We had a nice time visiting a winery and enjoying the ride there and back, then closing it with a cheese and wine night (and grape juice).
The morning was rainy again, and foggy. Seems to be the norm around here, especially the foggy mornings. The rain stopped around 10am or so, so I had a chance to go for a run then.
The girls had a good morning and got their work done without much fuss. Bella had some social studies and didn’t feel like doing it, so she asked if she could finish later or tomorrow, so we let her. Last time she just pounded through her social studies work and got caught up in a day anyway, so it’s ok.
They both were done early, and we had them get caught up on the PhyEd assignments that were coming in the last couple of days.
And we had 2 kids jumping around in the trailer for some time. hahahahah… doing jumping jacks, some plank cha cha dance, butt kicks… shaking the trailer. hahah… but they got it done.
Carol was not feeling well in the morning so she rested most of the morning. She made us some great pasta in her InstantPot. She really should start a book on how to cook with the instant pot while traveling in a trailer. It’s very handy. She’s made soups, meats, turkey, potatoes, pasta, etc. Everything turns out great.
I had some work calls and did some work for clients. Got some the posts done and was kind of caught up late morning, as the rain stopped, so I went for a run.
I had a great run, it was quiet, as we are in the outskirts of town, so the neighborhood is pretty quiet, and mainly larger lots with some Vineyards…. Which makes the scenery quite nice and interesting. I think I only saw 2 cars during my 4 mile, 45 minute run, and no people or dogs :).
I did see quite a few birds and…deer! Woodpeckers seem to be all over this area and I saw a few as I left the campsite, then on the way, and more when I returned.
The back roads here are kind of “breaking”, it’s like the ground underneath is sinking or moving up, and we’ve seen quite a few areas where one of the sides just disappeared and only one of the lanes was open (or really existed).
But, it was peaceful and nice.
After my run we started getting ready to eat and leave, we had a reservation at Husch Winery for 3pm. Carol finished lunch while I showered and wrapped up my work day. The girls were almost all done with school. Bia was done and was helping Bella by reading her Social Studies text to her, then helping her with the questions. We were able to leave around 2.
The winery was about 40 miles away, but the GPS showed a little over an hour and as we got into the road it was easy to see why. The road went up and down the valleys that make up the Anderson Valley, often having super tight turns so the speed is very low. It did take us about an hour to get there.
Husch winery is a smaller winery, at least it looks that way. They have this older building as the tasting room, but I felt it gave it character. There was a lady at the door waiting for us, and we learned later she was part of the third generation family owners. Super nice lady, told us about the winery, the different wines, the grapes, all kinds of things, and answered all kinds of questions from the girls and Carol :).
Carol had picked this place as they also had grape juice, so the girls could try some while we tried the wine. The grape juice was from their Gewurztraminer graves… (had to look up the name again cause I would never remember how to spell this)… and was delicious. The lady told us the juice is the hardest to master because as soon as you add sugars the juice then wants to ferment, which turns into alcohol, so they end up freezing the juice as soon as it’s ready. She mentioned they keep their grape juice frozen in San Francisco, and only bring to their location when they need it. They did their wines and juice right in that area, they have the grape masher and everything there. She also explained some white wines use the grape’s skin, but many don’t, but all reds do, and that’s where it gets the darker color from.
The tasting was free, so I was happy about that ahahaha… we each got six wines to try, and it was basically a sip or two max that came in the glasss. They were super careful and conscious about the virus situation. Everything was wrapped individually, even the water crackers, and crayons, etc. The lady always dropped things on the opposite side of the table from where we were sitting, etc. Actually refreshing to see that.
We also wanted to do the tour, so she gave us a paper guide and send us on our way to walk around their vineyard. First thing they talk about is their owl boxes, which is easy to spot. Their goal is to make sure they have owls on the property, as the owls help control gophers. Gophers are bad because they mess with the roots, irrigation system, and create “dangerous” holes on the ground where people can twist ankles.
We walked around a good portion of the area, following the paper tour.
Unfortunately, the types of grapes they had there had all been picked, so there were only a few stragglers, but it was ok to pick and try, so Carol and the girls did and enjoyed it.
The views there were very pretty, it’s endless rows of vines. Bella had seen pictures of sheep on the pamphlet from the winery, so she asked the lady where they were as “she is going to have a farm with sheep and wanted to pet them”… hahahaha… the conversation about her farm continues strong. The lady explained the sheep are actually from the farm next door, and they borrow them once a year to “take care of the grass”. Bella then explained that’s her plan too, and that once she has her farm, daddy will not need to mow the lawn anymore. Hahaha. When we were ready to go we felt bad not buying something, so we decided on one wine and one juice… and pop, $50! Not so cheap in the end… in hindsight, the Coppola tasting was cheaper as we spent 100 on 12 bottles. Hahahah… much different experience though.
From there we decided to just grab some cheese and salami, bread, etc and have an Italian night at home, with wine and grape juice. We went to Rays Food store and Carol got a lot of goodies. The girls love Prosciutto so they were excited when they saw Carol got that. Carol also got this Bacon and Horseradish cheese that was just amazing… one of the best I’ve had in a long time. We had fun snacking on the bread and stuff, chatting and laughing.
Then we watched some TV and put the girls to bed. Bella wanted to sleep in my bed, so I traded with her and later I had to sleep in the top bunk as that’s where she was this week. hahahaha… it was fine, bed is comfy up there and it’s warm. (Sometimes a bit too warm).
Carol and I stayed up talking for a long time, and enjoyed the 2 bottles of wine we had for the night, and good conversation.
It was a long nice day!