What happens when an engineer is elected president?

From the Sierra Nevada Foothills, through the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains,

through miles and miles of high desert

Campground in Tonopah, Nevada

No, not a wildfire; this is a sunset we saw from the campground in Tonopah, Nevada. 

through the Amargosa Desert,

through Las Vegas

We didn't stop in Vegas (spent most of our discretionary budget on wine.) 

we arrive at Boulder City and Hoover Dam.

Captain will be driving The Wanderer over this bridge tomorrow (while ABN is trying to take photos.)

And this is what you get when you elect an engineer as president. Having visited the Hoover Library earlier in the trip made the visit to Hoover Dam more interesting.

Leaving the desert dry heat, hoping for cooler temperatures, we are continuing east; we will stop for a few days at the Grand Canyon. Since we will be dry camping in Mather Campground inside the park it is very likely we will be off the grid for a few days.

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Revisits and New Gems

Our search for good zinfandels took us back to the Dry Creek region of Sonoma County California.

Parking The Wanderer at Alexander Valley RV Park in Healdsburg, we set out to do some tastings. First we revisited a couple of our longtime favorites, St. Anne’s Crossing,

and Pezzi King from the Wilson Family Wineries as well as Foppiano’s. At the suggestion of a friend, we checked out some other vineyards and came away with a couple of gems, Limerick Lane (especially their Old Vine, Block 1910) and Martinelli for good zins and a fun tasting room.

Of course we couldn’t be in Sonoma County and not visit our good friend, Trudee

who lives on a farm and is a locksmith in Sonoma.

With The Wanderer pretty much loaded with zinfandels from Sonoma and pinot noirs from Washington and Oregon, it was time to revisit our dear friend and excellent winemaker, Bill, in Eldorado County.

Bill and Randy go way back, like all the way to their high school days at A&M Consolidated. Not only does he make exceptionally good wine for Jodar Winery, Bill is a very talented musician. We always have a grand time listening to Bill and Wayne at The Wine Smith in Placerville.

Over the years of visiting Bill, we have become acquainted with a lot of folks, some we now call friends. Wayne, with the help of his wife, Isabell, barbecued some amazing ribs and fixings. and invited us as well as Bill and Zachrie, to their home for dinner. 

Another gem, Zacharie is the new owner at The Wine Smith.

Such a fun gal!

Yep, made of wine corks.

With friends,

we braved the near 100° temperatures

to listen to Bill andWayne’s Excellent Adventure at Skinner Winery on Sunday afternoon.

With more great memories in our bank, we left the Eldorado County Fairgrounds where we were camped for four days.

(Not exactly a pretty site, water and electricity but no sewer and certainly no Wi-Fi, we were one of three RVs, the showers were clean and spacious; at $35 a night in California, we were pleased. Actually we liked it better than our previous stay at the KOA which was $65 and it is closer to The Wine Smith. )

Next we headed over to Amador County and the Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort RV Park.

For an extra $10 (that would be $45) a night, we had full hook-up, concrete slab, high speed internet, laundry facility and a beautiful walking path. 

The staff was very friendly; we couldn’t find anything we didn’t like here. I’d say we found a gem!

Many of you have been a recipient of a glass and maybe a bottle of Borjon Zinfandel or Barbera, so you know it is a favorite of ours from Amador County  

(and, yes we stopped in to say hello and to pick up our wine club shipment.)

We had planned to do a bit of tasting in other Amador wineries, but many were closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. (Good thing as we were just about to the end of our wine budget.) However, we did wander into Sutter Creek (a gem in itself)

So love the small towns!

and found the Scott Harvey tasting room. The wine was good but the real treasure was the tasting room host.  Enthusiastic about Sutter Creek and Amador County, he sent us down the street to taste some sparkling wine at Le Mulet Rouge. (After a taste of the California Sparkling Wine, ABN was hooked! Even though there was no almond flavoring it had an almond taste.)

He strongly recommended we make a visit to the Union Inn over in Volcano. So we did. 

It was obviously a popular place with the locals as folks greeted one another on the comfortable patio. The food was good, especially the heirloom tomato salad, but what really got our attention was the smooth stout on nitro. (Does anyone see a theme here? We do like our zins and dark brews.)

