NAPA VALLEY WINE TRAIN

 

Last Christmas our family decided to give gift certificates for services to stimulate the local economy.  My daughter and son-in-law gave us a gift certificate to have a gourmet lunch on the Napa Wine Train.  We waited to use the certificate when the vineyards were at there peak beauty and the weather was warmer.

 

We took our RV to Canyon Creek Campground on Putah Creek next to Lake Berryessa for several days.  We have had a membership to this particular campground for 27 years but never seem to have time to go there.  They have two swimming pools and a spa, rental cabins, and children's playground.  Nice place, but no computer, telephone or TV service (which might appeal to some people).  We do set up our satelite dish and get pretty good reception (John won't go 24 hours without TV).

 

This seemed like a good time to use our Wine Train Lunch, so we made reservations.

 

When you arrive at the train station, they start you with free wine tasting (yum)

We elected to have the second seating for lunch on the train so we were escorted to the Club Car for appetizers  and wine prior to lunch.  The food was excellent and so was the wine.  Here is the Club Car

 The servers in the club car were very knowledgeable about the local wineries we passed and told some great stories.  One of the wineries was featured in the movie "Bottle Shock" (sorry I can't remember the name of the winery) early alzheimers......??????

 

The trip takes around three hours and goes through Napa, Yountville, St. Helena  and Calistoga.  Very beautiful scenery.

 

After our appetizers we decided to go to the wine tasting car. We met Mike Delacy (wine educator)and he poured our wine.  I told him I was going to take his picture for my blog and he protested that he doesn't do pictures as you can see by the first picture.

 

 I told him I was going to do it anyway so he might as well pose nicely and he agreed and wanted me to send him my post.  Here it is Mike.  See it is a good picture.

 

After the wine tasting we went into the dining car for our gourmet lunch.  I had the pork tenderloin with a wine reduction sauce and roasted veggies.  The food was amazing and the service impeccable.  I would really recommend doing the wine train.

 

 

 I did take a little peek at the kitchen.

The train cars were decorated with great paintings on the walls.

All in all it was a great experience, I would really recommend it.  Thanks John and Karen for the amazing Christmas present.

This fall we are taking a five week trip to Europe and two cruises, one of the Greek Islands and the second a 16 day transatlantic cruise from Rome to Galveston.  I will have lots of pictures and stories to post. stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DELTA KING

John and I recently spent the night on the Delta King Paddelboat in Old Sacramento to celebrate our birthdays.  I have had dinner on this boat previously but have never spent the night.  This was one of my good deals I found on Travelzoo.com.  We got one nights lodging, bottle of wine upon arrival, full breakfast the next morning and free wine tasting at 8 wineries at the Sugar Mill.  Total cost was $99.  We had a wonderful dinner that night and free dessert as it was my birthday.  This 285 foot riverboat has so much history.  It was christened on May 20, 1927 and began daily voyages between Sacramento and San Francisco.  It was a 10 hour trip that included prohibition era drinking, jazz bands, gambling and fine dining.  A stateroom was $3.50 but for a dollar and "your own blanket" the night could be spent on the Cargo Deck.

During WWII the Delta King was drafted into the U.S.Navy and served as net tenders , floating barracks, troop transports and hospital ship.  In 1984 after partially submerged for 15 months in San Francisco Bay, the Delta King was towed to Old Sacramento where it underwent complete renovation.  Five years later it opened to reign, once again, as the heralded monarch of the Sacramento River.  The original 88 staterooms now number 44 larger rooms.  Don't mean to bore you locals, but my readers around the world might like some background.  I tried to look at Old Sacramento as if I were a tourist seeing it for the first time.  It really is pretty neat with it's cobblestone streets, wood plank sidewalks, and great old buildings.  Here are some of the pictures I hope you will enjoy.

All in all it was a very memorable birthday.  It's kind of fun to act as a tourist in your own backyard.  Happy Fourth of July everyone.  Next trip David Whalley's Resort in Carson City, Nevada.  Stay tuned.

CARLSBAD CAVERNS AND SAN ANTONIO RIVERWALK

Wow, it's been such a long time since I posted anything to my blog.  This may sound silly but I've been gone so much I haven't had time to post.  We just recently returned from a whirlwind tour of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.  All of this was done camping with my husband, daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and Jack Russell terrier.  (Couldn't leave out the dog because she provided comic relief on the trip).  We were camping this trip in their trailer and the coolest day we had was 106 in the shade.  We started in Las Vegas (110 degrees) and I discovered a new slot machine called GHOSTBUSTERS.  It was so much fun you didn't even mind losing your money (well almost).  We stayed at a beautiful campground in Vegas called the OASIS.  It had a huge swimming pool so we submerged ourselves to our necks to survive the heat.

Next stop the Grand canyon and Sedona in Arizona.  We stopped at Montezuma's Castle then on to Sedona for lunch.  I'm not going to add pictures of this as I have shared these on previous posts.  We went to Sliding Rock State Park but got there quite late and they wouldn't let us enter with the dog, so we will save that for next time.

On to Albuquerque New Mexico, the only thing memorable there was a terrific lightning storm.  After you leave California all the land is pretty much flat with lots of cactus.  We did see lots of antelope on the way.

