Reynold’s Family Winery in Napa produces wines worth tasting.
Spring is here and the buds are coming out.
View from the tasting room.
When looking for a unique wine tasting experience, look no further than Del Dotto Caves and Winery at 1055 Atlas Peak Road in Napa.
In 1885 Chinese laborers hand dug a 350 feet of wine caves with picks and shovels. Today those limestone walls protect these great wines. Humidity and temperature keep the barrels of wine at their best.
Wander through caves filled with barrels. Better yet…taste wines from those barrels. You won’t find any dump buckets on this “tour”. If (and it’s hard to believe) you need to dump your wine, just throw it on the floor in between the barrels. You won’t hurt the walls.
Would you believe these odd looking vines produce some of the best Zinfandel wine, called Old Vine Zin? Since I’m tasting some this weekend I’ll include photos next week.
Happy Friday…have an awesome weekend.
Who doesn’t like the friendly butterfly? Starting this weekend, the San Diego Zoo will have thousands of the colorful insects on display at the Butterfly Jungle.
The zoo’s Wild Animal Park will play host to the Hidden Jungle, an aviary that looks like a South American rain forest. Guests walk through as thousands of species of butterfly flit from plant to plant, looking for pollen. A close encounter is almost guaranteed, as the butterflies often mistake people for flowers.
Although butterflies are the stars of the show, no pollinator will go uncelebrated—this year’s theme is Pollinators of the Animal Kingdom, including birds, bugs, and bats. A Discovery Station in the park will have educational displays about bugs and the ecosystem; there’s even a bat cave with live bats. The event is great for kids, with crafts, puzzles, games, a Butterfly Wrangler performing, and a daily butterfly costume parade (so those leftovers from Halloween will get a second use).
Through April 26. Free with the cost of admission, which is $35 for adults and $26 for kids 11 and under. Look online to purchase tickets.
Along the coast of northern California.
Seashells washed up after high tide.
If you are looking to plan your next trip using a social networking site, these are a couple that cater to travelers.
This one, about planning your next trip, offers a map on the home page letting you know which countries are good to visit each month. For example, Chile, Australia and Tanzania are great places to camp in February. And if you have a question, you can post it in the site under the Answers tab. Other travelers will respond with their ideas. Check out geckogo.com to see how it works.
If you are into sharing, check out tripit.com. Users can log on to arrange airport carpools or volunteer as guides for travelers coming to their city. It’s great if you want an itinerary, too. You have to give them your email confirmations from air, hotels, etc. They then compile them into a complete trip schedule, including maps, weather forecasts, and restaurant ideas.
Wandering down one path you can see new growth and lots of moss.
Look at the forest floor for new life.
Did anyone hear this when it fell?
Delicate foliage of the Coastal Redwoods is almost lacy in appearance, with narrow, sharp-pointed needles growing one-half to three-quarters of an inch long. Cones from these giants are only about an inch long with 14 to 24 seeds. Redwood seedlings grow rapidly, more than a foot a year in good conditions.
In 1936 this magnificent grove was opened to the public as Armstrong Redwoods State Park. In 1964 the grove’s status was changed to a State Reserve.
Sense the quiet as you walk trails through these giant trees, small streams, and tiny patches of sunlight.
Mable watches birds out the front door.
Myron watches me out the back door,
These folks are surfing…real boards, real waves coming…
Have you ever thought about couchsurfing? www.couchsurfing.com is an online hospitality club that lets you find a stranger’s house or couch to sleep on. They have the most technically advanced search ability where travelers can view every possible open couch in a specified radius. Sound crazy? How about welcoming someone you’ve never met into your own home to sleep for the night?
Clubs like these are becoming popular among all ages and all countries. You get the chance to meet people who tend to be open-minded, curious, and generous.
www.hospitalityclub.org debuted in 2000 and currently has more than 328,500 members. It features the most comprehensive security procedures. Before being accepted as guests, travelers must first provide full names and passport numbers.
www.globalfreeloaders.com pushes their members not to accept a free stay unless they can host within six months.
For all three clubs, hosts and crashers are paired up based on profiles that include languages spoken, location and interests. Many members clarify what they don’t want…drugs for instance. Although safety cannot be absolutely guaranteed, members post messages about their visits went. Read before you go.
Go on a road trip in someone else’s car. Don’t steal it…volunteer for driveaway duty. Driveaway is a situation that arises when a car owner needs his vehicle moved to a new location and either can’t or doesn’t want to do the driving. Rather than pay to ship the car, the owner signs his ride up for a driveaway program.
Drivers need to fill out an application form, present a valid driver’s license, and references. Sometimes you will need to be fingerprinted and submit a driving history. For insurance reasons, drivers are usually required to be at least 23 years old. Usually the first tank of gas is free, the rest of the expenses are yours.
www.autodriveaway.com is the biggest player in the US with about 150 opportunities per month. Some offices will take requests for specific routes and call you when there is a match. There are some limits on mileage, time of day for driving, and duration. It would be a good idea to check your route ahead of time for construction detours, weather delays, etc.
Happy Trails…
Want to score a free trip? Sure…who doesn’t? Take a look at these tips. Just a warning…they’re not for everybody. Research, timing, patience, luck, and sometimes sweat are required. But you can’t beat the price.
Sister City Exchanges:
Sister Cities International is a nonprofit network that partners hundreds of US cities with international “sister” cities having similar climates, industries or populations (sister-cities.org). The local governments of sister cities might exchange ideas about health care, traffic, playgrounds, etc.
Participants are expected to be active in sister city projects and host counterparts when they come to town. Travelers should expect to run fundraisers for trips as most cities don’t’ foot the entire bill.
Hiking trail volunteers get the chance for reduced or even free cabins, bedding, food, or campsites. In return you are asked to clear debris, build rock steps, or reconfigure switchbacks, depending upon the trail.
The Continental Divide Trail Alliance runs two to seven day trips with catered meals at national parks such as Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, and Glacier (303-838-3760 or cdtril.org).
The Pacific Northwest Trail Association focuses on a path leading from Washington’s Olympic Mountains into Montana (877-854-9415 or pnt.org)
From Maine to Georgia volunteers can join one or two week trips organized by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (304-535-6331 or appalachiantrail.org).
Don’t have a rich aunt in Tuscany who wants you to house-sit for six months? Look into a service that lists house sitting opportunities and chill out at a Caribbean villa, care for cats and chickens at a French farmhouse, or keep the moat clean at a castle.
Before signing up on any assignment, ask questions. Who pays the bills? How many pets? Any special needs? What attention does the garden or lawn or moat require? Ask for previous house sitters numbers and contact them about their experience.
Caretaker.org posts more than 1,000 house-sitting openings per year, most in the US. It will cost you $30 per year to see online listings.
Housecarers.com costs $45 and had a list of 298 openings, including 117 in Australia.
Sabbaticalhomes.com is a site where the houses are all left behind by academics on teaching assignments.
Stay tuned…more to come tomorrow.