Sunday, December 8, 2019

December 5-8, 2019 Garberville to Glen Ellen to Lodi to Merced , California


We drove south on the Redwood highway (101). There was some fog along the way.  We drove past two huge lagoons with clouds reflected in them and the ocean surf on the other side of  sandbars.   

We came down the world famous Avenue of the Giants scenic drive, which is a 31 mile portion of the old highway 101. It is surrounded by Humboldt Redwoods State Park which has the largest remaining stand of virgin redwoods in the world.  It is very narrow with redwoods right up to the highway. It was a stressful drive for John with the RV, but very beautiful.

We had dinner with my friend Kay tonight. We went to college together and manage to keep in touch. It is always fun to see her and catch up. I forgot to get a photo of the bus at the Benbow KOA RV park during the day. It is ok for a commercial park. KOA's are expensive. There is a golf course, pool, etc. The sites are close together, but there was no one by us. Too many light tho. 
 Heading south again. Fog and rain. We were on hwy 101-redwood highway, but it still looked like the Avenue of the Giants with many of the redwoods right up to the side of the road. 

We are spending the night at a Harvest Host winery-Mayo Family vineyard. Free camping, you just buy what they offer. Liz our host pouring us tastes. Great wine.  

The current masterpiece is coming along. The beads will straighten out when I am done. We left Glen Ellen in pouring rain.  Here is rain, vineyards and oak trees. 

We passed just north of the the bay area. Here is the north bay and some windmills along the way. We are now at D'art Winery. Another Harvest Host. We are parked right next to the vineyards. These are cabernet sauvignon grapes.  

The bus at the vineyard. There are still grapes on the vines. It was such a good year that the vineyards could not use all the grapes, so some are still there. They had a bottle your own event today so it was crowded. You could pour the wine into the bottle, put the cork in and put your own label on.  

Monique poured for our wine tasting. Since it was so busy it was less personal than most of the harvest hosts are. But fun. We purchased a bottle of Dog Day Red. It is a blend with a bit of port in it. Lodi is a major wine producing center with more than 80 wineries.  It is nicknamed 'The Zinfandel Capital of the World". Still working on the masterpiece. I got another row of needles on. I am working on the beads now, I have to resew them all on once I get this part of the basket done and I started doing stitching in the window the beads are in on the top set and started the right hand one.  

We had dinner with our friend Alison. She usually winters in Shoshone or Tecopa where we spend a lot of the winter. This year she is going to stay in Lodi near her son and granddaughter. She is doing great and it was fun to visit with her. It  is so nice to wake up to sunshine on the vineyard outside the bedroom window.

Another long day of driving. The bus at The Vista Winery in Merced, California. What a nice surprise, sunshine and electric hookups. The almond orchard next door. We learned today that they are called almonds in the tree and amonds on the ground. When the fall the L gets knocked out of them. 

The tasting room at The Vista. Very nice grounds. They have the tasting room, the ranch and an events center. Very nicely landscaped. John and I as xmas elves! 
 
Flowers and such at the Vista winery. A moon and almond tree. 
Sunset tonight. 





No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.