Life hasn't really calmed down since we blew into town a year ago. Our last major trip was the cross-country trek we did with the pooch, and it was so fantastic and mind-clearing that we decided to do it again (in a way). This time we were drawn northward. And, why not? After all, we're Californians - it is time we explore everything north of the southernmost tip, where we live. Of course, there's also the wine....
After a week enjoying our own town with Tony, Cari and the girls, we packed the Subaru with our clothes, Mishka (and a cooler full of her frozen raw meat) and headed up the coast.
The coastal views were phenomenal, especially in Malibu, which I had envisioned to look something like Cozumel (which I also haven't seen). Instead of the glitzy mansion-studded tropical destination with sprawling beaches that I had expected to find, Malibu is a quiet, mansion-studded destination with narrow beach strips like I might expect to see in Cape Cod (another place I have not visited).What was as I had imagined - if not more expansive, more picturesque
, and with colors more saturated - was the California wine country. Maybe it was the movie Sideways we had watched again recently to inspire us, but I knew to expect something breath-taking. Just as in the movie, our first stop was at Alma Rosa in Santa Barbara County. We bought two bottles and joined their wine club, officially starting a trend that would take us all the way up and down the California Coast.
We stayed at the Stanford Inn in picturesque Mendocino (ask me about the vegan cuisine and the all-too-personal massages), meandered along the cliffs of the northern California coast, wandered through the enormous redwoods, dashed into a winery or two in Napa, and explored charming Paso Robles, where we found a gem of a winery, Still Water (where we bought a whole case). Mishka loved it all.
She trotted along the trails and climbed the gnarly roots of the fallen redwoods, scaled the rock faces down to the small pebble beaches
and generally wore a ridiculous dog-grin everywhere she went (except when we took her with us on the canoe in Mendocino, where she was decidedly freaked out until she settled down).
Mishka rather enjoyed the wine tastings, too. At most wineries, she was invited to sit on the cool floor next to us, where she sprawled out shamelessly and accepted a water cracker now and then to cleanse her palate while we sipped and sampled. In one week, while Mishka visited a good variety of vineyards, we effectively ruined our untrained palates, once satisfied with cheap wine, and developed a strong craving for a much finer vintage. This is a slippery slope.With nearly six cases of wine arranged skillfully in the back of the car to allow Mishka a spot to sit, we finally headed home. So, friends, wine-lovers: this could be the single best time to come visit us!