Our next stop was Carlsbad, New Mexico.  This was the most memorable of all. We went to the Carlsbad Caverns and took an elevator 750 feet below the earth and witnessed some of the most beautiful rock formations you can imagine.  I am now going to try and narrow down some of the pictures but you cannot imagine the immensity of these caverns.  They are seven football fields long.  We walked a mile and a half underground.  

The thought of going 750 feet underground terrified me and I didn't know if I could do it, but when I got there it wasn't like I thought.  You enter a very modern building and go down an elevator to the caverns.  When you get down there it's very cool compared to the 105 degree heat outside.  They have well marked paths to walk along and it's impossible to get lost in the caverns.  I was very proud of myself for doing this until the elevator ride back up.  We started up the elevator and about 50 feet up the elevator stopped.  The elevator operator let out a gasp at which point I clutched my chest (thought I was going to have the big one).  She assured us everything was going to be OK.  I asked her is this happened often.  She said "not very often and I'm always startled when it happens,.  We had to go back down and level out the elevator before we could go up again.  When the door opened I asked her if I could take the other elevator and she assured me that it was safe to try again.  (This was my worst nightmare, being stuck in an elevator 750 feet down).  We did arrive safely the next time.  If you ever find yourself in New Mexico I would highly recommend the caverns, it is a once in a lifetime experience.

Next stop San Antonio Texas.  Among the things on my bucket list to see in life is the San Antonio Riverwalk.  I was not disappointed, it was amazing.  Just as I imagined except for the 105 degree heat with humidity.  We stayed at the Embassy Suites right on the riverwalk and here are some pictures.

This is our hotel in the background.

We also went to the Alamo which is one block from the Riverwalk.  

This was very interesting, they had Davey Crockett's long rifle and the clothes he was wearing when they lost the battle of the Alamo and he was killed.  This is a very sacred place to the Texans because without this battle there would be no Texas.

They have water taxis that travel the canals of the Riverwalk and you can get on and off anywhere along the way.

We said goodbye to my daughter and her family and  took a flight out of San Antonio and came home to some 85 degree temps in Lodi (what a welcome change)  I would love to go back to San Antonio and see more of the sights another time and during a cooler time of the year.

Hope you enjoy my blog, until next time, take time to see  the USA, it's an amazing place.

Sedona, arizona

Just got back from a three week trip to Sedona.  We went to Arizona to avoid the valley fog in Northern California and the cold weather.  Turned out the weather in California was warmer than Sedona.  Go figure.

First stop was a lovely resort called Highlands Resort at Verde Ridge.  It's located right on the golf course Verde Santa Fe.  Here are a few pictures of the resort.

While we were staying at this resort we took a trip up to Jerome Arizona.  This was a flourishing copper mine in the 1800's and is now tourist destination for shopping, dining, wine tasting etc.  Very quaint, kind of reminds me of Virginia City in Nevada for those of you that are familiar with that town.  Here are some pictures of Jerome

   We made the mistake of taking Historic 89A the last time we visited Sedona, my advice, don't every do it, this T shirt tells it like it is.  Here is another cute shirt I just couldn't resist taking a picture.l

 

On to our next stop.  We stayed the second week at the Sedona Summit Resort.  This was a beautiful resort with views of the red mountains surrounding the resort.  It's impossible to describe the beauty of the mountains in Sedona but I will show you some of the pictures.  I tried to capture a sunset and finally took this one.  (I waited an hour an a half for the sun to set just right so the mountain would glow from the sun).

 

Here are some pictures of the resort

 

We golfed several times while we were there but the most memorable was called Seven Canyons.  It used to be a private country club in a exclusive gated community but they opened it to the public a year ago.  When we went through the gate I thought they were going to strip search us.  We were told to go one block and someone would greet us in a golf cart and take us to the pro shop.  No driving around in the community. It was well worth the trip,  My golf game sucked but the pictures were dynamite. 

 

 

We came across a herd of what I thought were wild pigs on the golf course.  We were told they were "Javelinas" which really are not part of the pig family.  The guy we were golfing with told us they were real tame so I went up close to get a picture (remember the donkey feeding story, I'm not allowed to get near wild animals now)  Anyway I took the pictures and as we were leaving the guard at the gate told us they have very sharp tusks and if they get alarmed they will charge you and the tusks can cut through a quarter inch leather.  Gees.....I lucked out this time.  

 

Well on to our final destination in Sedona, "Los Abrigatos Spa and Resort"  This resort is located on the site of the first hotel in Sedona in 1902.  It is very quaint and it really is a "Spa"  They had a huge exercise room and gave free classes in Yoga, Zumba Dance, Pilates and Body Sculpting.  This is the first resort I ever stayed at that offered these amenities.   We took advantage of the Exercise rooms at all three resorts and I'm pleased to say I gained three pounds on this trip, there is no justice.  Here are some pictures of this resort.

 

  I kept hearing about things called "vortex's" in Sedona, so my curiosity got the better of me and I read up on this.  The closest explanation I came up with is......There are certain places in Sedona that are considered vortex's because when you are near them they release energy and make you feel like your spirit is renewed and you have a sense of well-being just being around them.  People travel there from all over the world just to experience this rejuvenation.  It is pretty awe inspiring to gaze on these beautiful red mountains.

We were sad to leave Sedona but it's good to be home again.  Well, I hope you enjoyed my visit and keep in touch, you never know where we'll show up next.