, the sea lions and harbor seals. It
was across the street from the Patricks Point
State Park and down and across from Agate Beach.

We walked about 10 miles over the next few
days..with Allie, because dogs were allowed and
encouraged!!! Hurray! There were several trails
and big rocks overlooking the water, or in the
water, depending on the time of day. And Agate
Beach? Well that was a really great place. You
had to walk down a trail, descending about 500
feet in a minute and a half, onto a pebble beach
that was really amazing- yes there were
agates....but every rock you looked at could have
been jade, or agate, or tigers eye or
whatever....when they are wet they all look so
special...we ended up with literally 30 pounds of
rocks...after they dried they didnt look the
same! and I have no idea what they are, but they
were pretty.

We also found incredible driftwood there, and
collected enough small pieces to send to Mrs
Meehans class! And enough leftover for any craft
project I could ever come up with for the next 20
years!

Allie had lots of fun on the beach, although she
is NOT a wave chaser at all. But she pretended
pretty well, and definitely got sand and pebbles
beneath her toes.

It was a fun place. It was sad to leave, even
though the Holidays were coming quickly and we
had all our kids to visit!

More soon!

Love, Mindy