This morning I left San Francisco for the second time on this trip, this time however I was traveling north to Napa Valley with my dad. Also (can't leave this out) while paying our toll leaving the city we bumped into the car in front of us. Guess who was driving...John R. Franklin. Fortunately no damage was done but I still didn't let him hear the end of it.
After a short drive we reached Napa and met up with a friend of my father's, Heather Sibley, her brother and his girlfriend, at the Honig Winery in Rutherford. It was a nice smaller scale operation and our wine server was a real cool dude (used to play rubgy, was in a frat, spent six months after working in D.C for several years traveling across the world). The wines we tasted were all delicious and the bottles all had a little honey bee on them (Honig is German for Honey).
After buying some wine from Honig we drove up the street to a the Rutherford Bar and Grille to watch the U.S soccer match against Jamaica. If you didn't watch the game shame on you, look up the result yourself, that's what the internet if for. If you are ever in the Napa Valley I highly recommend the place, (get the Prime Rib French Dip, John says its the best Prime Rib sandwich he has ever had, can't say it's the best meal of the trip though...we have made that claim way too many times).
Before hitting the road and heading north for Oregon we decided to stop at the Castello di Amorosa (thanks to my concentration in Introductory Level Romance languages I didn't need the guide book to tell me that is Italiano for "Castle of Love"...sounds a bit hokey in English).
The castle was constructed by a mad rich Italian dude who wanted to create an authentic Tuscan castle in Napa Valley. He did so by spending 17 years shipping in materials from medieval castles throughout Europe and using only traditional construction techniques (pretty groovy).
The wine at "The Castle of Love" didn't really compare to what we tasted at Honig, but we were in for a treat when we walked into the Great Room and I recognized one of the Fresco's on the wall as a replica of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's "The Effects of Good Government on Town and Country" painted in the Sala die Nove (Room of the Nine) in Siena in the early 14th Century. Being a Liberal Arts nerd pays off again (thanks Prof Bent)! Maybe if teaching or selling running shoes doesn't work out I can be a personal vacation accompanist and help interpret obscure art movies and tell people about the history of really old paintings they may or may not come across on their travels.
After leaving wine country we began a long drive up Interstate 5 to Oregon. We stopped at an In-N-Out Burger in Redding to insure that I did not leave the Golden State without eating one of their "world famous" burgers. To be fair they were pretty delicious, but I think Five-Guys takes the proverbial cake.
After leaving Redding our drive turned into a breathtaking array of vistas, valleys and sunsets as we approached the Oregon border. Mount Shasta (14,179 ft.) dominated the landscape for several hundred miles and offered some great photo opps from the road (as did Shasta lake).
Being one of the longest days of the year (Summer Solstice is the 21st) our northward drive offered an extended sunset that created a Crayola Crayon box's (you know, the really big kind with the crayon sharpener built in) worth of colors in the sky.
Well now I'm in Oregon and who knows when I'll be back in California, but I sure had a great time. It is a state with unparalleled natural diversity, incredible centers of culture and arts, and most importantly the Beach Boys, Katy Perry and Snoop Dog may have all been correct in their assessment that California girls are indeed the finest in the world (in Northern California I encountered the most beautiful fast food cashier I have ever seen. I've never taken so long in my life to order an egg-McMuffin or count out exact change).
Peace and Love,
One Dude and his Dad
p.s Best of luck to Rob and Doobin as they move into their Manhattan apt. this week and begin work.
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