Christmas Update

Well Christmas has passed and our daughters have left, so we are back to our “empty nest”.  We had a great time the past week.  On Thursday of last week our daughters Kim (Illinois) and Kelly (Ohio) flew into Orange County airport for the Christmas weekend.  We had a great evening with them along with a short visit to my parents place.  On Friday we had a few hours to kill while awaiting our oldest daughter, Katie (Arizona) and her fiance, Tyler, to arrive so Kelly came up with the idea to take a drive to Laguna Beach to get a date shake at the Crystal Cove Shake Shack. What a great idea. 

I am a big fan of date shakes.  I remember having them many, many years ago at a fruit stand when in the Palm Springs area.  Over the years as we came back to the Southern California area and passed by Palm Springs I was always on the lookout for the fruit stand but could not locate it.  A few years back we finally found it with help from Fran’s brother and stopped for their famous date shake and date-banana shake.  They are to die for!!  This was the only place I had ever known that sold these shakes.  Now, through the power of the internet, Kelly read about this famous stopping point on Pacific Coast Highway near Laguna Beach that sold date shakes.  Of course, we were on our way.  It was a typical Southern California gorgeous day as we drove near the ocean and came upon the Crystal Cove Shake Shack.  It is right off the highway and has about 10 parking spaces and not very friendly for a full size pickup like ours.  I dropped everyone off and placed my order with them then drove on down the highway to make a U-turn.  The timing was perfect as I made the round trip they were picking up the shakes.  It was worth it!  So, besides In-n-Out burgers, El Pollo Loco chicken, Hadley Date shakes, I now add Crystal Cove date shakes to my list of food places in Southern Califonia.  What really annoys me is that Crystal Cove has been in this location since 1946 and I never knew about it for all those years I lived in Southern  California or visited since. 

Following our date shakes we took a walk around the marina area of Dana Point and then headed back to the RV park to await the arrival of Katie and Tyler.  We spent the evening talking and sitting around the fire (smores anyone).  A great day!

Christmas Eve we went to my parents condo to open presents then out to dinner.  Here is our group:

Without Tyler

With Tyler, without Fran

Sunday was our first Christmas Day in the trailer.  It was fantastic.  Our daughters and Tyler came to the trailer (they were staying in cabins in the RV park) for breakfast and to open stockings and do a gift exchange.  Following that we all went to my aunt’s house in Huntington Beach for Christmas dinner.  My aunt and her family had gone all out in decorating her house.  She has backed off in recent years in setting up the decorations as it takes so much time and effort but this year her husband and son decided to go all out.  The whole front of the house was decorated with Christmas scenes, lights and a train set.

Sorry, this is only half of the display.

It was great to visit with my Aunt’s and some of my cousins. 

Monday meant that Kim flew back to Illinois with Katie and Tyler driving back to Arizona.  Kelly had decided to stay until Wednesday as she wanted to go to Disneyland.  Luckily for us, Katie and Tyler had won two tickets to Disneyland and gave them to us.  FYI – Disneyland is now $80 per person for admission.

Kelly and Fran went to Disneyland on Tuesday.  I passed as I have been so many times in my life that I could not justify spending $80 to go again.  It was a very busy day at Disneyland with the park reaching maximum capacity.  Fran and Kelly were able to get on all the rides they wanted to but the fireworks were cancelled due to technical problems.

Wednesday was Kelly’s travel day and back to just to the two of us.

Next up is our Christmas gift to one another, the Rose Parade.  We have reserved seats and parking for the parade this Monday.  We still have to leave around 3:00am to get there and get our seats but it is another item on Fran’s “bucket list”, (ho, hum, I have been before!)

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Merry Christmas

It has been some time since my last post so let me get you caught up.  We left Buellton, California a week and half ago and drove back to Southern California where we are now staying in Anaheim Hills.  It is a very nice RV park that has lots of trees and big, wide spaces.  In addition it has cabins which allowed us to have our daughters stay at the park for Christmas. 

We visited with my parents a couple of times since arriving and have been decorating the trailer and preparing for the visit of our daughters.  Here is a picture of the inside of the trailer decorated.