Sadly, our time in wine country has come to an end, but we will return!  

Some of you have inquired about the wildfires, fortunately we have not seen any. There has been some haze but no smoke. Temperatures have hovered in the high nineties, reaching 100+ at times. With lack of high humidity, it cools to a very comfortable temperature in the evenings.

The Wanderer is pointed east; next stop, Hoover Dam.

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We found another one!

On an alpaca farm near Eugene, Oregon, we found Aggie (Class of ’71) Ann Dockendorf tending her girls and boys. (Thank you, Caroline, for this lead.)

Ann graciously showed us around Aragon Alpacas and introduced us to

Catalina

Autumn

Trinket and Tinkerbell

You will notice one of the girls has a blue bandana around her neck; no that is not a fashion statement.

Tinkerbell is pregnant. She should deliver her little one any day now. The bandana helps Ann keep an eye on her, watching for signs that she is ready to deliver. Did you know the gestation period for alpacas is 11 ½ to 12 months and they most often deliver before 2:00 p.m.?

The girls like to flirt and we know how that can stir things up. Ann keeps the girls away from the boys to keep them calm; also she wants to have a bit of control over the color of the fleece by selecting mating partners.

Unlike sheep wool, the alpaca fleece is hypoallergenic and does not contain lanolin making it is easier to spin. After shearing in the spring, she sends her fleece to a mini-mill to be spun into lovely yarn which she sells in her shop, A Spinner’s Barn.

In addition to her yarn, she sells art and knitted items from other area artists as well as products from the Andes, the ancestral home of the alpacas. Quite often visitors to the shop will find Ann doing a hand-spinning demonstration.  When not tending to her boys and girls, manning the shop, knitting or spinning, you might find her giving presentations and demonstrations to local art events or children’s groups.

Aragon Alpacas is a small farm located on a rural road a few miles from Eugene. We did not see any signs promoting or giving directions; however folks find her. As we were leaving, a small group from Florida arrived. Also, two of Ann’s friends stopped in with knitting in hand with no plan except to sit, knit and chat.  

With eyes shining and a smiling face

Ann talked enthusiastically about her farm and herd. It is refreshing to find folks that are passionate about their craft. If ever you are in the Eugene, Oregon, it will do your heart good to stop in and meet Ann and her alpaca family.

Currently we are in one of our favorite regions of California (Yep, we are tasting some very good Zinfindel!)

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Life on the road is trouble-free;

not so last week when we prepared to leave Bothel, Washington. The sewage disposal at our site was clogged (yep, that was quite a mess) so we had to use the dump station. When we arrived at our next camp site, Hood Campground, on the Snake River in the Tri-Cities area,

Love the Corps of Engineer campgrounds!

our pick-up refused to start. (After a couple of good cleanings of the battery posts, the problem seems to be fixed.) ABN attempted to put water on to brew tea but the pilot light refused to ignite. Captain started investigating and found the propane valve in one of the outside compartments had been turned off; neither of us turned it off so that remains a mystery.

Catching up with friends…………well it makes the little problems along the way seem like a minor annoyance.

In the Tri-Cities (that would be Pasco, Richland and Kennewick in southeastern Washington) we visited Captain’s longtime friends, Linda and Chuck. On first glance at their lovely hillside home, ABN noticed beets and squash tucked into a beautifully landscaped front lawn; with Fiestaware and a KitchenAid in the kitchen, she knew she was meeting new friends and soul mates. While sitting on their deck, looking over the valley we were introduced to wonderful Copper River Salmon (so much more flavorful than the Atlantic farm grown salmon that we usually eat.)

With Chuck and Linda as our guide,

we explored a few of the Red Mountain Wineries and found some very good wine. Our favorite wines of the day (Linizio Blend, Walla Walla Cab Sauv  ) were found at Cooper Winery.

The best view at Terra Blanca

And it was Tuesday!

While in the Tri-Cities, Captain wanted to connect with friends and colleagues from the nuclear industry. (Local and industry friends, take a close look, you may know some of these folks.)

After getting an oil change and transmission tune-up for The Wanderer, we said good bye to our friends and Snake River,

and continued our search for good Pinot Nior in Oregon.

