Donna and April's visit... OR - Jersey Girls!

Donna and her friend, April, came for a visit!  They arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and after they got settled in at their B&B, they came over for dinner.  It's tradition to go down to the beach, watch the sunset, and it didn't disappoint!  It was a tad bit windy and cold but a gorgeous sunset nonetheless.

On Wednesday Donna and April went to San Jose to visit the chiropractor for some adjustments.  Donna swears by this guy, and about once a year comes back to CA to visit him, and we appreciate that!  This was April's first visit and she also thought it was great.  We went over to their B&B in Miramar for a glass of wine and then went into Half Moon Bay for dinner at Sushi Main Street - another tradition!  It was wonderful, as usual.

On Thursday they had planned to go into SF and play tourist, and we tagged along!  In fact, we tagged along on all of their activities during this trip!  Thursday was a beautiful day, although cloudy, but nice and warm.  We found a great vantage spot for pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and even people to take a picture of all of us.  From there we parked at Aquatic Park, and walked down to Pier 39, with stops along the way at Ghiraradelli Square and we all came out with chocolate!  We had lunch at Boudin's bakery - the iconic soup in a sour dough bread bowl - yum!  Both Donna and April got sour dough bread to take home.  It was lots of fun to play tourist and we managed to leave with all kinds of stuff.

From San Francisco, we were on our way to Burlingame to have dinner with Donna's sister-in-law, Diane, and Dianne's son, Joe, his wife Christine and their three children.  I used to work with Christine at Gap, and hadn't seen her since I retired, so I was looking forward to catching up.  However, our route to Burlingame took us right by AT&T park, where game 2 of the World Series was just beginning!  Needless to say, we had plenty of time to watch the Giant's fans, in orange and black, heading to the game!  BTW, in case you didn't know, the Giant's won - 9 - 0!

Dinner was wonderful!  The food was great, and so was the company!  The kids were great fun - Joe and Christine's twins are 8, and their youngest, Domenic, is 5.  They kept us entertained during dinner, especially after Auntie Donna taught them the spoon on the nose trick!

Friday we went to Calistoga and did some wine tasting!  April had wanted to visit the Vincent Arroyo winery - one of the small, obscure wineries that we had "discovered" on our last trip to Napa.  It seems that April has been ordering wine from them for awhile, and wanted to visit.  We also toured the Castello Di Amorosa, V. Sattui and the Prager winery, which specializes in port!  We had discovered Prager port on the wine train with John in July, and it was great to visit their winery - or, portery?

And then, sadly, it was Friday night and the Jersey Girls went back to their B&B, and then left for home on Saturday morning.  But, it was great to visit with them, and hopefully they will get back out this way again, soon, as we already have a "next time" list of things to do!

The sunset at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

A bit cold and windblown!

Donna, April and Pat with the Golden Gate Bridge in the back ground.

And with Lee!

Donna and April with the seal sculpture at Pier 39

Donna and her nephew, Joe, at dinner

Lee, Domenic and Christine.  Domenic loves to have his picture taken

Auntie Donna and Domenic discuss the dessert menu. 

Domenic and his magic nose!  He walked around with the spoon on his nose, entertaining us and the other diners

Auntie Donna and Ricky, as he plays video games on Dad's cell phone

Adorable Annie!

Domenic

April and Donna at V. Sattui winery

V. Sattui

April at Vincent Arroyo.  If you are in the Napa area, be sure and visit - they are very knowledgeable and the tasting is free!

The castle - Castelo Di Amorosa

April and Donna, on the way in

The stone gate house at the entrance to the castle.

It wasn't too cold on Friday, but you can see the clouds/fog hanging in the mountains.  It was a good thing that we watched the sunset on Tuesday night, as it was the only one there was - every other night was cloudy and overcast.

Our visit with Betty and John

Last Thursday we went to Phoenix to visit with our dear friends, Betty and John.  We hadn't seen them since they visited here last September, so it was great to catch up!  The bonus in us going to their house is that we get to see their kids and grand kids as well, AND, their weather is much warmer than ours!

The flight down was totally uneventful, and Betty, John, and son Jim met us at the airport.  As our flight landed about 12:30, we went out to lunch at one of their favorite lunch spots - Pudgies!  They had great sandwiches and wonderful cookies, too!

