Country Inn Santa Rosa

Well... Tonight is our last night at "the compound". I have to say.. I'm ready to get the hell out of here. Rob is still going to be working for a couple more days so we're heading over to my friend Claire's to stay until Wednesday. <br><br>Living here at the compound has really been amazing. And even though I'm definitley ready to get moving I'm pretty damn sad ...

... tasting, especially wines of this calibre, is a wonderful way to experience the region. We preferred the late afternoon tours when we knew that we wouldn&#8217;t have to pedal much further so do take into consideration where you might be staying that night.<br>If you enjoy great wine, beautiful countryside and bike touring then you won&#8217;t go wrong with a trip to the Napa Valley.<br>

... of our friends showed up and there were 112 Pabst Blue Ribbon's in the fridge. Unlike our last party everyone brought piles of beer and wine so at the end of the night with a pile of drunk people, we somehow still had two coolers and a fridge loaded with beer. Great!<br><br>Spent most of Saturday being absolutely worthless. Rented In Bruges, (probably my favorite movie ever) and had a relaxing quiet evening. Until.....<br>I suggested we ...

... technology. As I shuffled back to the car I did see something that could be considered strange. As I pulled of my heavy hiking boots and set down my 30lb pack a couple got out of a car and set out on the trail I had just come off. The hiking gear of the lady of the pair was, shall we say, unconventional &#8211; never seen anyone hike in a crop top and tiny hotpants before. Had to suppress the urge to shout &#8211; &#8216;we know what your doing &#8211; and it ...

... has been a lot less productive. We got up.. made banana pancakes with GRADE A Canadian Maple syrup, and some sort of mexican scrambled eggs that weren't nearly as good as planned. The rest of the day has been spent doing nothing. It's great.<br><br>We're all off to Merry Edwards tonight for a Pre-Harvest Welcome BBQ ...

... charging $25 for a tasting so I decided to pass tasting at those wineries and bought a wine glass instead from the Dionysus winery, which looked like something from Ancient Greece. The main reasons for coming to Napa Valley was to try out the Zinfandel type of wine. I found a copule of wineries that had it available for tasting and it was quite nice. I bought a couple of bottles only this time as I ...

... me into town from the interstate to the tire shop and put some new boots on her. By the time I get to Missoula I've got such a bad shimmy in the front end I'm getting worried. I hit an off ramp and slide under neath, noticing that the front tires are almost shot, wires sticking out, the whole she-bang. ****** Limping into town I find a shop, get some new boots on the front, and start heading to Bigfork, where my girl's Mom has an awesome cabin. I wasn't ...

... t be enormous, I was amused when they only charged me a dollar! While on the plane, I tried to go to sleep but it became almost impossible when a friend of the guy who came to seat in the exit row started chatting with him. Plus he looked a little bit Mexican so I was curious (he was! Well Mexican/American but we soon started chatting in Spanish). We started chatting and very soon I was in a 'social' gathering hub because my little corner became were everyone ...

... to stop and rest all along the way and plenty of spots to look at birds. How much more perfect could it be? Our hosts for the evening, Stuart and Jennifer Smith of Grass Valley Friends, gave us lots of space to rest and work on our computer, fed us wonderfully, and shared some of their dreams and plans of doing energy-efficient renovations to their house that Stuart grew up in. They are both teachers, and so the next morning they were off early, and we followed shortly ...

... for reading my travelogues and your support. A special thanks to my parents and my amazing girlfriend for thier love and support. If any of you are thinking about making a trip to Europe for the first time or the tenth time, do it. No time is better than the present time. Take care all, Julian