So we had planned to dash off from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe to go kayaking and SUPing on the lake, only with the crazy rainstorms we were experiencig on the coast, Lake Tahoe was getting fresh snow! And lots of it!So a little re-planning was required. We decided some winter sports travel insurance was a must and that we should explore the lowlands first so we could enjoy warmer nights in the van before heading to Lake Tahoe for the weekend (when the ski fields were open).A little leaflet caught our eye for a place called Fairfield just outside the Napa Valley. The area had breweries and wineries for tastings and also the Jelly Belly jelly bean factory. The plan was set.First we arrived at True Symmetry Brewery which is a family owned brewery where the staff were super friendly. We got some great tips of where to go in the area from Bryanna and enjoyed two tasting “flights”. Some of those beers were strong!
The next morning we were in kiddy heaven at the Jelly Belly jelly bean factory with sampling along the way.
The bean art was pretty impressive too!
And while there I did a local wine tasting with each wine paired with chocolate made by Jelly Belly – my idea of heaven.
And then onto Wooden Valley vineyard which makes lovely wine and delicious Californian “champagne”.
Next was Vezer’s Family Vineyard which concentrates mainly on red wine but did a couple of nice whites and also a desert wine that we sampled.By this point we had parked up Fred for the night and were on foot. We went to the Suisun Filling Station which was essentially a wine bar which stocked all local wines and beers. I tried a white wine sampler of all different local wines while Pete tried a couple of beers. We got chatting to some lovely locals who were out as a family for a sunday afternoon. Suddenly it was after 7pm and the bar was closing. We said our goodbyes and walked back to the van. We stopped to stroke a cat on the roadside and a car pulled up and it was Scott, Rebecca, Sean and Leanne going out of their way to invite us back to theirs to party some more and then stay for the night. It was a great, fun evening and to top of all off they had a goreous, tiny kitten called Zoe.
Zoe wasn’t quite so cute at 3am when she was wandering all over our faces but very sweet when curled up asleep on you. We were treated like royalty. Scott made us a fab breaksfast the next morning, we had showers, did our laundry and played with the kitten – heaven.
With some great tips for our next stop, Sacramento, we said “au revoir”, as who knows, we may see our new friends some day or somewhere else in the world.
Categories: Travel UpdatesUncategorized
