The Land of Chic and Chardonnay

Let's Talk about Sonoma......

We bid adieu to San Francisco and headed to our next stop -- Sonoma.  What an interesting and strange place! We'd been through there before but never stayed.  So we stayed.  I wonder what they did before wine.  Because seemingly, that is ALL they do now.  Vineyards everywhere.  Even in people's front yards.  We felt duty bound to sample.  When we have gone to tastings before, the room was usually filled with empty nesters and a smattering of Hipsters.  In Sonoma it appears to be a bit different.  At one place we were the oldest people by about 30 years.  We were also almost the only people who didn't bring their dog or baby with them.  I glanced down the bar and was frightened by what looked like a giant hairy breast breaking free of a woman's jacket only to discern on closer inspection that it was a Chihuahua.  Tots hurtled through space and climbed wine racks while their parents visually disowned them and sipped decorously on a splendid Pinot Noir.

And then there are the Wine Clubs.  I thought Wine Clubs were like Cheese of the Month Clubs and that all it meant was that a bottle or case showed up on your doorstep periodically.  Mais Non! Michael's cousin Mary Pat, who recently moved to Sonoma, explained the concept to us.  Virtually all the Wineries have wine clubs that you can join.  With membership you get free tastings in a private room, a discount, they reserve the best limited quantity wine for the Club and there are social gatherings and activities that the Club hosts.  Now the different wineries have a different "identity" in terms of what kind of social activities they sponsor and the type of clients they attract.  So, it is a challenge to figure out which Wine Club best suits you.  I mean the wine HAS to be good but you also have to find a winery whose activities seem fun to you and whose club members are witty, bright and well balanced rather than snobby, superficial and psychos.  Who said it was easy living in Sonoma?

Our first stop was Sebastopol where we spent two nights.  We ventured into town to get some provisions for the apartment we had rented.  We pulled right into the Community Market that looked like it would be just the ticket.   I reached for a few eggs.  Four eggs were $6.99.  They were, of course, free range, organic, gluten free and had the name of the chicken that laid them neatly stenciled on the shell but still....  Back go the eggs.  Crackers ($7.99).  Milk (Cow, not llama or muskrat, $5.79). There were aisles of KALE.  This place made Whole Foods look like the Dollar Store.  We just abandoned the cart and left.  We only needed a few things so we went down the block to a corner type store.  This was the Ying to Community Market's Yang.  There was an entire counter of various jerkies and Slim Jims.  There was white bread -- and only white bread.  They had BOLOGNA in the Deli section.  And the people.  Everyone in Community Market looked like, well, they looked like they lived in Sonoma. At the corner store everyone looked like they lived in West Virginia.  Now why am I going on and on in this manner?  Because it wasn't just this store or that store.  In both Sonoma and Mariposa counties we saw what looked like two totally different societies living in physical proximity but with a level of social separation to a degree I've maybe never seen. It's all pastoral but you move from multi-acre Vineyard estates to double-wides and ramshackle houses with sofas on the porch.  I had NO idea. Enough sociology.  Michael has photos to share.

This mural in Healdsburg is of course dedicated to wine growing...

and all things associated with it, including the beauty queen of the wine festival.

This cute Victorian cottage was also in Healdsburg...

as well as the museum, which was formerly the public library.

Our next stop was at Korbel, the maker of American champagne.

This tower was built in the shape of the prison, from which one of the Korbel brothers escaped before coming to America and it was where the brandy was made.

The flowers on the grounds were spectacular...

as were the giant redwoods.

On the tour there was some old equipment used in the making of champagne in the early years...

such as this mechanical device to rotate the bottles.

In driving to my cousin's we saw this scene with the early morning mist over the vineyards.

Can you say biodynamic?

 After Sebastopol we headed on to Mary Pat's house which is in the town of Sonoma and is a really cool place (both house and town).  We spent the next day with her and she packed a splendid picnic lunch and off we went to Benziger Winery to learn of biodynamic wine making.  What is it?  In Germany, Demeter International is the oldest, organic certifier and the only biodynamic certifier in the world.  Still don't know what that means?  Certification takes three years.  To stay certified the winery must pass a strict inspection of farming and wine making practices each year.  Yawn.  OK. Here is the cool part.  They do weird things.  Like every spring they bury hundreds or thousands (I forget) of cow horns filled with ground up quartz (silica) which they dig up during the summer. In the fall they stuff the cow horns with manure, bury them and dig them up in the spring.  They use the Cow Horn Manure for the soil and they also use it to make a "tea"  mixed with the silica which they spray on the vines.  It enhances photosynthesis and other things I forget.  And they have this giant insectarium where they breed good insects to fight the bad insects.  I don't know-- it all seems like a LOT of work but the wine is VERY, VERY good.  I just try not to think about the manure too much. I'm sure they wash the grapes.  After a visit to another winery we ambled back to Mary Pat's for a marvelous home cooked meal and then, after a trip into the Sonoma Plaza the next morning, we hit the road for the wilderness.  On to Yosemite!

My cousin's cute cottage in Sonoma.

A very creative use of horse troughs as planters.

Due to the drought it is necessary to capture and store all available rain in barrels...

which definitely pays off when you can grow dendrobium orchids like these.

A shot of some of the Benziger vineyards.

Imagery Winery which is related to Benziger hires artists to create all of their labels for the various wines as can be seen in this series of photos. The original artwork is displayed throughout the winery.

A photo of the Sonoma City Hall...

and the old Sebastiani theater.

