Another Lovely Day

A word about the weather: perfect, sunny, warm, great to just sit outdoors and relax.  Which is what we did in the morning in order to prepare for the rigors of shucking oysters at Hog Island Oyster Company.  Tomales Bay was a lovely backdrop to this late lunch. 

The setting could not have been better.

The women relaxed while the men did their duty shucking dozens of oysters before eating them either raw or bbq’ed. 

In addition to finishing nine dozen oysters, we also polished off a half dozen bottles of wine.  Remember the theme: Wine and Food.

After a drive through the lovely countryside, we sat around talking, relaxing some more, and, oh, relishing a pot luck dessert. 

On Friday, some of us will return home while others, reluctant to leave the tranquility of this area, will spend a few more days here.  We expect them to honor the theme.

We all extend a huge thank you to Mark and Ellen for planning such a fun and delicious trip.

A Hop Over to Petaluma

Our community RV club is spending lovely days in Petaluma.  The theme of our trip is wine and food and our leaders Mark and Ellen are very good at making sure we honor that philosophy.  We started with a pot luck dinner and wines, several bottles topped off with a personal port tasting by former Gallo vintner Arnold.  Mmm!

To start our first full day Arnold changed into his chef’s hat and made a Mess, his special breakfast of eggs, potatoes, onions, sausage and linguisa.

Our walk on the nearby nature path helped us work off all that delicious food.  We also spotted some local feathered neighbors.

Then it was on to wine tasting at Cast in Geyserville.

Then came dinner at the Union Hotel in Occidental.  You see, we truly respect the theme of this trip.

Jackson Day 4

It doesn’t get any lovelier than this, a warm sunny day amidst brilliant blossoms.  Rain has kept Daffodil Hill closed but the sun came out and we headed for a morning of traipsing through the flowers.  

 Daffodil Hill is a project of love by the McLaughlin family who bought the land in 1877 from Peter Denzer, a Dutch native.  Denzer started planting the daffodils and the McLaughlin’s and their descendants the Ryan’s have continued to keep the gardens open for visitors.  

 There are now about 300,000 plants in addition to donkeys, peacocks and antique farm equipment, all making for a most picturesque landscape.  

 

 

This was theoretically the last day of our trip but some just had to stay another day to enjoy the beautiful weather, relaxing atmosphere and lovely setting.  The evening ended with a fun gathering around the campfire.

 

We hope you enjoyed your vicarious travels with us and will sign up for the next RV trip in May 22 to Gold Ranch at Verdi, NV.  Also watch for information on the October trip to Petaluma and November trip to Paso Robles.

Jackson - Day 3

Today was a day of working out.  After taking fast or slow, long or short, or not at all walks around the campground, we moved on to some “elbow” exercises at Helwig Winery.  We started our routine with a couple of wine tastings.

 Then we headed to their cave for a tour led by Cory.

 He took us a ways into the 5000 foot cave and explained their use of oak barrels and re-oaking them for longer use. Continuing our tasting in the cave, we learned more about the five-year-old winery. 

Cory posed a question, “What is the most dangerous risk to a winery?” (For the answer check here tomorrow).  Back on the outside, we concluded our tasting, did some purchasing and then sat on the patio enjoying our picnic.

To get more “exercise,” we wandered through Sutter Creek checking out the shops. 

 Then it was back to the RV to rest up for our finale of the day, dinner at Bella Cucina.  If the name is familiar, check out yesterday’s blog.  Dinner was our “ultra” workout, luscious chicken, either picata or scallopini style.  We ended the evening with two shared desserts, one a cheesecake with white chocolate and the second a bread pudding with strawberries, chocolate and a sweet liquor.  The chef tried to entice us to return tomorrow for another dessert.

We did enjoy “working out” together today.

Jackson - Day 2

Yesterday’s promise of good times held true.  Today was a specialty day.  We specialize in food.  First we wandered in Jackson, spending most of our time at the Kitchen Store where we bought much needed new cooking gadgets.  Then we returned to Bella Cucina, a restaurant we enjoyed on the 2015 trip. 

 We learned that they are now open for dinner and, since our lunch was so delicious, we plan to return tomorrow for dinner.

But back to tonight’s dinner.  We had a pot luck starting outside with hors d’oeuvres and wine from yesterday’s tasting.

As it got cooler, we went into Alan and Linda’s coach for the rest of our  dinner.   Good food and good conversation, the perfect ending to a lovely day.

Jackson Trip

Amador County, where Jackson is located, is considered a premier wine producing region.  We set out to see if this claim is true.  Our first tasting was at Amador 360, a shop that has wine tasting for wineries that don’t have their own tasting rooms.

 We were served about a dozen wines by a most delightful wine seller.  After checking the nose, color and taste of the wines, we determined that this is indeed a top wine region and we have the “souvenirs” to prove it.

Wine tasting stirs the appetite.  We dined at the first-rate restaurant Taste.  Monday is their prix fixe night.  Our orders from the special dinner and off the menu were beautifully presented and tasted fabulous.

Day One got us off to a good start.  More good times tomorrow.