We spent a lot of time chatting and catching up, as well as doing some touring in and around Phoenix.  We visited the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), which opened fairly recently, and was just amazing!  They display musical instruments from around the world and from the beginning of time.  We saw displays from Europe, Canada and the US.  We didn't have time to do Asia, so the MIM is on the list for next time.  It was fascinating to see that all of the countries shared the same basic instruments.  I always thought that the bagpipe originated in Scotland or Ireland, but it turns out that all of the countries had figured out that you could (literally!) use a dead animal as a musical instrument! 

There were dozens of amazing guitars and stringed instruments, as well as a variety of horns and flutes. And of course, bones and skin for drums and drumsticks.  We highly recommend this museum if you are in the Phoenix area and plan on it being a full-day event!  They also have a section of the museum devoted to mechanical devices, like the player piano and music boxes.  We were fortunate to be there on a Friday at 4:00 pm when they play the Apolonia - a huge mechanical music machine that sounds like a full orchestra!  It was used in dance halls and theaters in it's hey day.

We visited with Leslee and her kids but somehow we didn't get any pictures of them! Katelynn and Matthew are getting big, and Leslee is keeping busy with kids and work.  We saw Jim, Kristy and Ashley, and Jon, but not his boys.

We spent some time in Scottsdale - always a fun place to visit!

Betty, John and Jim are in the process of moving the business from a leased office to the small apartment at their house that John had built for Betty's mother years ago.  It's a great space, consisting of a living room, bedroom and bath, and a wee kitchen.  It has a separate entrance, as well, so perfect for a home office.  On Monday John, Jim and Lee did some moving of drafting tables and equipment from the office, and the computer guy came to make them operational.  Once it's all organized, it's going to be great, and you can't complain about the commute!  At this point, they are still trying to figure out where everything is going to go, as it's definitely smaller than their leased space. But we've no doubt that they will get it all worked out!

And then, all too soon it was Tuesday morning and time to come home!  Thanks for a great visit, Betty and John!  We're looking forward to seeing you next year!

Pugies - a great lunch spot!  Jim, John, Betty and Lee

Betty and John, after decorating the alter at their church

A beautiful fountain in Scottsdale

We thought these table and chairs were adorable, and no, we didn't have any ice cream

As you would expect, Scottsdale has great pottery.  We loved this story teller with her many, many children

How do you like our new car?  OK, we got in the van next to it!

This was one of the many fascinating instruments at MIM - the Octobase.  The instrument is so tall that the person playing it had to stand on a step next to it to reach the keys and strings.

This bagpipe left no doubt as to it's origin!  It started out as a calf.  Yuck!  You have to wonder who thought of it originally!

The Apollonia - it filled up the wall and all of the instruments moved as they were played.  It was a treat to be able to hear it in action

Betty and John's pond.  The lilly pads were in bloom, and the fish were fun to watch.  They have had an issue with cranes, swooping in and grabbing the koi right out of the pond!

Jim and his daughter, Ashley, with their Halloween decorations.

Dinner!  We even got Ginger in the picture.

Betty and John's great room - this is the addition that they put on last year.  It's a wonderful space.

The other end of the great room.  Big enough for Betty's piano.  Notice the collection of dolls on the wall.

Office move - phase I.  The drafting tables and computers are ready to go.  Can't wait to see pictures of it when the move is complete!  Betty's office is in what was the bedroom.

We had a great time, and also enjoyed the last bit of summer that we're going to have for awhile!

Calistoga Vacation!

We enjoyed our visit to Calistoga in July so much, that we wanted to go back.  We asked Jim and Rex to join us for a week at Washington Street Lodging, and he was able to get vacation time, so, off we went!

Jim and Rex arrived on Sunday afternoon, the 10th, and we had a nice afternoon and evening together.  On Monday morning we loaded up the car, including an ice chest full of whatever food was going to go bad during the week, and left for Calistoga.  It was a beautiful day, and we had a nice trip through San Francisco, and into Sonoma and Napa counties.  It was much warmer there - the temps were in the 90's for our entire stay, which I loved!  Jim and Rex, not so much.

