Travelling Moments

Another day on the road, getting from point A to point B. The journey is always as important as the destination. Here are the highlights of our trip from today's point A to point B: 

Departure: Bothe-Napa State Park, Ritchie Campground. A wonderfully-lush forest campground, where moss covers all surfaces, and the air is dripping with moisture. To top it off, a river runs behind our campsite. It's somewhere I would absolutely stay again, and regret not having more time to explore its hiking trails, but it will have to wait until the next time we are passing through.

Stop one: Rombauer Vineyards. One of the most amazing tasting experiences I have ever had the pleasure of participating in, and we chose this place at random last night, purely for its price and proximity to the campground! Tastings in Napa and Sonoma have gotten ridiculously expensive, so you don't want to be throwing your money at a place where you might not even like the wines. Rombauer was everything we could have asked for, and more: Reasonably-priced tasting(5 wines, 25$), fantastic and knowledgeable tasting guide Katie, who was present enough to answer all our questions but also knew when to leave us to quietly enjoy our wines, and a magnificent terraced outdoor tasting patio overlooking the valley, where we got to bask in the sun and warmth of the hottest day we've felt on this trip(24 degrees C!).

All of the little details were taken care of, from a personalized reservation sign on our table(even though we only called an hour earlier), bottles water and crackers to cleanse our palate, an extra splash of our favorite wine from the tasting to sip while we walked about the property...and get this: the wine was EXCELLENT. A fresh and citrusy Sauvignon Blanc, a smooth and buttery Chardonnay, a fruit-forward yet full-bodied Zinfandel - nothing hit wrong for us, and so we left, thrilled with such a positive experience, and with 3 bottles in tow.

Stop two: Bouchon Bakery, in Yountsville. We had to make a stop at Thomas Keller's bakery. The cashier at Rombauer mentioned that the bread was excellent, but we are not here for bread. I get a MASSIVE cream cheese Danish, Mario gravitates, as he does, to the almond croissants, and we add in a pistachio macaron, because they are humongous. Now we have snacks for the road!

It takes forever to leave the traffic behind us. It seems like no matter how remote the road I chose for us to drive on, it is still a two-lane highway, and jam-packed with cars. It's mentally tiring driving for Mario. Time for lunch.

Stop three: Vintage Green Valley Park in Fairfield. I search for parks on Google, then scour the reviews for mentions of picnic tables. This one looks promising, and after fighting for parking with about 50 moms in minivans picking up their children from school, we make some lunch, stow it all in the Bouchon Bakery bag and walk into the park to picnic at one of the tables. The sun is still hot, the air wonderfully warm, and the shrieks of small children in the playground surround us. The cream cheese Danish is delicious.

More crowded roads, passing through the biggest wind farm I think I've ever seen, then fruit trees, nut trees and vineyards as far as the eye can see. There is less traffic now, and the drive is getting more enjoyable.

Stop four: Starbucks, south of Stockton, for a pick-me-up after all that tough driving. Mario orders his usual drip coffee, and I try the iced Matcha Latte again. Is it just me, or did they used to be sweeter? Or sweetened at all? And so far, I am two for two with lattes that are poorly mixed and I am left with chunks of matcha powder in the bottom of my cup. Will have to remember to NOT order that again. We split the almond croissant, which has a thick crust of almonds and paste that seems like too much crunch. Not a winner.

Now we drive through golden fields dotted with fluffy black cows, set against a backdrop of rolling hills, before we begin to climb. We have a couple of options for places to set up camp for the night, and now we have to make a decision. Do we stop at the first one because the sun is setting? Or press on, climbing high into the mountains, and ever closer to the entrance to Yosemite, but have to locate a site in the forest in the dark?

Stop five: James E. Roberts Memorial Bridge Vista Point, near Moccasin. This large pullout off the road has the most amazing view of the sunset over the Don Pedro Reservoir, and it would be so easy to just settle here for the night. But Mario is feeling good, and the roads are still good, and the next site is really only 40 more minutes up the road. And every minute more we drive is that much less we'll have to drive early tomorrow morning to get into the park...we press on.

We pass through so many little mountain villages on our way up into the mountains, each with a little market, and a gas station, and a restaurant with maybe a bar, or two, or three, and always places to stay like a B&B or Resort&Spa or Campground...We are never very far from some sort of civilization.

Stop six: A site just off the 120, in the Stanislas National Forest. It seemed impossible that we would find a quiet BLM site up here, but we are pulled off the main road, in between giant Sequoia trees, and just hidden from view of the giant Rush Creek Lodge and Spa complex.  I can only imagine some of those guests looking out their window tomorrow morning and spying our big red van parked in their perfect view of the forest! 

We make a big pot of pasta, have a glass of our cheap Walmart red wine, and finish the night with shared bites of the giant Pistachio macaron. Mario says it's as big as a burger, so I am calling it a Burgaron. The cream squishes out the sides, but the pistachio flavour is good. I am not sure I like how unwieldy it is to eat - I think I'll stick with the bite-sized ones instead.