It has been a little too long since our last blog. In fact now that I'm counting it has been almost two weeks. This is what happens when I'm in charge. Whoops!
I feel compelled to break this down into two posts as it will probably be nicer to read and a little easier for me to write without spending a whole day in front of the computer! If you don't have a tea or coffee in hand then I can summarise our last two weeks by saying we have had a fantastic time, met a number of interesting and generous people, and have indulged in some seriously good food.
Part One - Sonoma and Napa County
After a lovely night in a Sebastopol Airbnb, we had a gentle ride further east into Santa Rosa where we stayed for a couple of nights with some WarmShowers folks. Actually it was only Linda, as her husband David was away and a Fiddle retreat (setting the scene?). Our time with Linda was simply amazing. We were warmly welcomed into their house, given the royal tour and a choice of places to sleep (we opted for their very cozy RV). Over the two days we basically spent our time doing two things; drinking amazing beer at the infamous Russian River brewing company, and being fed and entertained by Linda. Herself and David have more than a few lifetimes of stories to tell. To name just a few things - they have spent six months a year for 16 years sailing the Pacific ocean, they have a vintage collection of Citroen cars (one used in Indiana Jones), and David has cycled the better part of the USA up on a high-wheel (penny-farthing). Linda showed us some awesome slideshows of their various adventures and also showed great enthusiasm in our trip, giving us a number of great tips for our travels south. Thanks again Linda and we hope to come back someday and meet David!
Setting off from our lovely time with Linda
Home for two days in this beast
Helping out in Linda's chicken coop
We set off to the Napa Valley with our bikes packed with clean clothes. We headed to one of the smaller Napa towns called Calistoga over yet another mountain pass. We quickly found out why Linda had laughed our choice of route. It was the most difficult and dangerous section of road we have encountered yet. Hot, winding, extremely steep and instead of a shoulder there was a ditch three foot deep. Suffices to say we pushed our bikes a lot. There was a bit of strategy by the end. We found that if you can make eye contact with the speeding car they are more likely to slow down! Occasionally there was head shake but mostly our pleading (terrified) looks were greeted with smiles and then ultimately deceleration.
Beautiful scenes in the Napa
Happy to be alive and very excited to be in wine country, we reunited with our English friends Philipa and Adam whom we had cycled with in the Canadian Rockies. Together we stayed at the Bothe-Napa State Park in a tent like structure called a Yurt. This is perhaps best described as a giant hybrid of a tee-pee and a hut. No locks, no electricity but cosy with some simple mattresses and a table. The next few days were spent sampling fantastic wines and eating great food (e.g. rainbow trout and asparagus pizza). Selecting wineries was something of challenge as most tasting experiences cost upwards of $30 per person, however with some research and effort we managed to find some more affordable experiences. Our most interesting and educational wine tasting experience was at Laura Michael, a family owned winery in Calistoga. The elderly gentleman behind the tasting bar, Jim, had been witness to the explosion of fame and change in the Napa since the early 1970's. For over an hour he regaled us with fine wine and detailed descriptions of the wine making process. Perhaps not surprisingly, we bought a bottle of their finest vintage - a trick I am sure he has pulled off more than a few times :)
Tasting a drop or two with the Brits
We parted ways yet again with Philipa and Adam, with a plan to reunite in Las Vegas later in the month. Ali and I mounted the trucks and headed south down the valley towards the town of Napa itself, hoping to find a couple of more wineries en route. We first hit the very fancy Duckhorn winery which was most pleasant but lacked the personal touch of our experience the day before. Little did we know the following tasting experience was again to be very memorable. While waiting outside the visitors centre in St Helena (as I was researching the next cellar door), a man approached Ali and started asking all about our trip. This usually happens several times a day, and I rejoined Ali outside as she recited our adventures past and future to our new acquaintance. He introduced himself to me as Jason, and we were chatting for another moment when he noticed my one-armed sunglasses (I have not had good luck with sun glasses on this trip and they had officially become an amputee two days earlier, but surprisingly still sat on my face). Jason went on to insist on giving me his own sunglasses (near new polarised Oakleys) and THEN invited us to his winery (Whitehall Lane) a few miles away. On arrival he had arranged a personalised tour of the winery. We were guided through their productions rooms by one their staff Amy, all the while tasting their fine wines and feeling extremely lucky. An amazing day all in all. Thanks Jason!
Getting the tour of Whitehall Lane with Amy
In Napa, we had yet again another wonderful WarmShowers experience, staying with Douglas and Charlene. They too put us up in their RV for the night, and then made us delicious pasta with fresh produce from the garden. That night we were not the only guests, as a fellow cyclist from Quebec arrived into town from the east. Together we all spent the evening chatting all things cycling, with Douglas giving us an education (unfortunately too late) on the wind patterns of the Napa and greater Bay area. This likely had come up as we had complained about the fierce winds opposing us as we traveled down the valley that day.
Heading back towards the coast, we set off on what should have been an easy ride to Petaluma. Unfortunately we were too engrossed in conversation at our side-of-the-road lunch spot and ended up leaving our backpack behind (this contained our aforementioned fine wine which we were keeping for our first wedding anniversary). It was about 10km later when I realised my back was nice and cool, rather than hot and sweaty. We made the decision, possibly not a good one, to temporarily split ways so to reach our next WarmShowers host on time. Ali pushed on to Petaluma while I doubled back in search of the missing backpack. Luckily it was where we left it, in the shade on the quiet country road. We eventually arrived at the same location and were surprised to find that our host was in fact the mother Brian, another touring cyclist we had met further north in MacKerricher State Park a few weeks earlier. Yet again, another wonderful night of great food and conversation. Even managed to slip in a beer at the Lagunitas brewery downtown. Thanks Julie and Brian for a great stay and hope to see you again someday!
To be continued tomorrow - As we have now spent a few hours on the blog this morning, we will continue recalling the next part of our adventures tomorrow morning in Part Two.
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