More Wine and on to Sacramento

We started our day by continuing to explore the Napa/Sonoma/St. Helena area, looking for more wineries. Its not just the wine tasting, its these fabulous estates! They must have to sell an awful lot of wine just to pay for the real estate! We visited Domaine Carneros, Napa Wine Co., Opus One and Robert Mondavi. (Of course, we bought a bottle or two just to be nice). Except for Napa Wine Co, which was really a processing plant for lots of other wineries, the other three were "over the top"!

Heading east on Rt 128 you go up into the "hill country" and quickly leave the vineyards behind. We pass by the lower end of Lake Berryessa, a good size reservoir which, although down considerably, seems to be holding its own.

Then down into the Sacramento Valley and once again amongst all sort of unidentifiable crops and nut trees (we think mostly almonds and walnuts, with an occasional field of garlic). Stop at a roadside stand for fresh strawberries.

Then through Davis, home of UC Davis, and into Sacramento, state capital. Right near the capital building we find a spectacular rose garden next to a very moving Vietnam War memorial.

From Sacramento we head east up Route 50 (the same Rt 50, although this time its not so lonely!) up toward  Lake Tahoe. We came across a brand new town called El Dorado Hills (near Folsom) which features a mega shopping mall complex which make our Villages at Meridian look very plebian!

Stopped for the night at a Best Western in Placerville, halfway between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Excellent Mexican dinner right next door.

Note: we have noticed all through California that the price of diesel is very variable, but almost always significantly LESS than the price of regular gas. Go figure!

Domaine Carneros

Opus One

Robert Mondavi

Lake Berryessa

Garlic

Note gas prices

Sacramento

Vietnam Memorial

CA state house

Rt 50, not so lonesome 

El Dorado Hills

Wine Country

After a fine breakfast at the Wipe Out Bar and Grill, on Pier 39, sitting in the beautiful sunshine,we left San Francisco and headed north up Rt 1/101 to wine country.  But first, we did what any good tourist would do - we drove down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the city.

When you get to the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge there is a rest area with great views of the bridge and city skyline. Note: there are LOTS of pedestrians and cyclists who make a challenge of going over the bridge. (Maybe next time?)

Immediately after crossing, you can drive down very steep hills into the village of Sausalito, and more marinas and "floating houses". We continued north into the Sonoma and Napa Valleys to visit wineries, of which there are HUNDREDS! One after the other, some are gorgeous estates and most have really nice tasting rooms with interesting vintners. We visited, in order: Viansa, Jacuzzi, Sebastiani, Alpha Omega and finally Beringer. By the time we called it a day, we were pretty well soused! (Not really).

We ended up in the little town of Rohner Park, just south of Santa Rosa on 101. The country around here is really pretty, with rolling hills and lots of trees and vineyards....also a lot of traffic! Nice dinner at Shari's.

Once again, it was nearly 9:00 by the time we got back to our room for the night. So much for relaxing vacations! We just can't do it!

Sausalito floating houses

Viansa

Jacuzzi

Beringer Estate

All Modes of Transportation

Today we took two bus rides, a trolley ride and a cable car ride.....and, we also walked a lot!

Our first tour was atop a double decker bus which took us all over the downtown area. It is pretty overcast and cold and windy - we are feezing! Upon returning to our point of origin 90 minutes later, we hopped on a the Powell-Mason cable car line and got off at the Grace Cathedral on California St. We arrived just in time for the noon eucharist but, alas, the priest never showed! So we had a nice conversation with the two deacons and toured this very impressive structure.

To return to the Pier 39 area, we took the "F" train, which is the restored trolley cars. There are a bunch of them that had been purchased by the city from all over and restored. (I recall these from my youth in Boston).

After a hot dog and coke at a stand on Pier 39, we took another open air bus ride which took us over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and back. By this time the sun had come out and it was quite pleasant, at least it would have been if the wind wasn't howling! So, we are freezing again!

Finally, after stopping at the Ghirardelli chocolate store first, we had dinner at the Franciscan Crab restaurant, with a nice table overlooking the bay (60 bucks for soup and salad, ouch!)

By the time we got back to our room, we were wind blown, sun burned and wobbly legged!

Best Western Tuscan Hotel

Restored Trolley Carr

TransAmerica Building

City Hall

Grace Cathedral

Walking the Labyrinth

Grace Cathedral

Gentlemen's Club!

Pier 39

Fishermen's Chapel