Wine Country
Until now. We’ve just spent a very peaceful week, with lots of time just sitting enjoying the scenery. It’s been nice.
I’ve been in Petaluma, CA, once before. My visit was limited to a couple of pubs and some restaurants, all on the east side of Hwy 101. I wasn’t impressed by what I saw, so when we started looking for a place to stay in wine country, Petaluma was near the bottom of my list. But luckily for us, there are a limited number of RV parks in the Napa/Sonoma area and the ones I checked were ridiculously expensive, so I widened my search. It was then that I remembered that there’s a Coast Guard Training Center about ten miles west of Petaluma that has a tiny RV campground. It’s in a rural setting, there are only six parking spots, and there are no sewer hookups, but the price was right so I made a reservation and hoped for the best.
Fast-forward to last Tuesday. After fighting construction traffic coming through Petaluma, we found ourselves on a winding country road, surrounded by dairies set in beautiful rolling hills covered in green pastures. We pulled into the base and soon parked at our site near a small lake. We were greeted by an incredible view of the dairies from our “patio” (see photo above). The RV park is near the edge of the base and there is a farm house with several exotic animals, including some very noisy peafowl, a short distance across the fence. Deer, geese, wild turkeys, and other animals wander through the campground. The weather has been perfect and our neighbors are a nice young Coast Guard couple about to relocate to their new post in Virginia. Their house had sold sooner than expected so they are spending their last couple of weeks on base in their small motorhome.
So, in case you haven’t figured it out, we’ve been very pleasantly surprised. We’ve agreed that this is the best RV park we’ve experienced, ever! A good indicator of this is that the park provides Direct TV hookups with 212 channels, and we’ve not turned our TV on a single time. It’s just too nice outside to be inside. The Coast Guard members we’ve met have been wonderful. They also have a sense of humor, demonstrated by the sign we found near the entry to the firing range.
It turns out I was wrong about Petaluma as well. It’s a blue-collar town, but with character. In particular, the old downtown area has some great early 20th century architecture. There are also a couple of great breweries there, the well-known Lagunitas Brewing Company and the practically unknown Dempsey’s Brewery. It’s heresy among beer lovers to say this, but I think I like Dempsey’s beers better. They use an unusual amount of crystal malt (malted barley containing unfermentable dextrins) which lends a slightly sweet, caramel taste to their beers. If you happen to be in the area, give them a try.
Of course, since we’ve been in wine country, we’ve spent a good bit of time visiting wine estates and doing wine tastings. But the highlight was last Thursday, which was Ann’s birthday and our 24th wedding anniversary. Chalk Hill is a premier wine estate located east of Healdsburg in the northern part of Sonoma County. Its beautiful vineyards and culinary gardens are set on steep hills, connected by steep and winding roads. Chalk Hill is recognized for its Chardonnay, but it was the setting that drew us there. We signed up for their “culinary lunch tour.” Quoting their Web site,
The food was wonderful, the wines superb, the company—there were only six of us on the tour—was pleasant, and the estate was magnificent. It was a very good day. And, for the 24th time, I managed to come up with three pink roses, an unbreakable tradition.Your morning will begin with a brief excursion through the Estate vineyards. Following the vineyard tour guests are lead through the new culinary garden where organically-farmed produce is the inspiration for Executive Chef Didier Ageorges’ culinary artistry. You will then arrive at the Pavilion – a conservatory overlooking the equestrian center with panoramic views of the Chalk Hill valley. There, you will enjoy a sit-down tasting of our wines paired with four small plates prepared by Chef Didier.
There’s lots more to tell, but this post is getting too long so I’ll only mention our visit to Blind Beach, where Muffin tired herself out running from one end to the other of the 200’ cord we use as her beach leash, our stop at Stumptown Brewing in Guerneville, which has an absolutely beautiful deck overlooking the Russian River, our stop at Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa, which is recognized by many as the premier brewery in the U.S., and our afternoon in Healdsburg, one of my favorite towns, which included lunch and beer tasting at Bear Republic Brewing. Yeah, I like beer.
Today we wash the rig, the first time in more than a year, and get ready for our trip to Mount Shasta tomorrow. We’ll spend ten days there in the company of my two sisters and my niece. Although we hate to leave our beautiful spot here, I look forward to spending time with them again. Check back in a week or so for a report.
Alan
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