Spending Time in Healdsburg

We crossed into California last night and spent the night in Trinidad north of Eureka. This campground is where there is a herd of about thirty Elk that comes out of the woods at dusk and seem to say "Hey, this is where we live, we're just going to roam around and chomp on the grass . . . don't mind us!" It's fun to watch from our window . . . they are fascinating and big animals.

Today we drove to Healdsburg after parking the trailer at the Thousand Trails resort on the Russian River in Cloverdale. We took down a nice wild salmon fillet to barbecue and enjoy the evening catching up with Jackie and Rick. We'll spend five days here before heading down to Park Sierra. It's always fun visiting in the beautiful wine country this time of year. The grape harvest is finished and the fall colors are all around.

Here Rick and Ken solve the world's problems.

The view from the deck . . . perfect weather is predicted for this week.

These are Kiwis growing next to their deck.

The bottle on the right is a normal size bottle of wine. The one on the left is called a Jeroboam which is equivalent to six standard bottles or 4.5 liters. Rick and Jackie won the Jeroboam at a "Growers Party" a few years ago. It will be opened this weekend when we celebrate a Mexican holiday called "Dia de los Muertos" or "Day of the Dead" (a holiday to celebrate and honor loved ones who have died). Jackie has always admired this holiday, and with the Jeroboam of Cabernet Sauvignon, and some homemade Albondigas and Posole (which Jackie and I will make a day or two ahead of time) the party should be lots of fun. They've been saving this huge bottle for a special occasion where there will be lots of people to enjoy it with them. I'll be sure to post after the party . . . stay tuned!