Friday, August 8, 2008

Summer Wine: Another Day in Wine Country

Today is the last day of a week-long series on my trip to Northern California's wine country. We have been to Napa and Sonoma more times that i can count, but this trip was unique because we spent time exploring wine regions much further north of Sonoma. Since it was "off the beaten path", there was definitely much less traffic, which meant fewer tourists! You may recall from Monday's post that we drove up with both dogs. It's a nine hour drive north, which is quite a long time for the kids to be sitting in the back seat, but they had a great time.

above: Koshimi and Sheldon, relaxing in the back seat, living the life of luxury as we chauffeured them around wine country.

above: Different from Napa or Sonoma, the rolling hills up in the Anderson Valley wine region are somewhat less lush with vegetation, but this region produces some excellent Pinot Noir.

above: the vineyards at this winery had a nice outdoor sitting area under a trellis with vines as covering-the perfect respite from the hot sun.

above: I especially liked this vineyard, which had rows of beautiful rose bushes along the entire side.

above: A perfect spot to stop for a picnic and smell the fresh lavender.

above: this winery had a peaceful water fountain that set the tone before you even approached the front door.



above: later in the day, the kids were zonked out and napped in between our pit stops.
It was a perfect Summer Wine road trip. I named this post "Summer Wine" in honor of Miss Nancy Sinatra, who recorded a song back in 1967 with recently departed Lee Hazelwood. For all you youngins, don't laugh at the black and white back video. For the rest of you, I hope you enjoy this little ditty from Nancy and Lee.
"Summer Wine"

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Friday!
-Rick Rockhill

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's nothing better than a good glass or two of pinot noir.

Jeni said...

Loved the pics of the dogs -so pretty, both of 'em.
Now -a question. What's with the YouTube stuff lately? This one you posted says it's no longer available and yesterday, when I was exploring in YouTube stuff, almost every video I clicked into gave the same message. Disappointing not to be able to enjoy the videos, ya know.

Desert Songbird said...

Forget the dogs - you look perfectly content there!

Maggie Moo said...

Oh what beautiful pictures! This only fuels my interest in going to visit wine country. Question: What is the wine in the glass on the pink napkin? It's the one closest to us in the picture...

Karelian Blonde said...

Koshimi and Sheldon seemed nice and relaxed and arent they cute!

I am of 1967 vintage myself so good to see a video from that era. Thank you :)

Anonymous said...

You're making me thirsty.

Naomi said...

Great photos Rick. Looks like the kids enjoyed the trip too!

Disclaimers...

This blog is about life experiences & observations and stuff I am interested in. It is simply a side hobby and creative outlet; generally, with a tongue-in-cheek tone. I don't take it too seriously, nor should you. I do not profess to represent every point of view. Nothing on this site is a paid post.

It is for entertainment purposes only it, so just lighten up and just enjoy it. Life is short, live in the moment.

As the author, thoughts/views have no affiliation to my clients, business colleagues or my company.

This blog is independent and free of any type of financial affiliations. Some images used are from the internet and sometimes hard to credit them, so if you own any and want them removed just send me a message.

No copyright infringement intended. I am not responsible for defamatory statements bound to government, religious, or other laws from the reader’s country of origin or residence. The intention of this blog is to do no harm, defame, libel or offend anyone.