Anyone for a bike ride?

Wednesday dawned clear, and cold....overnight temps got down to 29. About 11am I decided to get to cleaning the road grime off the bikes so we could take a ride through the wine country. When we finally started riding it was just 42 degrees, BUT the sun was out, which made it feel warmer....."honest, Honey, it does feel warmer than 42, doesn't it??" At any rate we headed off to Old Town Napa and found the visitor center. They provided us with an excellent map of all the wineries, and a second map of all the local bike paths, lanes, etc. We decided to head out Silverado Trail, north, and just stop in at a few wineries for some modest wine tasting. As we pedalled northward the clouds began to roll in, and the temperature began to drop. "Why can't I feel my toes?"

Just a few of the wineries we passed by

This is a family owned winery, and they only sell over the internet...we sampled 6 wines......5 of which I personally thought were unique.

We tasted 6 wines at Van der Heyden Vineyards Winery....Savignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Sirah, Rose, Cabernet Sagivnon, and a late harvest Cabernet Savignon. With the lone exception of the Cabernet, I loved the other 5. The late harvest Cab was almost like a Port, although unfortified. The Rose, really an early harvest Cab, was amazing. The Chardonnay had this surprising creamy aftertaste. This winery does not do retail sales through stores. They offer a wine club, which we will join.

We also sampled 4 wines at this winery...I was not too impressed.

After we finished our second wine tasting at Regusci Winery Elaine's toes were still numb from the cold...the temperature had dropped to 35 with the increasing cloud cover, so we turned back south to Napa Valley Expo RV Park.....about 10 miles back. We arrived back "home" around 4pm, and were very cold. Our total ride distance was around 20 miles.....with a little more sunshine we may have gone on, but, let's face it, wine tasting loses its luster when the temperatures get close to freezing and your mode of transporation is a bicycle....LOL! We were grateful for the much needed exercise. Only the second bike ride we have been able to take on this trip.

Later, around 5:30, I put on our last 2 filets and my wife, the chef, made some zuccini, summer squash, and broccili....man, that woman can cook vegatables!

We watched an interesting episode of CSI N.Y., and hit the sack at 11pm. Our plans for Thursday are evolving, but we are very sure we are not going to pound 450 miles home in one day....thinking about San Luis Obispo, which would leave around 200 miles home on Friday.....we'll see....