Wine Country

When we reached the Sonoma Valley we called into the visitors centre for some information and maps. The guy there was very helpful and we came away with an armful of leaflets, he also told us to make for the Sugarloaf Ridge State Park for camping, he assured us we could get the RV in there and that the scenery was beautiful. We carried on into Sonoma Town and parked up so that we could go in search of a new inverter, we use the navigation system on the laptop while we are driving and need the inverter as the battery on the laptop soon runs down. When we set off this morning the inverter would not work and after a few funny noises it literally went bang with a puff of smoke, needless to say we decided we needed a new one. Unfortunately our search was fruitless, the first piece of information the man at the visitors centre had given us was a little off, we should have taken heed from that but we didn’t. We carried on up the valley and turned off following the signs for the State Park, we passed our first vineyard, Kaz Vineyard and Winery, acres of vines striped the hillside, bright green and beautifully manicured. The road, however, was not so well looked after it had pot holes the size of bear traps and it was getting narrower around every bend. It was also climbing, we tried to content ourselves with the magnificent views but the scrapping sounds of the branches on the roof were a little hard to ignore. When we finally got to the entrance we were informed we were too big to negotiate the entrance to the camp site, they had had vehicles ground out through the dry creek and didn’t want us to get stuck as well, we could stay in the car park overnight if we wanted to but it was on a 45 dec slope, there was no water, electric or dump station and we would have to pay $20 for the privilege. However, she did offer to telephone another state park to see if they had room for us, they did so we thanked her and headed back down the hill, through the trees, ouch! Around the bear traps and tight corners and back out onto Hwy 12, thankfully the other park was only a few miles away. Springfield Lake Regional Park was much easier to get into; we found a nice level site and settled in for the evening, we lit a fire in the fire ring and cooked chicken and potatoes over it. It was a very quiet location, ground squirrels scampered in and out looking for left overs, we could hear wild turkeys in the woods and a jack rabbit came for a look at us and then disappeared into the long grass. The next morning we decided to leave, it was a delightful place but it wasn’t quite what we were looking for.

We headed west to Interstate 101 and then south to Rohnert Park, we missed our exit, we still have no GPS and the signs were confusing, we took the next exit to Petaluma and then turned north along the Old Redwood Highway. The detour allowed us to do some grocery shopping and we found the campsite no problem, Wine Country RV Park. They are in the midst of renovations but they were very friendly and gave us the pick of the pitches, we got the motorcycle off and then took it for a trip into Cotati village for some beers.

Friday was the first day of the salute to American Graffiti in Petaluma so we took the motorcycle into town to watch the cars at registration. Dave was really impressed with the black 1960 Corvette.

I preferred the red ‘6D Vette’ it was beautifully restored and looked a picture in the afternoon sun.

We roamed around the other cars which included the original white Thunderbird and yellow Coupe from the film. Some of the stars from the film were also there signing autographs and selling memorabilia, I bought a glass engraved with the yellow coupe and the date.

We took the bike back into town the next day where the cars were all displayed in the outlet shopping centre with their information boards and later after the judging with their trophies. We were told there were 250 cars on show, we spent hours looking around, we had a break for lunch and then continued for another couple of hours. I have loads more photos of cars but did not want to bore the non-caraholics amongst us.

We left in time to get into the town centre for the evening cruise, two of the main streets were closed to traffic and so we walked around the buildings that had been featured in film American Graffiti. We had a beer at McNear’s built in 1886 with the infamous Jerry’s Cherries Used Car lot next door, we sat for a while watching the cars cruise up and down the strip and then on our way out of town we spotted Mel’s drive in which was now a realtors office. We had supper in an Italian in Cotati as we were too tired to cook. Sunday there was Golf on the TV followed by Indy Car practice, this is becoming a habit!

Monday we took the motorcycle into Sonoma Town, it has some very old buildings because it was unaffected by the 1906 earthquake.