Driving along I-84, just before reaching Portland, we took a break to hike to the top of Multnomah Falls.

At the top. According to FitBit, over 10,000 steps and 88 flights of stairs.

Oregon Wine Country is truly beautiful with rolling hills covered in vineyards and flowers we can only dream about in our hot and humid climate. Our search for really good Pinot Noir took us through the beautiful Willamette Valley, a ferry across Willamette River and up gravel roads.

A couple of our favorite wineries were Redhawk with drinkable inexpensive wine and St. Innocent for a nice, full flavored Pinot Noir.

Our very favorite was Brooks Winery, not only for outstanding Pinot Noir but also a lovely tasting venue with a spectacular view.

Deck overlooking the vineyards and garden

What goes well with Pinot Noir? Cheese of course! Happening upon the Willamette Valley Cheese Company, we had to stop and do their tasting.

 All the cheeses are made with milk from the cows we could see in the field. 

(Aged Chive and Black Pepper, Aged Asiago and Cumin Gouda found their way into our cheese drawer.)

Guess what else we found in Willamette Valley? Another Aggie! (They are everywhere!)

Michelle and Lowell (Class of ’70) from Colorado Springs occupied the site next to us at Silver Spur RV Park. We had a most enjoyable couple of evenings sipping Pinot and sharing stories. (Lowell is a real “rocket scientist” having worked many years at the Johnson Space center.)

Our palates have been pleased with the taste of fine Pinot Noir and our souls have been refreshed with friends. We have had just enough taste of Washington and Oregon to whet our appetite. We hope this is not our last visit.

We can now hear the call of the Zin and we are on our way!

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What was I thinking?

“by suggesting a visit to Butchart Gardens?” said Captain as he followed ABN around,

hearing statements like “We should plant these,” “I must order some double begonias,” “We need a taller support for our sweet peas,” and “I am ready to go home and work on my garden.”

It is such a beautiful garden and oh so inspiring. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the climate in which we live is not conducive to growing beautiful roses

fuchsias

and begonias

without a lot of tending.

But we can grow Sweet Peas!

Sunken Garden created in an exhausted limestone quarry.

Lunch in the garden

Located in British Columbia, Canada, the gardens are about a 40 minute drive from pretty Victoria. With gorgeous plants on every corner, hanging from light posts

and flanking restaurants,

it is truly a city in bloom.

The Wanderer was parked just outside of Olympic National Park, so we did a little exploring.

Merrymere Falls Hike

Marymere Falls

As in most small towns, the folks in Port Angeles (PA to the locals) were extremely friendly. We had a great time hanging out with them celebrating the 4^th of July, listening to Fat Chance, a local band.

And of course watching fireworks.

Moving from the small town to the city; in Seattle we were greeted with traffic, horns honking, road rage (Captain has no idea what he did that wasn’t nice), homeless camps and crowds of tourist.

What to do in Seattle, we asked our Facebook friends. In the two days we had allotted, we could not do all that was suggested.

The Pike Street Market was probably nice but we couldn’t really tell because of the crowd.

Enjoyed a cold brew at the original Starbucks.

We are not sure, but suspect there is a city ordinance requiring a coffee bar/shop be located on every city block and a huge percent must be Starbucks. Or perhaps there is an ordinance that forbids folks to brew coffee at home.

In the historical downtown area known as Pioneer Square, ABN left Captain enjoying music in Occidental Square

while she browsed the shops and art galleries.

We had an excellent dinner (salmon and sable fish) at Ray’s Boathouse on the Puget Sound.

Captain explored the Boeing Factory

while ABN enjoyed a quiet afternoon in The Wanderer.

The best thing we learned (or reaffirmed) in Seattle is that we prefer the small towns where folks tend to be friendlier and less tense.

As we travel throughout our country, we marvel at the mountains, gorges, canyons, oceans, lakes and vistas. However, our best treasures are our people. Nothing gives us more pleasure than connecting with fun and interesting folks. That is exactly what we did on Friday evening at the Gorman Winery Tasting room in Woodinville just outside of Seattle. We spent a delightful evening sipping wine with a local couple, Bruce and Dona. We connected on Facebook to keep in touch with hopes our paths will cross again.

We are now off to do some visiting in the Tri-Cities of Washington.

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