Leaving Roseburg, we headed south to Jacksonville Oregon where Balin’s parents and brother live. Before we got there though we made a quick stop in Grants Pass, where we met up with Phil and Carrie Stobbe. Years ago, before Balin, I worked in Rogue River as a youth director for a Presbyterian Church. As part of my work to get to know middle school and high schoolers in the area, I volunteered with the middle schools’s Campus Life. Phil was the director for Campus Life in the area and we immediately hit it off and became good friends. He played an instrumental role in Balin’s journey with Jesus and solidified his role in our lives as he married us, 26 years ago. So it was sweet to catch up with him and his lovely wife Carrie for an hour over some coffee.
Landing at Balin’s parents house on Friday we unhitched the trailer, poured a glass of Chardonnay from the Willamette Valley and had a lovely catch up session before we met up with Balin’s brother Obie and his wife Sarah for dinner.
The weather was gorgeous for the weekend and Jacksonville did its best to woo us into putting it on our list of places we might relocate to. Balin and I took some time to stroll around the town with a cup of coffee in hand, and found it was definitely to our liking. We also made a trip 15 minutes down the road to the charming town of Ashland, where Balin went to university. Breakfast and a walk about town reminded us once again why Southern Oregon is so beautiful; kind people, thoughtful architecture and stunning nature.
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| At a winery in the valley - gorgeous everything, wine, weather, company, food. Loved it. |
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| Sweet Bailey - so fun to catch up with her. |
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| Brooklyn; spicy, chatty and always a delight to spend time with. |
After several nights of cards, good food and conversation, it was time for us to journey on towards Sonoma. Arriving at our rental, we unpacked and settled into our chairs on the front porch for our traditional glass of “something” to celebrate our arrival. First taste of Sonoma did not disappoint as it was 75, sunny and quiet. Then hunger hit and we headed to a local Mexican restaurant that was nothing short of wow.
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| On the front porch… |
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| Tuna tacos and butternut squash enchiladas. |
After coming home and cleaning up, we left the dog and took the back road over to Napa Valley and the town of St Helena where we met friends from Liberty Lake (and who own the ranch in Montana that we were at) and enjoyed a long and delicious dinner. The conversation was even better than the dinner. As we have found over and over again, meeting with people outside of the everyday of life, is often the best times as there are no rushed schedules or the “next thing” to go to. ‘Twas our experience with our friends.
Gosh, the next couple of days continued to be filled with exploration both on foot and on bicycle as we returned to Glen Ellen for a ride down a windy, quiet road (with no dog so I felt like a kid flying down the road). That night we drove over to old town Petaluma and explored for 90 minutes before we arrived at my cousin Eric’s house for dinner with his family. (Love that we already have ‘people’ in the area). Thursday was a day Balin needed to get some work done and had stacked a bunch of phone calls in for the day so I was a free woman.
I took Piper, the sunshine and headed to the hills. We ended up hiking around the Bartholomew Estate for 2 hours and once again I was all smiles. The Bartholomew family has opened their vineyard and ranch to the public so that everyone can enjoy its beautiful grounds and it did not disappoint. A hiking trail that went from dry caliche soils and scrub oaks to a forest of tall oaks, dipping down to a stream basin where Redwoods clustered and soared into the sky. Incredible. AND we once again met a woman and spent 30 minutes chatting about dogs, politics and life in Sonoma. I couldn’t ask for more than that all bathed in sunshine.
Fridays are still our date day and so we made a date at our favorite winery Rombauer for the occasion. With a morning workout, short dog walk and breakfast done, we headed out to Napa to explore the area before making our way down the Silver trail to the Rombauer tasting room. In talking with people and asking them where they would live if price wasn’t an issue, hands down everyone says to stay away from the Napa Valley as it’s bougie and the vibe is ‘different’. I definitely got their point as we walked around Napa. Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful; on a river, gorgeous architecture, lots and lots of fun places to eat and linger outside. The river walk alone is reason to go there but there definitely is a different vibe there. Get this, only 1 person actually said hello and wanted to pet Piper. Sheesh.
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| I’ve never taken a dog into a restaurant or wine tasting area…but boy was it a great experience. Piper even got her own bottle of water/bowl and welcome sign, including a baggie of treats. |
That changed when we made it to the Rombauer tasting room. I was immediately asked permission by at least 5 people if they could pet Piper. And the conversations that happened, well let me just say I now know some hidden caves that I need to visit in Ohio.
Of course the wine was amazing and we bought a decent supply to get us through the next couple of weeks. My favorites are their Zinfandels, Pinot Grigio and their Chardonnay.
Today we woke up with rain and nothing to do. We are both LOVING it. It’s currently pouring rain but it’s supposed to stop in a couple of hours and return to sunny and 75. The weather forecast next week, wait for it, SUNNY. Yahoo. We’ve got church on Sunday (it’s a Practicing the Way church), heading to Santa Rosa for lunch and beer tasting with cousin Eric on Monday with our friends the Emmels (they live down the lake from us) arriving Monday night for a few days. So looking forward to all of it.
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