05 June 2009

How To Keep On Going

Day Two started off well, except that our amazingly seductive compact camp stove turned out to be less efficient than we would have liked and we used up most of our fuel the night before making dinner. And Long Story Short, we couldn't make any coffee. Boo! Camping with no coffee? I was ready to quit right there. But with a little coaxing and some reverse psychology, John was able to convince me that we could probably find some in town. And who knew? We were to pass through town that very Morning. I was hopeful. We took in a quick view of the lake at our campground, John secured a photo for his 2009 Christmas card and we left for our Day Two: Tour de Sonoma.


As you might expect, there were some vineyards involved. Rolling, rolling hills of vines as far as you could see. Naturally we stopped a few times along the way to sample some of the local nectar. We decided that the Chardonnay at DeLoach won for Tastiest Snack of the day. They're located outside of Santa Rosa on a rather fancy estate, but we couldn't stay long as we were headed for Guerneville and the mecca at Korbel.


But those 20 miles or so between the two were very hard work. Really, just stren-u-ous. We were parched by the time we reached the Champagne tasting room. We obliged and stayed for a few sips of Champagne in their cozy tasting room, before taking to the patio with a small bottle of Brut for sandwiches of summer snausage (Field Roast) and Gouda on sourdough baguette. Something about those flavors, overlooking the Russian River, accompanied by a small glass of Champagne made for such a perfect lunch.



We passed through Guerneville long enough to note its quaint small town feel and motley crew of townies, before beginning our homeward loop. This amusement park sums up Guerneville oddly well. While trying to get a better photograph of it, we were hollered at by a neighbor who declared the road leading up to it to be Private Property. It's a bit of an adjustment in rural places to remember that regular looking streets are often not public roadways. Getting lost can be tantamount to trespassing, if you're not careful. In any case, we found this private property declaration a bit offputting and so we scooted.


And on that note, we headed back toward Santa Rosa, but on the other side of the river. The road, a small winding country route with very little car traffic was so pretty we forgot to document it. So you'll just have take our word. So breathtaking and quiet that we forgot to take another picture until we hit the Santa Rosa city limit, thirty miles later.


And just then, I happened to notice the trip odometer, thus far.


Our whole plan for day two culminated at Russian River Brewery at happy hour where we got to have a couple of Tasty Tasty craft beers: Pliny the Elder, Consecration and Perdition. Three of the finest beers I've tasted in quite a while, though the sense of entitlement may have something to do with it.


After that we made dinner by campfire, squared away the food so we wouldn't be devoured by bears and fell fast asleep. Our two day total: 110 miles.


Stay tuned for the third chapter: How to Make it Home Alive

4 comments:

Jen Oaks said...

i am so enjoying reading about this! go go bike tour!

Unknown said...

i love russian river! and damn if there isn't a greater feeling of satisfaction than a knocking back a well made frothy brew after a hard day's riding/working/playing/whatev-ing.

hampants said...

I am at the beach with Elisha and my parents. It is raining out, we just finished a game of scrabble so I read your posts aloud! Very charming, everyone thought. Except when we got the part about the sausage Elisha and I declared, "They eat meat now!?"

Is it true? Sausages, not snausages?

Mary Casper said...

Of course not! I said Field Roast Summer Sausage, meaning that we sliced up their Smoked Tomato Loaf a la summer sausage.

John and I just felt like the style of sandwich: just cheese and sausage on bread was a very toury thing to eat, so I originally omitted the "grain meat" adjective just for style and culinary impact. But I've corrected it now, ladies, SNAUSAGES.