Chardonnay and Cycling... (not at the same time)

  Napa Valley, California
Sunday, April 8, 2007

Just a quick update so I can upload some photos onto the site.  The last two days have been fantastic and also busy.

Yesterday, being Friday, Kathryn and I made our way to Napa Valley  for the afternoon, where we took two winery tours and enjoyed eight different wines as "tastings."  The weather was lovely and warm, and perfect for a drive to the country.

The first winery was
Cakebread Cellars, (look at the sign that welcomed me as I opened the van door)  where Kath and I took a tour and sampled three white and three red.  This winery primarily supplies restaurants, so we were told.  Nice stuff, but onwards to Robert Mondavi, and two more 2oz tastings from a choice of six or seven.  The 1996 Chardonnay  we tried was nice, but the 2004 Muscato D'oro was surprisingly to die for.  Every sip of this fantastic beverage excited the tastebuds and went down oh so smooth. It was so wonderful, that Kathryn and I each purchased a bottle to save for future indulgence. 

Our return trip to Mountain View, where Kathryn lives, was considerably longer, considering we took a wrong turn and eventually wondered why we were getting so close to Sacramento rather than the San Francisco bay area. Oops...  The remainder of our evening was spent assembling my bike, in preparation for our cycling adventure with the Velo Girls the next morning.

Today, being Saturday, was absolutely wonderful.  We met up with a group from the Velo Girls, where we took part in a 50km bike ride aimed at singles - hey, why not?!  The ride was absolutely amazing - it was so beautiful to cycle in the mountains and valleys in and around Palo Alto, and the best part was, after a long winter, being able to smell things like flowers and grass again.  I was in heaven - and after climbing a couple of the hills we did, I kind of wondered if we'd cycled that far!!  Needless to say it was terrific, and yet another fun day spent cycling. Despite it being aimed at "singles" (I would say it was, out of 25 people, a 70-30 split of women to men, of course) there were about 12 really fast cyclists, whom I kept up with and challenged myself to do so. I was on cloud 9! 

So, I've decided I want to move here. The weather is amazing. The air is fresh. The scenery is beautiful. The produce is fresh, tasty, colourful and affordable (unlike back in Ontario), and everyone is an athlete!  I saw more cyclists today than I have ever.  I'm in love.

Anyway, tonight we're off to drop in at a party in Palo Alto of a friend and former Canuck, so must sign off.  Tomorrow (after Church, of all things), K and I will do a one-hour bike and then head (via car) to Big Sur for the day. 

Happy Easter and Passover, my friends.

Kathie x