Our first stop was at V. Sattui winery.  Their wines are only sold at the winery.  We didn't do any tasting there, as it was really crowded (Monday was a holiday), but we made use of their restrooms and Lee bought a couple bottles of wine to take with us.  

We got to Washington Street Lodging about 3, and our cottage was ready for us.  We reversed the car loading process, and got settled in.  We had some munchies and a glass of wine on the deck, and looked through all of the information that Joan provides on the area, and came up with a plan for where to go and what to see!  Dinner that night was a huge tossed salad with chicken and feta on the deck, under the lights strung across - it was wonderful - probably about 80 and just perfect!!

Tuesday morning we had our normal leisurely morning - coffee, followed by breakfast, followed by showers and getting ready.  We were out of the cottage by 11:00 am, which is plenty early enough for wine tasting!  We decided to concentrate on the smaller wineries in the area, the ones recommended by Joan.  

We started out at Zahtilla Winery, on the Silverado Trail.  They make predominantly red wines, and they were quite good - we bought a bottle, so did Jim - 2 bottles, so far!  From there we visited the Vincent Arroyo Winery - a very small operation - they have tasting just outside their barrel room, at NO CHARGE!!  They also specialize in reds, and in addition to the tasting, they gave us a tour of the area where they were harvesting and beginning the crush - it was amazing!  We bought 3 bottles of wine, Jim bought 1 - now we're up to 6!

At this point it was about 2, so we decided lunch was in order.  Back to the cottage, where we had lunch out on the deck.  We had planned a visit to the g.Cook winery that afternoon.  Gayle Cook is a flight attendant for Delta, and Lee has flown with her for years.  Her husband Glen was a dentist in Palo Alto, decided to make his dream a reality, and start a winery in the Napa Valley.  The Cooks have 3 BIG dogs, so Jim and Rex decided to stay behind and rest and relax, and Lee and I went to the winery.

It was great to see Glen and Gayle again, and they treated us to a barrel tasting of some of their 2010 wines that had just been harvested and were in stainless tanks!  We tried a new rose, which had just gone "on the yeast", a Cabernet Franc that was just two weeks old, and already very good, and a Cabernet Sav that was 3 weeks old.  While we were there, Glen and Gayle suggested that we visit Chateau Montelena, where the movie Bottle Shock was filmed - more about that later.   We left g.Cook winery with 3 bottles of wine - their fabulous field blend red, a sauvignon blanc and a rose - now we're up to 9 bottles on the first day!

Tuesday night Jim treated us to dinner at the Flatiron Grill in Calistoga.  It was within walking distance of our cottage, but we took the car and parked it right outside the restaurant, where we could keep an eye on Rex.  We took the bottle of field red from g.Cook, (no corkage fee),  enjoyed a delicious dinner. They even fixed a hamburger patty for Rex!  We finished off the evening on the deck under the stars with warm, lovely weather.

Wednesday we continued our visit of small wineries.  We began at Chateau Montelena, which has the most amazing grounds, with a lake, several small pagoda-style picnic areas and paths suspended over water.  We went into the tasting room, where Jim discovered the Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon in small "glass sipper" bottles, packaged 6 to a box.  He got some of those to share with the people back at work.  We saw references to the movie "Bottle Shock", and decided that we needed to find that movie!  We left there with 18 cute little bottles of wine!

The next stop was at Summers Winery, again, a very small winery.  They had a "petting vineyard" where a row of vines of each of their types of grapes were planted near the tasting room, and you could walk among them and taste each of them on the vine.  They are one of the few wineries who produce wine from the charbono grape - and there are only 80 acres of charbono grapes in California.  We left with 13 bottles of wine from Summers - although 12 of them were half-bottles.

On my list for our Calistoga visit was to see the Castillo Di Amorosa.  It's a replica of a 12th century Italian castle, and it's authentic in every way.  It was built over a period of 15 years, by Darryl Sattui - of V. Sattui fame!  Darrel is producing Italian style wines on his land and the castle is actually a working winery.  Donna, we sure hope that you still have that bottle of port that Darryl signed, all those years ago! 