Fran’s brother, who we visited at Thanksgiving, has the unfortunate timing to have his birthday near Christmas so we wanted to make sure it was celebrated properly and separate.  We met up with his entire family for a pizza dinner.

Yesterday two of our daughters, Kim and Kelly flew in from the Midwest so we spent most of the day at the airport.  Today our oldest daughter, Katie, and her fiancé, Tyler, are driving over from Phoenix.  We are very excited to have everyone together and it appears the weather is going to be great.

Also, it is time for our 10 month update.  Here is the updated map.

To all our friends and family, Merry Christmas.

Bring on the Sun

Since arriving here in the Central Coast of California the weather has just been great.  A few nights it has gotten down below freezing but during the day it quickly warms up into the 60’s.  Big difference than our previous residence in Naperville.  Before I tell you about our recent adventure here are some pictures.

This picture is from the local Naperville newspaper showing snow on the ground this week.

This is a picture of where we were Friday (Santa Barbara).

And who can forget this great scene from last year.

Friday we took a drive down the coast to have lunch in Santa Barbara and to see the famous mission.  We enjoyed a nice walk around the harbor and marina and had lunch on Stearns Wharf.

After lunch we visited the Santa Barbara Mission.

As you can see from the pictures the weather was just perfect.  I just wished I would have worn shorts, Hawaiian shirt and flip flops!

More Wine Tasting

We are still in Buellton, California and will be here for another week before heading back to Southern California for Christmas.  Even though this is one of the most expensive RV parks we have ever stayed in we decided to stay another week as the area is beautiful and there are some things we want to do.

Since my last posting we traveled to Goleta which is about 20 miles south of us to meet up with Fran’s cousin.  We spent the afternoon with her and had a great time.  It also gave us the chance to check out a couple of state parks we may stop at in January when we work our way back north in California.  We really liked El Capitan State Park as they had a few really nice ocean view sites.  The drawback is there are no hook-ups and no reservations.  The hook-ups are not a problem for us for a few days and hopefully in January during the week it will not be a problem to get a site for a couple of nights.

When we resided in Naperville we belong to a wine group with 6 other couples.  We met about 6 times a year and had a great time tasting wines.  This past weekend was the annual Christmas tasting, which is always one of the special events for the group.  Obviously we missed it but were with our friends in spirit and they were kind enough to call us at 2:30am (central time) to tell us how much this missed us!  So, since we missed the Christmas tasting we have been continuing our wine tasting activities in this area and have not been disappointed.

In the last posting I mentioned our first outing in tasting.  Yesterday and today we did some additional exploring.   On Tuesday we went to Los Olivos which is about 10 miles from here. This is a quaint little town about two blocks long that has a few restaurants, a few businesses and many, many tasting rooms.  So, you park your car and just walk the town and taste wines!  What could be better.

Many of the tasting rooms were not open during the week so we ended up doing two and then having lunch (outdoors!!!!).   We tasted at Daniel Gehrs, www.danielgehrswines.com.  Not that impressed with the wines but had a great time with the person serving us.

We had a free tasting card for Epiphany Winery, which was next door, so we went there,http://www.epiphanycellars.com/. Their wines were good and we were impressed with their Rousanne (a white wine). 

Two tastings was enough for us as each allowed us to taste more than was on the list, but neither waived the tasting fee for a purchase.  So, lunch was in order.  We ended up at a great sandwich place with outdoor tables, Panino’s, http://paninorestaurants.com/.  It was a very nice fall day.

Today we decided to drive to Lompoc which is about 20 miles west of us.  On the way we took one road to stop at Sanford winery, www.sanfordwinery.com.  This is a wine we had tried a few years ago on a recommendation and were very pleased with it.  The tasting was outstanding!  The problem is their wines are pretty expensive, for our tastes ($40 to $70).  Fortunately the server was very generous in the pours and allowed us to taste other wines not on the list.  After visiting Lompoc we took Highway 246 back into Buellton and stopped at two wineries that were next to each other.  The first was Babcock, www.babcockwinery.com.  Their wines were very good, but again the price was a little steep.  The winery next door was Melville, www.melvillewinery.com.  This winery had great wines and their price point was much better, $20 to $40.  We had a great time at this winery.  Again, neither Babcock or Melville waived the tasting fee for a purchase.  This is a real issue with me!