First we visited the Sonoma Barracks built in 1834 by Gen. Guadelupe Vallejo of the Mexican Army. California was not part of the USA at this time and the Mexican Government were concerned about the Russian colony at Fort Ross. After the United States takeover of California on 9^th July 1846 the barracks were occupied by American detachments but by the 1850’s they had moved out and Vallejo remodelled it to use as a winery.

Next we visited the Mission San Francisco Solano, established on 4^th July 1823 it was the 21^st and last Franciscan mission in California and the only one established under Mexican rule, independent of Spain. We walked through the priest’s quarters containing artefacts found on site, dinning room, chapel decorated with primitive painting, and the courtyard.

We then walked along the street to the Toscano Hotel, built in the early 1850’s next to the Barracks it has been used for many things over the years. In 1886 an Italian man from Tuscany rented the building and turned it into a working man’s hotel for the Italian immigrants who were hired to quarry basalt from the hills behind the hotel. The name Toscano means a man from Tuscany and the Basalt blocks were used to pave the streets of San Francisco. The family continued to run the hotel and make and sell their own brand of Brandy until 1955.


We stopped for a beer at the Swiss Hotel, then sampled some cheese at the cheese factory and then drove to Gen Vallejo’s home located on a 20 acre estate just NW of the Plaza. He built this 2 storey Gothic home in 1851 and moved his family from the adobe rancho. The Indians called the area Ghiucuvm after the abundant springs on the hillside and Vallejo translated this into Latin ‘Lachryma Montis’ meaning ‘Tears of the Mountain’.

The adjacent storehouse known as the Swiss Chalet was used to store wines, olives and other produce from his very large estates.

We then drove out of town to Casa Grande, Gen Vallejo’s 66,000 acre working rancho from 1836-1846. The ranch house on the hilltop is made from adobe brick and redwood and its design is typical of Hispanic Architecture. It consists of large working rooms downstairs with the living quarters above, shaded by a balcony that continues around all sides of the building. The working rooms included a weaving room, Vallejo raised over 3000 sheep and the wool was used for clothing, blankets and carpets throughout the home and traded. Also storerooms for the corn, barley and wheat that were needed locally or traded. A leather workroom where hides from the cattle were made into belts, harness and saddles.

Upstairs were the married servant’s quarters and single servant’s quarters, both were just one long room, the dining room and parlour which the Vallejo family used to entertain friends and guests and the Vallejo family bedroom where mother, father and four children slept in one long room separated by hanging blankets. Also the Fandango used as a general dormitory but sometimes the bed mats were rolled up, musicians would play and the workers would dance.

Outside in the courtyard all the cooking was done this was to prevent the fires from heating up the living quarters in the already hot summers and to prevent accidents from setting fire to the building. There were 2 large caldrons over wood fires, two large adobe beehive ovens and 2 wood fire grills; these were all used for cooking and other domestic crafts such as candle making, tallow rendering and the dying of wool.

Tuesday we took the motorbike west to Hwy 1, the coastal road, we missed our turning again, it is always difficult on the bike and so we headed further north than we had intended and found ourselves in Bodega Bay. We stopped at Lucas Wharf for a warming coffee, the wind off the sea was cold and the sea mist was coming in. The village of Bodega was used by Hitchcock to film his 1963 thriller ‘The Birds’. As we had got that far north we continued a little further up the winding coast road past Salmon Creek, Arched Rock Beach, Portuguese Beach and Shell Beach all stretches of sand flanked by rocky headlands, to Jenner perched on picturesque coastal hills and at the mouth of the Russian River. Then we followed the river inland to Guerneville the largest of the vacation towns and packed with tourists, probably a nice town if you could get near anything. We picked up Hwy 16 back to Rohnert Park and the weather improved as we came inland so we came back to camp for an early supper.