When we visited Calistoga in July, we took the tram up to Sterling Vineyards, and you could look across and see the castle on top of the hill, even though its not visible from the road. 
We decided not to take the castle tour, but to go up and have a look around.  Well, it was amazing!!  Anything in the castle that isn't authentic and imported from Italy was created, using "old world" methods.  It's 9 stories tall, and 4 of them are underground.  They have a drawbridge, moat, dungeon and even a torture chamber!  We quickly decided that we wanted to go inside, so we did the tasting tour, which included 2 floors of the castle on a self-guided basis, and the tasting room.  We really enjoyed everything we saw, and the full tour is on the "next time" list!  We left there with one bottle of wine.  So, on Wednesday, we bought 32 bottles of wine, bringing our total to 41!  Although, in our defense, the bulk of these were small bottles - and 18 of them were really small!!

We had pasta with pesto and a green salad on the deck for dinner on Wednesday night - just delightful!

We decided to go south on the Silverado Trail on Thursday - our first stop was at Rombauer Winery - they are known for their reds, and Kerner Rombauer was a pilot for Braniff, so there's an airline connection.  They also have an amazing garden to stroll through that we all really enjoyed.  We left Rombauer with 2 bottles of wine. 

Next on the list was Silver Oak!  Lee and I had visited Silver Oak 16 years ago.  They produce only Cabernet Sauvignon.  We had gotten a bottle on that visit, which we opened the night Lee gave me my engagement ring.  Their wines are still just fabulous!  We got a bottle of a re-release of the 2002 Cab, which we're going to save for our 10th anniversary!

From there we went across to Hwy 29 and the Franciscan Winery.  This was in direct conflict with our focus on small wineries, but it was wonderful!  Their wines are great and the grounds are just beautiful.  One bottle of Chardonnay left with us.

Back to small wineries - we stopped at the tiny Fulton Winery.  They produce only Petit Sirah - it's a true mom & pop operation!  The family has run the winery for many generations, and we left there with two wonderful bottles of the 2007 Petit Sirah.  Let's see - I think that makes our grand total 47 bottles of wine in 4 days!!  Again, lots of them were really, really small!

We got back to the cottage about 3 pm, and stopped at a Mexican restaurant that we had wanted to try and ordered a nice lunch, that we all really enjoyed.  That evening we went to visit a friend of Jim's that he had worked with in San Luis, Wendy.  Wendy works at a casino about 15 miles from Calistoga, on Hwy 29.  She was working that night, but she had a 30 minute lunch break, so she and Jim got to visit during that time.  While we were there, we each put $1 in the slot machines,  and promptly lost them all!

We got back to Calistoga at 8:30, and stopped at their local ice cream shop for a frozen yogurt - yummy!!

And then it was Friday!  And after our not-as-leisurely breakfast, we all got ready, and began the process of loading the car for the inevitable trip home.  It was tricky with all that wine!  But Lee and Jim got us all packed up,and there was even room for Rex and I in the back seat.  We stopped at the Calistoga Coffee Roastery on our way out, as we each wanted a bag of their coffee.  Joan provides freshly ground coffee from the roastery and it is SO good!  When we got to the roastery, we asked for the coffee that "Joan buys for Washington Street Lodging", and they were able to tell us exactly what to buy!  Gotta love a small town!

Then we visited the local museum so that Jim could see it.  It's totally amazing for a town of this size, but that's because a Mr. Sharpsteen, who worked for Walt Disney in the animation area, moved to Calistoga when he retired.  He began creating a huge diorama of the early town and collecting historical information and artifacts.  His passion, wealth and Hollywood connections resulted in a wonderful museum.  While we were there, we saw a picture of the Schrams home, built on a clearing in a hill in the mid 1800's.  We wondered if it was still there, and I remembered that the Schramsburg Winery had been on Joan's list.  So, even though we didn't have an appointment, we went to visit and have a walk around.  Needless to say, it's no longer located in a clearing!  It's not even visible from the road.  But the beautiful old house remains, along with the winery operation and tasting room.