Since we are here for a another week I am sure we will do more wine tasting.  This is a beautiful area and the wines are great.

To our wine group friends.  You have to make this a trip for the group.  You could stay in Solvang and then do wine tasting in the area. There are many great restaurants and many wines to taste. Plus, Santa Barbara is only 30 miles away.  We are available most of January and February if you would like to escape the Chicago winter. 

Wine Tasting 101

Since my last post we have moved to Buellton, California.  This a few hours north of Los Angeles in Central California.  The town is famous for Andersons Pea Soup and being the off ramp to Solvang, a touristy Danish community.

We have been to this area many times over the years to stop at Andersons and to visit Solvang.  One thing we have never done is to tour the wine country that is in this area.  This area is known for its Pinot Noir’s and Syrah’s. 

We have been wine tasting in Napa, California about 6 times over the years and these have generally been the weekend getaways when we lived in the area or when we travelled here with friends.  With these visits it is always busy and you can barely find a place to stand in the tasting area. Since we have begun “Life on the Road” we now have the luxury of visiting wineries during the week, off peak.  This has been very enjoyable for a variety of reasons.  First is that the staff can spend more time with you to talk about the wine, the winery and other topics.  Next, they are more willing to give you tastes of other wines not on their tasting list and lastly they are more willing to waive the tasting fee

Most tasting rooms have gone to charging to taste their wines.  I have no problem with this as they are going through a significant amount of wine, especially on the weekends, and should be able to recoup their cost.  Many will waive the tasting fee if you buy wine while you are there or sign up for their wine club.  To me that is very appropriate. 

Since we started" “Life on the Road”, we have done a significant amount of wine tasting.  We have been through the wine regions in Oregon, Washington, Canada and now Central California.  I would like to let you know what we have learned regarding wine tasting.

First,  go during the week.  This has been the most fun for us.   Generally we are the only ones in the tasting room and the staff person is able to spend more time with you and if you express interest in wines not on the tasting list they are more agreeable to let you try them.

Second, I have adopted a plan of buying at least one bottle of wine at each winery (if I like one of course).  When you buy a bottle they most likely will waive the tasting fee.  Why not get a bottle of wine out of the tasting plus the tasting rather than just paying for the tasting.

Also we have found the majority of wineries are more generous with their “pours” for the tasting when you go during the week.  Because of this (as we hate to waste wine) we limit our number of tasting to 4 or 5 so we can make it back to our RV.

For this trip here is an illustration of my comments above.

Our first stop was the Firestone Winery,  www.firestonewine.com/.  They had an outstanding tasting room, premium wines and very friendly staff.  We enjoyed their Pinot Noir and Cab Franc, which were premium priced.  We were disappointed that they did not waive the $15 tasting fee for our purchase.  Their wines were great and the experience was great, but if I buy wine after tasting it I think the fee should be waived.

Next up was Fess Parker Winery,  www.fessparker.com/,  yes that Fess Parker (aka: Daniel Boone).  We have tasted his wines before at a wine dinner and were impressed.  The winery was outstanding and the person serving us was very enjoyable.  I expressed my interest in wines not on the tasting list and he allowed us to taste them, plus some recommendations he had.  The tasting is supposed to be 6 wines and we tasted 12.   The fee was waived if we opted not to keep the glass, plus we did buy a couple of bottles.  They have an outstanding Viognier.

Next up was Zaca Mesa Winery,  www.zacamesa.com/.  Another great tasting room but the staff was not as enjoyable.  They have a great Syrah and we bought a couple of bottles and they did not waive the tasting fee.

Last up was Cambria Winery, cambriawines.com/.  This has been one of our favorite wines for years.  We were a club member for a number of years.  They have a great Chardonnay and Pinot Noir so I was excited to be able to visit the winery.  I told them I was a previous club member but they did not waive the tasting fee even with a wine purchase. 

I was pleased with the tastings we did today but very disappointed in these wineries for not waiving the tasting fee. However, the tasting experience was more pleasant with no crowd.