Please Feel Welcomed

Well, maybe not.  This was the trip of weird dwellings.  Doe's Cottage was our rental in Mariposa.  It was a quite cute, two bedroom cottage.  Upon entering we noticed something peculiar.  First, on the table.  A laminated sign that said: "Sign this rental agreement right now and put it in the pick up box. Do NOT unpack until you have done this."  Hmmmm. OK.  The signs were everywhere. Laminated exhortations about all the possible horrible things we might be thinking about doing to Doe's Cottage. PUT YOUR DIRTY SHOES HERE!  PLEASE, NO PUDDLES OUTSIDE THE TUB! It was like living with your passive-aggressive Mom. We did a little hunt and discovered over 20 of these nags. My favorite was the laminated fire evacuation route pinned on the wall.  If you can't figure out how to get out of a two bedroom cottage you deserve to be fried.  Particularly because there is a big window in your bedroom which is on the first floor.   We never met those people either.  All for the best.

Photos of some of the many signs hung around Doe's Cottage.

I NEVER would have figured it out....

What Can You Say about Yosemite?

Words fail me.  Photos do the trick on this one.  We spent three magnificent days in Yosemite with the waterfalls at full rush.  We entered through all three open gates (one was not - still snow) which gave us marvelous different views.  Michael was near hysteria with delight when he found out that being a geriatric gained him a pass for $10 that gave him and his passengers (up to 4) unlimited access to all National Parks for free in (his) perpetuity. That IS a good deal.

Yosemite is such an iconic park with so much to photograph. Therefore I have decided to split the photos into various themes, starting with the waterfalls.

One of the most amazing sights in Yosemite Valley during the spring are all of the waterfalls, especially Bridal Veil Falls & Yosemite Falls. As can be seen from these photos, the falls were especially spectacular this year because of the heavy snowpack this winter.

Many times the roots of a tree will spit the rocks. This is a case of the rock splitting the tree.

In addition to the waterfalls, the granite peaks of Yosemite are equally iconic, having appeared in innumerable photos and even as screen savers. The most famous being El Capitan and Half Dome.

The snow pack has not yet melted from the higher elevations.

With a little imagination, this looks like a rock head perched on top.

On to the lodges of Yosemite. The Ahwahnee Hotel first opened its doors on July 14, 1927. It was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, but was conceived by Stephen T.Mather, the first Director of the National Park Service. The hotel was built in two years for a cost of $1,250,000. On February 15, 1977 the hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Because of a dispute with the former concessionaire, the Ahwahnee Hotel is now called The Majestic Yosemite Hotel.

The fireplaces in the hotel were enormous.

The grand lounge was enormous & obviously suited to the time it was built, with many areas for quiet reading and contemplation (no electronics or video games).

The stained glass panels in the lounge were also magnificent.

The exterior of the hotel blends with the rustic nature of the park, with spectacular views from the roomsl

The timbered ceiling of the restaurant also maintained the rustic character.

The Big Trees Lodge (formerly the Wawona Hotel) is one of California's original mountain resort hotels and was established in 1856 while this structure was built in 1876. Teddy Roosevelt stayed here when he came to visit Yosemite.

Some final random photos reflecting the beauty of Yosemite & the surrounding area.

This is highway 49, which as can be seen from these two photos, is very scenic, but also a winding road.  Deirdre did not like it (phobia #1)

These next two photos show the impact the drought has had on the forests. The number of orange evergreens was evident everywhere.

While driving we encountered this rather tame deer.

The numerous waterfalls fed many flowing rivers in the park.

In Coulterville we saw the Hotel Jeffery, built in the late 1840's to serve the Mexican community as a cantina & fandango hall. It later hosted many of the 49ers searching for gold.

 "Whistling Billy" is an 8 ton, short wheel base, wood-burning locomotive, built by the H.K. Porter Co. of Pittsburgh, PA. It was delivered to the Merced Mining Co. in 1897 & was used to haul gold-bearing quartz ore on narrow gauge tracks from the Mary Harrison mine south of Coulterville to the Potosi stamp mill west of town, a distance of about four miles. "Whistling Billy" is displayed beneath the "hanging tree" in Coulterville.

This is the Iron Door Saloon & Grill, which claims to be the oldest saloon in California. It gets its name from the iron doors at the entrance, which were to protect the saloon from fires.

A Modest Proposal

In this Presidential Election year (swallow hard) I've been mulling a lot over as we travel.  The National Parks are gorgeous. The Congress (swallow hard) has been cutting their budget for years.  A lot of the work that made the Parks so great was done by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and the WPA during the Depression.  .  The beautiful bridges on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut were designed by WPA architects,  guidebooks to all the States were by writers within the WPA.  Beautiful posters of the Parks were by WPA artists. As I listen to Bernie say there should be free college and I listen to Trump say that We Need  To Make America Great Again, I think, OK fine.  But how?  They resurrected the CCC for a decade or so (renamed) but Reagan killed it. The Job Corp was about urban job training but that didn't work.  I think it's time to rethink it.

What if EVERY kid at 18 had to do 2 years of CCC or WPA work?  And what if for each year that they successfully completed the program they got one year of college at a public college free?  Rather than rich parents spending buckets of money finding the perfect "GAP" year for Sierra she could actually do something that would help OUR country.  And for poor urban kids, let them work in a National Park building or clearing trails and learning about nature under the guidance of a veteran who knows how to command and needs a job.  Rebuilding roads and bridges, organizing activities for kids, creating art or literature etc. etc. etc.  Gear it so the rich suburban kids sees the flip side as do the urban poor kids.  For two years.  Enough.  It's not too late to draft me for President.

Go forth and have fun.  We are in town for another month and then hitting the road again.  This time to Europe.  Can't tell you how much we enjoy hearing back from you guys.  Take care.