EXTRA EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT!

May 9, 2013
  Juan (alias "Harry") gets 43 to life for being married!

 Ok.. so I couldn't 'resist' (pun intended), but I had to include this picture.  Since our last blog we landed in Napa Valley, CA for several days.  We actually had to cut our time short while at the RV park.  The campground we were staying at was directly next door to the Napa Expo area.  They decided to host a 5-day rock concert called "BottleRock".  After the 2 semi beer trucks rolled in we rolled out!  Since the stage was about 50 yards from our campsite, and they were expecting 80,000 people we figured we'd better scoot.  (I knew I could fine something to wine about.) They actually ended up having 120,000 people (good for them).  We had a great time while we were


Nancita visiting her Juan!

John & Michael

in Napa; and, of course, the wineries speak for themselves, but we also had a great time with an unexpected guest who stayed with us one night.  Our son-in-law, Mike, just happened to be working in San Francisco for a few months.   After a few cigars and a few drinks and, of course, a bottle of wine with Nancy's homemade catfish dinner, we were able to solve the worlds problems in just a few short hours...we had our own "bottlerock" so to speak.

Now... after Nancy finished up her visit with me at Alcatraz; which by the way is a must see if you ever visit San Francisco, we continued to explore the many things to do while in the area.  We moved over to the Sonoma Valley in Santa Rosa and spent the next several days touring/tasting wine at the many wineries throughout the area.  Had a great Italian dinner at Cafe Citti

Of the 2 (Napa and Sonoma) Sonoma would be our favorite as it seems to be a little more remote and not as commericalized as Napa.  The downtown area of Napa is very cute though with lots of resturants, and we perfer the town of Napa over Santa Rosa.  The vineyards in both areas are the most picturesque you'll find in the country.  In the valley nestled between the mountains are vineyards as far as you can see.  Simply put...Beautiful!
Unlike Leelanau Country in Michigan, most of the wineries in this part of California charge for tasting and no, you don't keep the glass!  The wines are exceptionally good, but also pricey at the wineries.  A lot of the wines are found in

local stores, but many you can only purchase at the winery.  There are no "2 buck chucks here"!

We did do more than just drink wine while we were in the area.  We visited San Francisco two days and had lunch in Chinatown.  This was unique and brought back my Asian days when I was just a young pup in the Air Force. We walked the streets of San Francisco and never did find Karl Malden and after 6 miles gave up.  Harry never showed either, even though I felt lucky....
When we visited San Francisco, we took the ferry into the city both times.  Parking is at a premium and the ferry fee was cheaper than the parking garages and more fun.  It is a nice city to walk around.






While in Santa Rosa we visited the infamous Highway 1 and the town of Bodega.  For those who remember the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds", this is where it was filmed.  Oddly enough, after having a short lunch, I had to use a water bottle we had in the truck to wash off my windshield and hood.  All this looking around makes me a little 'Tippy'.  If you have to ask why then you need to see the movie!

We packed up our wine, picked up some cheese and headed to our next destination - the Redwoods.  We drove about 360 miles north from wine country and San Francisco to the town of Arcata.

You might think that once you've seen one tree you've seen them all...well not quite.  The redwoods are in a world to themselves, and in fact they are the tallest trees on earth!  Some of these trees date back to 900AD and earlier.  They are soooo big that if you'r not careful you'll drive right through them and not know it!  The scenic drive called "The Avenue of the Giants" is one of many scenic drives along highway 101 in northern California. 

 When you hike through these gigantic forests you feel like a hobbit.  Now I know how Nancy feels...  We came across an interesting site hidden on a bluff by the ocean that looked like an abandoned farm.  In fact, during WWll the two buildings were built to look like a working farm, when in reality they housed a radar site with generators and two 50 caliber machine guns.  The military used this site to watch the coastline for enemy submarines.  The old farm buildings still exist today.  How interesting to see and read about... 

 We continued to tour around the area of Arcata for 5 days.  We stayed at Mad River RV Park outside of town and the RV Park was exceptional!  We would rate it 5 stars.

All good things must come to an end, and so we are packing up tonight and getting ready to make the big turn east to start our return trip back to Michigan.  It rained yesterday, and after seeing all these warning signs along the road we felt it best to head for high ground!  Nancy said goodbye to her trees and tomorrow morning we are off to our next destination; Tahoe Lake and Donner Pass for 3 nights.
We did our shopping today and are all stocked up because I heard food is a little scarce up there!  If you don't hear from us after a week or so send food....