Wednesday we took the motorbike to the Russian River valley for wine tasting, after much investigation on the internet we headed for Foppiano Vineyards, a family run business since 1896, we tasted their Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir wines and decided to purchase a bottle of Zinfandel. We could only purchase one bottle per vineyard due to limited space in the motorcycle panniers. Next we drove into Healdsburg where La Crema has a tasting room in a very modern building on the main street. A very knowledgeable young lady took us through their wines, both white and red and we chose to purchase a bottle of their Syrah. Then back on the bike and up the West Dry Creek Road to Preston Vineyards, a small family farm with pleasant gardens where we had lunch under a huge fig tree. Then we went inside their tasting room and tried their wines and could not choose between the Barbera and the Rosé and so bought a bottle of each. They also sold their home made bread and olive oil but space would allow us to buy any.

We then crossed over the dry creek and came down East Dry Creek Road to Francis Coppola’s winery, the very impressive Chateau houses the tasting rooms and museum which contains memorabilia from his films including the Godfather. We tried the wines and purchased a bottle of Directors Cut Zinfandel. We had a couple of other vineyards on our list but we had run out of time and space so we headed back to camp along the Old Redwood Highway through Santa Rosa which at rush hour was not a good idea.

Thursday we did some grocery shopping and found a great deal on Robert Mondavi Rosé $2.99 a bottle so we stocked up with 6 bottles. Friday the weather was a little cold and cloudy so we had a day on site and watched the site workers digging ditches for the cable TV and spreading gravel with the bobcat and mini digger to level the new pitches. Saturday was my birthday so we had a lazy morning and got ready to go out for supper, we had planned to go back to Bodega Bay but the weather was still cold and cloudy so we went to the Italian in Cotati instead and it was very good.

Sunday Dave watched Nascar in the clubhouse as they hadn’t got the cable TV wired up to the sites yet. There were so many race delays that the race didn’t finish until 7pm however it gave me plenty of time to get the blog up to date and do research on the internet. Monday was Memorial Day which is the start of the high season and a national holiday. We took the motorcycle to Sebastopol where we had intended to find the Stump town Brewery but the town was packed with tourists and so we headed west to Bodega Bay for lunch at Lucas Wharf; we watched the fishing fleet unload their catch while we had a delicious bowl of home made clam chowder followed by fisherman’s stew with garlic bread. After a tour of Bodega Head and the marina we returned via Valley Ford down Hwy 1 and back to Rohnert Park. It rained overnight and the next morning was cloudy and cold again, I did some more research on places to visit and Dave bar-b-q'd supper. Wednesday we headed west again to Hwy 1 but south this time down the side of Tomales Bay which is full of Oyster Beds and all down the coast road there were oysters for sale and restaurants.

Point Reyes Station is a picturesque town selling organic fruit and vegetables and an old saloon with horses tied up outside. We returned inland and found the Marin Cheese factory, they make cheese from cow and goat’s milk all produced locally, we purchased two types of cheese, garlic and tomato and basil and some locally made wheat biscuits. Thursday the weather perked up in the afternoon so we went out on the motorcycle in search of an inverter again, this time we found one in a motorcar accessory shop, no more missed turnings, I hope! Friday we spent another day on site, we decided to have supper at the Italian in Cotati again, the food was excellent and we were tired of staying in. Saturday we did some clearing up and then went shopping at the very good Oliver’s Garden supermarket, we were having guests for Sunday lunch so needed some extra supplies.

We spent Sunday morning doing food preparation for the Bar-B-Q lunch, Leah & Andy and Brian & Pat were coming for lunch at 1pm. Dave cooked salmon with lime and coriander, then New York steaks with mixed salad and garlic potatoes. Leah brought a wonderful sponge cake sandwiched with cream and raspberries and covered with almond paste and chocolate swirls. We finished with the Marin cheese and biscuits and of course we had the wine we had purchased on our tasting tour. We had a great afternoon, talked for ages and the weather was kind to us as well.

Monday Dave watched the Nascar that was delayed from Sunday due to rain, it gave me a chance to get the washing done and up date the blog. We plan to leave tomorrow afternoon for Fairfield and stop over at the Camping World; we need to get the RV to La Mesa at Davis early Wednesday morning for some warranty work.