After that, we had no excuse to not head home.  We got to Pacifica about 3, and stopped at Safeway.  While we were there, Lee noticed the DVD shop across the street and went in and got the movie "Bottle Shock".  We watched it after dinner and it was a great movie.  We learned that Chateau Montelena's 1973 chardonnay wine had won first place in a blind tasting of French and California white wines, held in Paris in 1976!  And then we realized that we hadn't even tasted their Chardonnay!!  On the list for "next time".  In that same tasting, the Stags Leap Winery won first place for reds, so the French were not very happy.  In 2006, 30 years later, a blind tasting was again held in Paris, and again, the California wines won first place, resulting in the movie Bottle Shock.

Jim headed for home this morning.  The house is quiet, and there's no little dog to sit with me.

We had a great, wonderful relaxing time in Calistoga with Jim and Rex!!  We're looking forward to our next trip to Washington Street Lodging and the wine country!

The V. Sattui anniversary sign.

Jim, Rex and Lee

Washington Street Lodging.  The main house was built in the late 1800's, and the cottages are in the back.

Jim in the front room.  The day bed is very comfortable for sleeping!  There's also a full kitchen, bedroom and decent sized bathroom with a walk-in closet.  This is Cottage #2, and was built in the 1930's.

The very inviting, comfortable deck!  We spent quality time here!  You can see Cottages #4 and 5 in this picture, and one of our neighbors at the table.

Ahhhhh...   Rex, however, wasn't as sure

But Jim sure looks comfy!

Relaxing time on the deck - Jim with his crossword puzzles, Lee with his computer (on his lap) and me with books and maps, plotting!

Downtown Calistoga - this was the school house at one time.

The guys on the main street - Lincoln Avenue

The original train station in Calistoga.  It was built in the mid-1800's.

There are many beautiful murals on buildings in Calistoga - this one was really neat!

The old hotel

Glen and Gayle Cook and Tank!  Tank is a cross between a Rottweiler and a great dane, and weighs a mere 115 lbs!  Those are Glen's vines in the background.

The gardens at Chateau Montelena

Lee, Jim and Rex on the bridge leading to the picnic pagodas.

Isn't this a beautiful setting for a picnic?

Chateau Montelena, in full swing with the harvest

It's a grand old building, built into the side of the mountain.

Picking the debris out of the grapes.  These are Cabernet Sauvignon grapes

Into the hopper, and off to be crushed!

Tons of grapes - literally!

Jim and I with wine barrels

And Lee, too!

The entrance to the Chateau Montelena tasting room.

Chateau Montelena courtyard.

Rex, Jim and Lee by the koi pond

This is a display that talks about the wine that won the blind tasting in 1976

This is the sign above the fireplace at Summers Winery - love it!

We took full advantage of the "petting vineyard"!

The rare Charbono grape!  It tasted pretty good!

Jim and Rex among the vines

Grapes, ready to be picked.  It's great that they are trained to hang below the foliage, for easier harvesting.

Wine on the hoof!

Castello di Amorosa - Castle of Love

Ready to visit the castle

The castle from the grounds around it

More castle

Here's a view of Sterling Winery, nestled in the mountains on the other side of the highway - the reverse of the view we got of the castle in July

Vineyards.  Everything was beginning to change color - should be spectacular in a couple of weeks.

Lee at the castle

And Jim, too.

Jim and Rex, touring around

One of the corridors surrounding the center of the castle

The great dining hall - it seated 144!!

Kings and Queen for a moment!

The courtyard

King Rex!

In the courtyard with the horse-drawn cart

The ladies room

Lots of arches!

This was a HUGE cask - must have been 12 feet high!

Wine-making at the castle.

Entering the tasting room, underground

Jim and Lee

Wine tasting at the castle!

The gardens at Rombauer

Jim and Rex at Rombauer

Silver Oak - very special wine!

Vines and fountain at Silver Oak

Windows at Silver Oak

Great display!  Lee asked to see the bottle that cork had been in!

Beautiful fountain at Franciscan Winery

More wine tasting!  Note the one glass - the wineries were great about letting us pay for one tasting, and then sharing.  Saved a lot of money, and kept us safe and sober!

Jim and Rex.  Rex didn't quite get our penchant for wineries, but he was very patient.

Jim and Wendy!

The Schramsburg Winery.  They produce sparkling wines.

What a wonderful, relaxing vacation!