Day 30 & 31. Taking it slow!

We left Cloverville for Forestville in the morning of our 30th day. Drove about 50 miles. Spent the afternoon, evening and next morning with David Peck, and Bruce in Forestville. Had a great time touring around the seacoast and had a great late lunch in Occidental. We had to do another wine tasting and Dave and Jackie got looped. We went to Bodega Bay where they filmed "The Birds". Spent the night in Dave and Bruce's driveway. They have a spectacular home on a hill above Forestville. Bruce made fresh apple pie and we had pie a'la mode after dinner. Jackie and Dave spend a lot of time reminiscing about their teenage years in Acushnet. It was really a great 2 days. We appreciated their hospitality. Oh ya we also met Harry and Charlie. They were graceful hosts as well. We left for Sacramento but could not find a campsite close to the city so we drove 35 more miles to Lodi to spend the nite there.  Tomorrow it is church then a drive to Modesto to see what we can find there before we go to Yosemite.

L/R Bruce with Charlie, Harry Dave

Charlie loved to play fetch.

Handsome Harry

Day 29 - We visited the Winery that "The Godfather 1, 2 and 3 built.

Well, today was a special day. Especially if you have any Sicilian ancestry. We went to Francis Ford Coppola's Winery in Geyserville, CA. He has 2 estate wineries. One in Geyserville and the other in Nappa. At the one we went to he has on display memorabilia from his films and his awards. Also wine! We drank his wine and toured the estate house. It is also a resort where you can stay. A really nice place. Below are pics of the estate, The Godfather Movies,  A Tucker automobile and prop for the movie and some of his awards. Tucker is a really neat car. Only 51 ever built in 1949 and only 47 are known to remain. Coppola owns 2 of them. Having worked in the Auto Industry for 30 years I can appreciate this car. Too bad the big 3 at the time forced him into bankruptcy.

Day 28 - La Dolce Vita - Wine Country

First impressions were that there are a lot of people in Sonoma County leading the good life. (or are at least happy all the time.) It is grape harvesting time in Sonoma and we went wine tasting today. Not far from our camp in Cloverdale, Sonoma County there are tens if not hundreds of estate vineyards and wineries. We went to 2 of them and joined the happy folks after tasting 11 different wines. We got back to camp without taking a breathalyzer test and proceeded to go to sleep for the rest of the day. It is beautiful country and the mountain and hillsides are just covered with grapevines, orchards and olive trees. More of this tomorrow as we head down to the Santa Rosa area for more fermented grape.

Olive tree

Bella Winery Aging Room

A shady spot at the Bella Winery

These are not grapes. They are olives!

Zinfindel Grapes ready for picking

Grape vines as far as you can see

More grapes ready for picking

Ferrari-Carona Estate Winery

Ferrari-Carona aging cellar

Ferrari-Carona gardens

Cork Oak tree in the Ferrari-Carona garden.

Day 27 - A drive to the California Sea Shore and riding through unbelievable Redwood Groves.

We left Benbow, CA around 8:00AM expecting to eat breakfast and then get on down to the Santa Rosa area via CA-1 (the scenic shore route). Little did we know the nearest breakfast spot was 80 miles down the road and over mountains and through redwood forests. Da Beast was awesome. The exhaust brake came in handy on those 7% grades down hill and the Cummins Diesel pulled us up some steep and narrow roads that our Ford would have choked on with it's 5.4L V-8. I repositioned our dash cam to the upper left corner of the windshield and took some super videos of the drive along the Northern California Coast and over redwood forests in the mountains between the CA-101 and the Northern California Coast.

Below are links to YouTube Videos that I have uploaded. View them if you wish. They are safe and bug free.

Driving down the mountains to the north coast on the CA-1

Driving the CA-1 along the northern California coast.

Driving through redwood groves on the CA-128 on the way to Santa Rosa.

We took some pictures too!

These are everywhere along the coast. Jackie thinks they are a lily.

Day 26 - Tree Hugging (August 25, 2014)

Today we drove from Obrien, OR to Benbow, CA. About 200 miles. An easy day. We drove through the National and CA State Redwood Parks. We took a gravel road through a redwood forest. These trees are 325 feet tall. The tallest in the country or the world as a matter of fact. Some were at least 15 feet wide at the base and there were some wider ones. Took some pictures, of course. Tomorrow we are driving the California north coast to wine country just north of San Fransisco (about 150 Miles). From here on we are taking it slow and easy until we get closer to Nevada and the southwest.

Jackie just had to hug it!

I had to hug it too!!!

325 feet to the top

That's a tall tree.

Day 25 - A day with old friends

Today was a relax and spend the day with friends from Acushnet, MA. Jackie went to school with Lu and they moved to Selma, Oregon over 25 years ago. It was really great to see them again. Manny, Lu's husband, is a farmer and jack of trades. We had lunch and dinner with them and Jackie and Lu and Manny reminisced about earlier times in Acushnet. We left in early evening and camped in Obrien, Oregon.

L/R Manny, Lu, Jackie, Jim in Selma, OR

Day 24 - Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

A short drive from camp found us at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. A real treat for anyone who likes nature and awesome scenery. I took way too many pictures but this was the best place so far on our trip. 7000 years ago this volcano erupted leaving the caldera which has filled with water from snow and rain alone. The lake is 2000 feet deep (the deepest in the USA), 6 miles long, 4.5 miles wide, 4500 feet above sea level. It has the cleanest water of any lake in the World. Top that Mount St. Helen's.

Phantom Ship Island

Wizard's Island is the remaining cone from more recent eruptions. It is not a dormant volcano.

We were here Saturday Aug 23, 2014

Day 23  Travel Day on our way to Oregon (460 miles)

Full day of driving having started at 7:00AM and arriving at 5:00PM with a 1 hour time zone change in our favor. We got to see more volcanic landscape and crossed a 150 mile desert that I did not know even existed until we drove it. Highlight of the day was the Mexican dinner we had in Klamath  Falls OR. Tomorrow we drive to Crater Lake National Park and then to Medford, Oregon. Sunday we hope to see Jackie's friend from Acushnet that moved to Selma, OR 35 years ago.

2000 year old Volcano in the Oregon Dessert

Day 22  Craters of the Moon National Monument

Drove from Victory, ID to Mountain Home ID and took about 2 hours to see the Crates of the Moon NM.   2000 years ago molten lava erupted from a 80 mile long rift in the earth and created a section called Craters of the Moon.