After a delightful, relaxing visit, it was time to bid adieu to Candy and Buddy and continue on our adventure. Our next stop is Sonoma Valley wine country to test the wines and make sure they are safe to drink. Of course I found some fun, curvy roads with breathtaking scenery,  but alas no place to pull off and take pictures. As we drove through the town of Winters in the full sun (top down of course), it felt more like Summers. The temperature was 90 degrees.

From desert

to orchards.

and back to desert.

Lake Berryessa along CA 128

Separating the Sacramento and Napa Valleys are the Vaca Mountains which form part of the Coastal Mountain Range. The sides of the mountains were covered with brown/tan grasses, but in the valleys we found orchards and occasional vineyards. The color contrasts are spectacular. The orchards and vineyards are watered with irrigation ditches and pumps. The area is really in need of rain. (It’s unfortunate we can’t ship some of our east coast rain to the dry parched west!) Along the way, we also passed the Monticello Hydroelectric Project where the dam across Putah Creek forms Lake Berryessa, a good size lake for irrigation, water sports and electricity.

After 2.5 hours we reached our hotel and were able to check in early.  Yes, we actually made reservations and a good thing too. This little motel, Sonoma Creek Inn, was fully booked even though it is Sunday! We decided to save our favorite winery, Benziger, for tomorrow when hopefully it won’t be as crowded. Clearly, our travels through small towns in Canada has spoiled us. We much prefer small numbers of people for interaction. We consulted Google in search of the nearest wineries. 2.2 miles seemed perfect. You know that expression too good to be true? It was a small tasting room in downtown Sonoma and definitely not the ambiance we were looking for. So we headed for Peggy’s first choice about 7 miles away. Now that may sound close but it took 30 minutes and not 15 minutes because of traffic. It would seem that there are a lot of people testing the wine to make sure it is safe to drink.

Well, we turned just a little too soon and ended at Jacuzzi winery instead. The setting was perfect and the wine was excellent. The founding family followed 2 of the brothers to California in 1920 after WWI. They initially started out making propellers for airplanes and then building airplanes. Following a plane crash in which one of the brothers was killed, they stopped making air planes and branched into irrigation pumps and eventually the pumps for the hot tub, Jacuzzi, which helped one of the younger siblings who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. The father also purchased land and started growing grapes and the beginning of Jacuzzi vineyards. As we said, the wine was delicious and we left with 3 bottles and Peggy wondering where we are going to put the bottles if we repeat this at 2 or more wineries tomorrow. There is just so much wine we can drink in 48 hours or carry in our little “RV”.

Jacuzzi Winery

Vineyards

Fountain at Jacuzzi Winery

Our trip back to the motel was quite interesting. Of course, we turned the wrong way out of the winery. Instead of telling us to make a U turn, our GPS took us on an interesting, roundabout way back to our motel. Since it was only 5:15 pm and a lovely evening for a drive we followed “the lady in the box”, and arrived at the motel 1 hour later. We enjoyed our Mexican chicken salad. The Gilia’s white wine from Jacuzzi went perfectly with it. We sat out on the patio reading and enjoying the lovely, cool evening.