Even after hearing the horror stories about the construction on the 80, we chose to take that route into California. Wasn’t too bad except for one section that narrowed down into a skimpy lane for the big guys like us.
I also wondered what the short little sections were that were spaced along the expressway—too small for a parking section and they led no where. I finally figured out that they use them to plow the snow into when they are cleaning the highway.
We stopped at the Agricultural Inspection Center upon entering California and were boarded by an inspector who removed all the apples and a lime from our refrigerator?? Was also chilling to go by Donner Pass and think of what happened there. And, unfortunately, I did not get a photo of the huge yellow sign telling us there would be steep downgrades FOR THE NEXT 40 MILES!!! We got pretty good mileage on that segment of our journey.
We entered Napa Valley, settled into our campground and set out for downtown Napa. After making a reservation for lunch on the wine train tomorrow, we were surprised to find they were having an art fair and wine tasting in downtown Napa. How fun to stroll along, glass of wine in hand, looking at all the different booths while some great music was playing in the background. Hank especially liked the band, got one of their cards—The Rhythm Cats. We ended this lovely afternoon by having a delightful dinner and more local wine at Ristorante Allegria. Napa reminds us of Traverse City as many of the quaint shops and restaurants border the Napa River, much like Traverse sits on the Boardman river.
Next morning, we arrived at the train station in Napa. Hank’s brother, Bob, had suggested we do this and we are so glad he did. We decided to do the lunch rather than dinner, as it’s getting dark much earlier now and we wanted to be able to see the vineyards we were passing through. The train has been lovingly and lavishly restored and we had a gourmet 3-course lunch. Hank had beef tenderloin and I had sea bass. Great food, wine, service and lovely scenery all while we were traveling by train
We left the train to tour Grgich Hills Winery. We had a comprehensive tour and wine tasting there and learned they use biodynamic farming on all five of their Napa Valley vineyards. It’s organic farming plus they use nature’s cycles to determine the best times to plant, prune, cultivate and harvest. In the now historic 1976 Paris Tasting, their 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay bested the top white Burgundies to win first place, shocking the international wine community.
I also got to play Lucy and stomp the grapes! No, they didn’t turn my feet purple and no, they don’t bottle the juice from this vat—it goes into the mulch pile.
We got back on the train, sat in the dessert car and enjoyed the return trip to Napa.
I truly hope we can return here someday.
No comments:
Post a Comment